(Dr. Phil theme music)
Well, how's everybody?
(audience cheers)
Thought I'd come out and say hey
and bring this lug with me here.
So, you guys know Jon, right?
You've seen him?
(audience applauds)
You love Bar Rescue?
Yeah, it's great.
He watches.
No, I binge watch.
Robin and I binge watch the show,
and she gets so mad at these people.
It's like, she's, "Get 'em, Jon."
Yes.
She really does.
She's a big fan of the show.
Watching it is one thing, living it's another.
Oh, I know, I can't believe it.
But, is it just me or is that family,
like, really?
I think the most telling thing to me
was the text exchange.
I mean, Dad's lookin' for, what we're lookin' for
which was there, you know,
he says, "I'll just turn around
"and take my happy ass home."
But, I mean, through all of that, it's like,
"You did this," and, "You did that,"
and "Order me a Coke, and --
(audience laughs)
What?
I mean, that's their new normal.
I mean, that's what they've come to live with.
I just can't imagine.
It's the circumstance excuse.
Yeah.
They're blaming it on what exists
rather than changing what exists.
When did you move out?
Oh, about 18. About 18.
Yeah. Did you get kicked out
or moved out?
Oh, no, I was eager to go.
Yeah, yeah.
That house I woulda ran from.
(audience laughs)
I always thought checkout time was 18.
You know, they break your plate at 18, you're gone.
You either work, or you're gone, that's right.
I was out at 14 and because I was homeless, actually,
but then they, the family came back together
and I was there til I was 16,
and then they moved to another state, and I stayed there.
So, I wasn't at my house very much after I was in my teens.
And at 16, I had a full-time job.
I was pumping gas at 16.
And I was required to do my athletics at school,
after school programs and have that job
for two or three hours a night, at 16,
because I didn't get allowance after 16.
It was up to me to have my own spending money
and facilitate my own life.
At 18, I was gone.
You know, I looked at somethin' yester --
y'all will be surprised at this,
but we were looking up, yesterday,
because in 1968 when I graduated high school
and started to college, I was just 17 then.
I started college at 17,
I was a young thing.
You could sell blood for $15.
You know what that's worth today?
$15 in 1968 is worth $109.40 today.
Wow.
Can you imagine?
That's a lotta money.
That's the buying power you had for $15 in 1968.
Big change.
But you didn't need your father to drive you there,
did ya? Oh, hell, no.
No, hell, no, I had a coupla jobs by then
but, so, anyway.
Jon's gonna be hosting a new show in the fall
called Face the Truth along with Vivica Fox
and Areva Martin and it's a,
we're producing it,
and it's really good
don't you think? It's exciting.
And you get a lot of what you saw today.
He's very direct, which is why he and I
are kindred spirits.
I'm a pussycat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, but, you know, how do you guys feel about
this family?
You think they gotta chance?
(murmured, overlapping voices )
Not together, only apart.
Yeah, that's the thing.
They have to make a clean break.
If they don't make a clean break
the dysfunction runs too deep.
They've gotta have a clean break.
I think I've heard it all and then --
You know, I think if the parents overcome their fear
and their ticket to overcoming the fear is that 90 days.
If they in essence, protect him for 90 days,
he has a roof, he has food, maybe give him a car account
so he can get his rides to work, et cetera,
then they've provided him with the protection
so they're not scared and fearing his ability to survive.
And if they get past that fear, maybe they can let him go.
I think that's their only chance.
Yeah, I agree.
(audience applauds)
(upbeat music)