MovieChat Forums > The Dr. Oz Show (2009) Discussion > The Cheese Factor

The Cheese Factor

posted 15 years ago by MikeGrossman34
8 replies | jump to latest

I like Dr. Oz. Some things on his show are very interesting and informative. But sometimes I get annoyed by the cheese factor. By that, I mean the silly things he does for entertainment purposes. For example, sometimes he uses elaborate animations or stage sets to explain a basic, simple point. Just yesterday, he was talking about the "seven deadly habits" people have -- one of them not scheduling a regular bed time -- and he had an actual bed on the set to talk about it. Was that really necessary? Another example is the "truth tube." That's a bit cheesy, I'd say. How about when he answers audience member questions? You are supposed to believe that these people are being chosen at random, and that Dr. Oz has a detailed answer off the top of his head. I don't believe for one second that this is not scripted. Or when he takes audience volunteers - again, I would be suprised if they were not preselected. And how come they are always women? I yet to see a man selected as a volunteer, unless it involves an issue that specifically relates to men. And what is with the scrubs? Why does he change into scrubs half way into the show? You would think he was about to go into the operating room. Is that really necessary for a talk show???? And if it is, couldn't he at least shave his excessive and unsightly upper arm hair??

Don't get me wrong. I generally like the show. But it is after all a show . . . and the show must go on.

[–] palprincess 15 years ago

I agree with you. I also think he can be a bit condescending with how he explains things as if the audience is made up of 8 year olds. And when someone actually answers his questions correctly, he is so surprised that anyone other than a doctor can know anything.

Also, I am so over the "assistant of the day". It sounds like catch of the day. I cringe when they drool all over him like he's some kind of rock god. I also think he should get rid of the exercise portion at the end of the show. He looks like a fool; he has no rythm. We all know we're supposed to exercise. We don't need to see 5 minutes of a doctor making a fool out of himself to get the message across.

The truth tube is my favorite part of the show, but I also hate the walk of shame he puts his guests through.

Still, this show is quite informative and 150% better then The Doctors. I just wish he would tweak a few things as I believe it could be better.

NOTE: The excess body hair doesn't bother me on his upper arms. He is Turkish afterall. But I do agree that it would be better if he would stay in a shirt and tie for the entire show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAh__Tvkbwg RIP MJ from San Diego

[–] MikeGrossman34 15 years ago

Did you see yesterday's show? The volleyball shuffle??? Really??? That's going to get those women into shape???

The show is getting quite repetitive. Overweight person complains to Dr. Oz about how she doesn't fit into a size x anymore. Dr. Oz puts overweight person into the "truth tube." Dr. Oz tells overweight person, "you better shape up or you're going to die young." Overweight person agrees to change her eating/lifestyle habits. Dr. Oz tells overweight person you have to make healthier food choices and exercise. This is backed up by nutritionist and/or phyiscal trainer. Overweight person agrees to make a change. Hugs, tears, handshakes . . . roll credits.

[–] MikeGrossman34 15 years ago

Now game show bits? This is really getting sad. I think the Oz is running out of ideas. How many shows can you do about exercising and eating right?

[–] MikeGrossman34 15 years ago

Yesterday's show was purely ridiculous. Dr. Oz was talking about the dangers of being outside in the summer. So along comes an actress on stage who takes a fall and pretends to be unconscious. So Dr. Oz with his "assistant of the day" tries to demonstrate how to handle the situation. First, he says to check the victim to see if he/she is bleeding. So he places his hand behind the actress's head, pulls it out to reveal a red substance on his hand (presumably blood). Of course it was not really blood. Was all that dramatization really necessary to make his point?

And then later in the show, he pulls out this see through tank with all these white ping pong balls flying around. Supposedly, the balls are marked with numbers to correspond to the audience seat numbers. Dr. Oz says he's going to pick balls out at random and answer the audience's questions. But he doesn't do that first. He calls out Dorothy Hamill who happens to be coincidentally sitting in the front row so he can answer her question about hot flashes. Then he asks her to pick out a ball, which she does, and he answers one audience member's question. ONE QUESTION. That huge tank and all those balls flying around to answer ONE QUESTION. Why not just have her pick a number at random?

These examples reveal some of the weaknesses of the Dr. Oz show. There is so much emphasis on constantly entertaining the audience, that it's becoming rather campy and silly. I practically cringe when I see someone of Dr. Oz's stature in the medical field doing hokey dance moves on stage and playing game show emcee. I thought this was going to be an intelligent show discussing medical issues in a serious and thought-provoking way, but its becoming more like a variety/skit show. So sad.

[–] Sitcom_Sally 14 years ago

I agree with most of this on the thread. I liked him when he used to be on Oprah because of the way he explained things so well and did use some visual aids, which helps. But now it's too campy, like a game show. That just takes up too much time. I'd rather him pick just two topics and discuss them more at length than waste all the time on the campy stuff. The presentations seem more like what you could expect at a work seminar than a TV show.

I do not mind the "truth tube" for some reason. Nor the scrubs. I think they just look a little sillier now that he's doing all the other entertaining. But when he'd just present an issue on Oprah and wore his scrubs that did not bother me at all. Nor his arm hair, which I don't even recall noticing.

Like I posted in another thread, I record his show on DVR all the time, but never get around to watching them because I have to watch an entire hour to learn maybe five minutes of information. That's actually the reason I came onto this board, to see if anyone else felt the same way.

The perfect human being is uninteresting. - Joseph Campbell

[–] MikeGrossman34 14 years ago

Not to beat a dead horse, but I HAVE to comment on this one. Dr. Oz was recently on Oprah, probably to promote the OWN network and in particular the All Stars show which features Oprah's All Stars (Dr. Phil, Suze Orman and Dr. Oz). What had me laughing so hard was the unbelievably ridiculous demonstration that Dr. Oz did with a huge replica of a human artery to show what can happen when a person has high blood pressure. Dr. Oz explains that if blood pressure gets too high, the artery can actually burst, so he punches a whole into the model of the artery. Then he explains that because of the ruptured artery, blood can escape. Makes sense, right? But instead of just leaving it at that, he actually takes a sponge soaked with some sort of red liquid and squeezes it over the whole so that the red liquid goes oozing down the side of the model artery and onto the stage floor.

Was that really necessary? Does he really think we need a visual demonstration to understand what will happen to blood if an artery bursts?

This is what I'm talking about. Cheesy stunts that have marginal educational value and are really meant to entertain. I think it's beneath him and beneath his audience. You can read my earlier posts on this thread for more examples of Dr. Oz cheese.

Again, don't get me wrong folks. I like Dr. Oz. I just wish he didn't keep playing to the lowest common denominator.

[–] Sitcom_Sally 14 years ago

I saw that andstill have it on DVD, so I'll really look at it. I think that sometimes he's not just trying to show what happens, but really scare people into realizing that this is going on inside of them so they'll change their behavior. If the issue doesn't apply to you it might seem much sillier. When he described how high blood sugar can act like shards of glass, that really stuck with me.

That said, the rest of it is tedious. I have so many hours recorded of it, and am thinking of deleting them all, but then when I look I end up keeping them for some reason, yet still don't feel like watching. I just need to bite the bullet and delete. I did this with The Doctors, too. I don't think I've learned anything from that show.

The perfect human being is uninteresting. - Joseph Campbell

[–] 14 years ago

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