Dr. Oz Wants His TV Show Back, But He Beclowned Himself Too Hard in Politics

The views Oz touted on the Senate campaign trail would be a hard sell for daytime TV viewers, who are mostly women.

By Susan Rinkunas  |  November 29, 2022 | 5:00pm
Politics
Dr. Oz Wants His TV Show Back, But He Beclowned Himself Too Hard in Politics
Photo:Win McNamee (Getty Images)

Dr. Mehmet Oz left his syndicated TV show to pursue a deeply embarrassing run for Senate in Pennsylvania—where he does not live—and spent nearly $27 million of his own money, before losing the state by a bigger margin than Donald Trump did in 2020. The whole thing was a spectacular self-own. Now this man is reportedly desperate to get back on TV, and the industry is not particularly interested in his comeback.

“No one in the mainstream will touch him,” a source told RadarOnline. “You can’t alienate half of your audience with a political stance and expect to bring in an audience on your return to television.”

The Dr. Oz Show got canceled last year shortly after he announced his campaign. RadarOnline reports that Oz is “groveling to everyone he knows” in order to revive his daytime talk show about health, but the effort has been dead on arrival, much like his political career. His former producers reportedly won’t talk to him, and Radar characterized him as “too toxic” for TV.

Another source told the outlet: “He can’t even get a word with his former producers. Dr. Oz is a social creature who likes to hear himself talk, and it’s beginning to dawn on him that he’s just [not] wanted in Hollywood circles anymore.” Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions produced his show for all 13 seasons, and Oprah endorsed Oz’s opponent, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), in the final days of the race.

RadarOnline notes that the campaign badly damaged Oz’s reputation, as media outlets reported on his questionable medical advice and naked opportunism. But it’s not just his history as an insanely rich quack that compromised him—it was also the damaging reporting that his medical research killed more than 300 dogs, him speaking at a high-dollar fundraiser in front of Hitler’s car, and his stupid comments about abortion.

The Wrap published a similar story about a potential Oz comeback and mentioned that the views he touted on the campaign trail would be a hard sell for daytime TV viewers, who are mostly women:

But many analysts agreed he would have [to] tone down some of his extreme right-wing views, particularly his support of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning abortion rights, to restore his appeal to a mainstream audience—especially the female-skewing demographic that is the core of daytime TV viewership.

There’s a chance he could pivot to conservative media, but RadarOnline said that while Oz “impressed” execs at Fox News and Newsmax, neither network has made him an offer. He will likely make appearances on right-wing networks, though that may not go over very well since, you know, he lost.

“The last thing that conservatives want to hear right now is Dr. Oz giving political advice,” as Fox News contributor Joe Concha told The Wrap. “I’m not sure a lot of people want to be hearing from Dr. Oz after losing what would have been — if he won that, Republicans could have taken over the Senate.”

Sounds like Dr. Oz should just hide out at home for a while—I hear he has a lot of those.

 
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