Laura Schlessinger - Television Show

Television Show

In 2000, Schlessinger signed a deal with Paramount Domestic Television to produce a syndicated talk show, which would be carried mainly by television stations owned and operated by CBS. The producers hoped to extend the success of Schlessinger's radio show to daytime television, however, the show was controversial before it ever aired, and it proved to be short-lived.

In the months before the premiere of her TV show, Schlessinger called homosexuality a "biological error", said that homosexuality was acceptable as long as it was not public, and said that homosexuals should not attempt to adopt children. She regularly compared gay parenting to pedophilia by reiterating her view that "a huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys." Schlessinger was frequently criticized in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) media for these views. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an LGBT media watchdog group, began monitoring Schlessinger's on-air comments about LGBT people, posting transcripts of relevant shows on its website.

In March 2000, a group of gay activists launched StopDrLaura.com, an online campaign with the purpose of convincing Paramount to cancel the Dr. Laura television show prior to its premiere. The group protested at Paramount studios, stating her views were offensively bigoted. StopDrLaura.com eventually organized protests in 34 cities in the U.S. and Canada, and picked up on an advertiser boycott of both the radio and the TV shows started by another grass-roots organization which called itself "Silence Of The Slams" operating its boycott through AOL Hometown.

The first episode of Schlessinger's television show aired September 11, 2000. Critics and viewers complained that the format had been dumbed down and did not stand out from any other daytime talk show. The biting rhetoric that worked well on radio seemed overly harsh for face-to-face discourse, owing to the normal sympathetic nature of most other daytime hosts; the radical change in Schlessinger's demeanor from her radio persona left viewers cold. Ultimately, the television show failed to generate the energy and interest of Schlessinger's radio show.

The credibility of Schlessinger's television program also suffered during its first month when the New York Post reported that Schlessinger had used show staff to falsely pose as guests on the show. A September 25, 2000, episode named "Readin', Writin', and Cheatin'" featured a so-called college student who specialized in professional note-taking. On the next day's show, "Getting to the Altar," the same guest appeared in different hair and makeup and said she was a woman living with her boyfriend. In fact, the woman was San-D Duchas, a researcher for the show whose name appeared in the closing credits of the shows on which she posed as a guest. Apparently, Schlessinger was unaware of this incident until it was disclosed by the Post, and immediately put a stop to any further use of this practice.

By November 2000, advertisers that had originally committed to Schlessinger's show left, and the ratings plummeted. CBS directed its stations to move the show to a late-night slot or replace it altogether. Other stations outside of CBS did the same thing, while others moved it to weaker sister stations. The television show was cancelled in March 2001 and last aired in September 2001.

In 2004, Schlessinger said that although there is more money and celebrity in television, it is not as meaningful or intimate as radio, and for her television was a "terrible experience".