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Dr. Phil Bumps CBS Premieres

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

01:29 PM PT

CBS is bumping the season premieres of three shows back a week so Dr. Phil can teach America his lightning-fast potty-training technique.

That subject, and others, will be part of "A Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Family First," which airs at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, Sept. 22. The two-hour special will move the premieres of the Wednesday "60 Minutes," "The King of Queens" and new comedy "Center of the Universe" back to Sept. 29.

"Family First" will provide Dr. Phil McGraw, best-selling author and syndicated talk-show host, with a forum to expound on what makes for good parents. Famous folks like Robert Redford, Nicole Kidman and Will Smith will share some of their child-rearing stories in the special as well.

Additionally, the show will feature McGraw intervening in the life of a family with a laundry list of problems -- feuding parents, a rebellious daughter, a non-communicative son -- with the results of his therapy shown at the end of the broadcast.

Then there's the potty-training segment, in which actresses Holly Robinson Peete and Vanessa Marcil turn their toddlers over to McGraw for a session in which he promises to have them trained in a single day. Answers to parenting questions and a creepy-sounding segment in which -- to quote CBS -- "Dr. Phil talks with the parents of a boy who possesses 10 of the 14 traits of a serial killer and offers the help they need" will be part of the special as well.