Donahue (2002–2003) User Reviews

Class & Fairness

[BobinAtlantiCity · 21 April 2003]

The King of Talk was back...unfortunately, not for long. Phil's show focused on current events and featured interviews with celebrities and newsmakers. Unlike other cable news hosts, Phil didn't yell at and insult his guests. He conducted himself with class and always gave all of his guests a fair turn. In the end, Phil's nice-guy style proved unpopular in an age of increasing nastiness all over television.

As a side note, in Phil's summer-winter run, the show went from having no studio audience to having a very large one, and had two different theme songs.

Same ol' Phil...

[panzerphil · 26 November 2002]

I was hoping to see Phil Donahue bounce back with a new show after years in obscurity, only coming out as the occasional guest. After 9-11 attacks on the United States, it seemed that all of the founding fathers and mothers of talk were getting new shows (Geraldo, Connie Chung). It was only a matter of time until the legendary Phil Donahue would be back!

Phil Donahue doesn't hide his liberal political views and I was hoping to see the King of TV Talk mix it up with political heavy weights. Not that I wanted him to win but he is good at keeping people on their toes. Once Donahue is on your back, you have to be good to get him off.

What I saw was such a disappointment. The whole show was little more than people being set up for Phil Donahue to shout down. Naturally, Phil loses his temper and flips out on his guest. The show squandered all of its potential in just a few weeks.

MSNBC better think about Resurrecting Keith Oberman or even recruiting Richard Bey, because Donahue's ratings are going to be in the crapper for a long time.