Will The Real Dr. Laura Please Show Up?

In reading the Toronto Sun yesterday, I learned that Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s television show has been canceled by the Canadian stations that were carrying it. For those who may not recall, the television arm of Paramount Pictures produced the Dr. Laura television show and less than a couple of weeks after the show debuted, it went on ‘hiatus’ for retooling. Usually, hiatus in the business means "goodbye-atus", as in it is not coming back. While Canadian stations have dropped the show, it is reported that stations in the U.S. are still showing it, although the ratings are at best weak. Perhaps we need to take a closer look why.

I have never met Dr. Laura, but I have heard her radio show and I find it refreshing and highly captivating because of her unabashedly strong stand on morality, decency, honor and integrity that is offered freely and without apology. On her radio show that airs weekdays out of Los Angeles, she pulls no punches in telling it like it is. Like Rush Limbaugh and myself to the extent others know me, we are all equal opportunity offenders because we tell it as it is, and pull no punches in the process. When it was announced that Dr. Laura was going on television, I was looking forward to it. It was about that time the gay lobby went after her for declaring that homosexual behavior was deviant and in violation of God’s laws. This remark upset the gay community despite the fact that the world’s major canons of scripture – the Bible, the Talmud and the Koran – all condemn homosexual behavior and anything like unto it in the strongest terms possible. But the gays were in a hissy fit conniption and set in wheels both a protest as well as applying pressure on sponsors that had committed to advertising on Dr. Laura’s television show to withdraw their sponsorship of the show.

With that going on, Dr. Laura failed to make some key moves that would have benefited her substantially. Before going on television, whether it be a new or returning show intended to go either into syndication or on one of the networks, there is an annual press tour that gives television and print critics a chance to preview and review the upcoming attractions to the boob tube in the coming fall. Dr. Laura’s first mistake was a key error in judgement by ditching the press tour. Her failure to make herself accessible to critics undoubtedly added fuel to the fire in the backlash that the gays had already formed against her. First, she alienated the gay community – so what about them. They are just a malcontent minority that wants it either their way or no way at all. But to leave the critics hanging is not good public relations for someone looking to break into a new medium, and Dr. Laura didn’t do herself any favors with this course of action.

Her second mistake was when the show finally aired. I made the point of making sure to watch it, and was I ever disappointed. Perhaps the biggest letdown I felt was when she went so far out of her way to avoid touchy or sensitive topics that (to be blunt) left me turned off by what I saw on her show. In no way was her television show a reflection of her radio program – not the slightest iota. It was as if there were two Dr. Lauras – one radio tough girl, and one television lady with her tail between her legs.

Why was that? Had Paramount told her to toe the line, and if so, why didn’t either Paramount or Dr. Laura show some integrity of their own and put their foot down in much the same manner she tells her radio listeners every day? Was either the studio or Dr. Laura afraid of litigation? Surely, she has to know that what she says qualifies as free speech under the First Amendment. After all, she has not to my knowledge made any statements that were either seditious or life threatening. We do not have a ‘thought police’ in this country yet, despite the efforts of folks the likes of Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

In looking at Dr. Laura, I cannot help but notice the comparison between her and another controversial figure that made the transition from radio to television, only in this case, the move was made successfully while the radio program was maintained. I am talking about Rush Limbaugh, who moved his radio show from Sacramento, California to New York City a number of years ago. After his show went national on the radio and was a certified hit, he was approached about going on television, which he accepted and did for a couple of years and did quite well. One of the main reasons for this was that his message was consistent and his viewers did not see one Rush and his listeners another. This is one of the lessons that Laura Schlessinger needs to learn if her show is to have a viable future on television.

I believe the chances of Dr. Laura Schlessinger returning to television do not look good at this point, and I cannot blame the gay community alone for this. To a large extent, the show as originally formatted and premiered was its own worst enemy. The fact is that I had high hopes and expectations for the show, only to see them dashed on the premiere episode and further depressed on subsequent airings to the extent that I stopped watching after the third show.

What made Rush Limbaugh so successful on television before he left it to concentrate on his preferred choice of radio, was that he stayed true to his message and whether one agreed with him or not, you had to respect him. Even his critics have stated that you ignore him at your peril. It is hoped that Dr. Laura will take a page out of Rush’s playbook and do on television what she does best on her radio show – kicking butt and taking names.

Let the games begin.

• Photo of the author courtesy of Beth Rollins
• Photo of Dr. Laura Schlessinger courtesy of CNN
• Photo of Rush Limbaugh courtesy of Rush Limbaugh

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission