This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. Chris Harrison and Lauren Zema coming to you from our new office, Merritt Street Media. I don't know if you guys have heard the news. If not, we're going to break it to you right here, right now. Lauren Za and I are coming back to television at Merritt Street Media. It is a brand new network run created by the legend doctor Phil. It's going to hit the airwaves in
the biggest network launch ever April second. LZ, Congratulations, welcome back to TV.
Congratulations babe. This feels so incredible. We have been sitting on this news for a little while and are.
Thrilled to be able to share it with everybody.
And thank you all for all of the support that you've given us, for the messages, for the we want to see you back on TV again. I almost feel like we should go back to where we started, how we met, which is me interviewing you so that we can kind of explain the story of how this happened and vice versa.
Okay, yeah, this will be our training to get back into television. But yeah, I'm just so darn excited to be doing this. It's I'm we've been chopping at the bit to break this news because, like you said, we've been sitting on this for a while.
I've been surprised by how I don't want to say I didn't miss it. It's just I think you and I were both in the place of what we want our next chapter to be. And we literally named our production company Next Chapter Productions. But we wanted our next chapter to be something that we were really excited about, and we actually behind the scenes and never never announced this. We had another overall deal with a studio where we
were working on some stuff. They were great, but we never really found the project we wanted to do.
And when this came along, this felt right.
So I think let's dive in with that, because that's going to be everybody's first question.
Let me ask you, Chris Harrison.
Yes, why was at Street Media the right home for your return to television?
It was a perfect fit. When doctor Phil and I had our first lunch and then you came to our next lunch and we all got to know each other, and he explained what he was doing, the purpose behind Merritt Street, and what he wanted us to be doing. I just I had this fire burning inside me again, and I just knew, you know, you get that feeling, you're like, this feels right. This was right, And I believe in what he's doing. I believe in what this
network stands for. And what I really liked is when he talked to both of us, he said, I want both of you back on TV, but I'm not just bringing you back to do a relationship show. If you want to do that, great, you guys, think bigger, think bolder. This is a blank slate. It is going to be the biggest network launch ever. Somewhere between seventy five and eighty million subscribers will be watching Merritt Street Media. You guys go, I just want you to be a part
of this family. We'll figure it out.
I'm glad you just had the opportunity to do the Chris Harrison thing of the biggest, the biggest network launch ever. But it really is. I mean, by the numbers, seventy five eighty million people, and it was I know, we had told you all we were going to announce this a little bit sooner, a little bit earlier than we ended up being able to. Part of the reason was they were getting approached with even more deals to add even more numbers of subscribers to this launch. So it
is the biggest network launch in television history. I think the sort of easiest, most digestible way to convey it is, remember when Oprah launched own Doctor Phil is now launching his own channel, his own network, and you all are going to be able to find it.
We'll have more details on you know, literally what channel it's going.
To be, right, But it'll be on Dish, it'll be ondirected, it'll be on Charter Cave, it'll be on all everything.
So when we started meeting with Phil, like you said, I think we were both instantly excited. There were a couple of things that instantly excited me. One, doctor Phil is brilliant. I mean, if you don't know his background, the reason Oprah found him and put him on TV was because she was just so impressed by him. And by the way, this kind of feels like kismet. Yeah, Doctor Phil launched his show. I went and looked this up two thousand and two. What else launched in two thousand and two?
Babe The Bachelor? My career doing The Bachelor, And I didn't know that for some reason. I think because of Oprah. I felt like he's been on so much longer. When you told me that he started the same year that we started, I really that it feels full It feels full circle.
So he's so brilliant.
And I had actually interviewed him a couple times when I was at ET because at that time his show was on CBS, we both were. And when Doctor Phil announced he wasn't renewing with CBS, that was a big deal, right, I mean, his show is a huge daytime show, I think the biggest, and so for him to leave and say I'm going to start my own thing that made waves in the industry. And that leads me to the second thing that excited me, which was that he wanted
to make waves. To have incredible resources, this facility is so stunning that they've built here in Texas, and to also have the experience of someone like Doctor Phil who is such a pro at what he does, and having those two worlds colliding is really something special that does not come along very often.
And I'll piggyback off that because a couple of things. Number One, why am I so excited about Merritt Street. One of the reasons you just mentioned. It's right here in my own backyard. To be able to get back to television and do something meaningful, and to do it here in the DFW area where I grew up, my mom still lives, all my friends family. This is awesome. This is such a treat for me to be around. We're hiring locals, bringing people out of the local colleges.
This is just such a cool thing to be able to give back to this community and to bring television here, huge, big time TV. This state of the art facility that he built, I've never seen anything like it. It really is. It is. I've been to CNN, I've been to Fox News, I've been to all these places. This place is absolutely astronomical. And Doctor phil They've spared no expense, cut no corners. It's incredible. The other thing to me is you and
I had different options to return to television. We had talked about different ideas, We had ideas pitched to us, and nothing just nothing felt right, Like nothing got that fire burning where I'm like, yes, this is it. And something about running into doctor phil Us, becoming friends and him pitching us this idea. All of a sudden, the stars aligned and this thing just felt right. And as soon as you and I were on you know, talked about this, we knew. We were like, this is it.
It is. It's kind of like a what's work love at first sight?
You know, it's funny. I was gonna say, this has been a relationship show for the last couple of years. And let me let me dispel one rumor. People have said, oh, well, he stayed away because there was a two year no compete clause and that's why he stayed away this long. That was not the case. We really just couldn't find anything that I wanted to sink my teeth into. Nothing really lit that fire in me until this, And and luckily Lauren and I had the ability to wait and
be patient. And I give you a lot of credit for that, and myself, I'll tell you know, pat myself on the back of like being patient and not just jumping back to jump back. I didn't want to get into TV just to do TV again. I wanted it to be right.
Yeah. I think you know, we're coming from a place of like if someone was in their twenties asking me that question, I'd say, dive in, say yes to everything, try everything, take the opportunity. But once you've really gotten to a good place you want to be at in your career, then you just have to start making decisions about, well, what do I want my career to be, and sometimes you have to say no. Sometimes saying no is more powerful, but you know that comes later. So I think we
were both at that place. And maybe the one of the biggest assets about Merritt Street and Doctor Phil also is I don't know anywhere else, you know. Again, we talk to other networks about possibly doing overall first Look d and that kind of thing. I don't know anywhere else where. Someone who is running the network has been on TV themselves, and that is a game changer. It's almost hard to convey if you're not in the industry.
But you know what a lot of people have an issue with in Hollywood right now, people who have been working in this business a long time, is that creatives used to run studios and now numbers people.
Do people that had TV experience, they made TV.
And now it's not like that. So it's kind of losing that that magic. And not only losing that magic, but it's just really hard to like pitch stuff and get stuff done because everybody behind the scenes is like a numbers person and is only worried about the bottom line, and you're trying to tell them, but if we make.
This project great, it will be good.
Like I would say, one of the huge reasons the Barbie movie crush this summer is because Mattel told director Greta Gerwig, do your vision. They let her do her vision and it was great, and they didn't try to step in.
Too much, even at the expense of Mattel, Like they took some shots at Mattel, but they said, no, no, do your movie.
Do you think?
Yeah?
And when we sit in a room with Phil, this is his network. He's running it. He makes quick, smart, powerful decisions, and he knows what's good. And to see him, you know, have that trust in us, like when we've been talking about some potential relationship reality shows. He's very much like you guys. You know, Chris, you know what you're doing, What do you want to do?
What you know? I think you would call it in sports a player's coach. There are certain people you play for in sports that.
That's one of the first sports analogies you've ever made that I've understood.
In they really understand because they've been there. You know, they've played, they've been on the field. They know what you're going through as a player. That's Doctor Phil. When you sit down and you pitch him a show or you talk to him, the guy's been there. He's doing it at the highest level. He's still doing it because Doctor Phil Primetime is going to be the anchor of this network. He is Doctor Phil Brilliant. He owns his
own show. So he has brought Doctor Phil the catalog as well as his new show, Doctor Phil Primetime to this network, and he's doing some unbelievable, really moving shows. As he says, I want to really own the debate lane in this country because, as he says, we got problems and we're going to start solving some of these problems.
So maybe the next big question people ask is what are you working on specifically and what does this return to TV really mean?
I love this. We're doing this in our new office and Doctor Phil is about to walk by right now to go out to the stage to do Doctor Phil Primetime. So the floor director's right outside. We got our camera crew right there taking pictures of us, and Doctor Phil is about to walk by, very hands on work. Everybody is around each other all the time. Just a creative think tank. I love this. But to your question, where will you see Elsie and I back on TV? A
couple of big projects. First and foremost, I will be appearing on Doctor Phil Primetime. As Doctor Phil said, you know what I was doing with Oprah and how I would kind of supplement and help her. I want you doing that on Doctor Phil Primetime. So I will be appearing immediately starting April second, as the show launches, the network launches, I'll be on Doctor Phil Primetime, filling in doing some work with him. And I love that because it immediately got me back to my journalism and the
same thing with you. You and I have talked about these stories that he's doing.
Well, we need sort of a new word because you have been doing journalism. Yeah, but like you did that on The Bachelor. I mean you interviewed people on.
The Batchel are using your skills for sure, totally.
That was the Chris Harrison hot seats.
So yeah, your journalism, yes, but I think what you're doing is bringing the hot seat to Doctor Phil.
And oh interesting, Yeah, you've seen a couple of the shows. You tell me what I'm bringing, Well.
That is what you're bringing.
You know, you did a show about They've brought you in to talk about some relationship topics and I think you've done great with that. Also, it's getting you back to you know, he was really great with asking you what are you interested in?
What do you want to cover?
So I know you want to do some stuff with sports and things that are happening in that world, controversies. But Doctor Phil's show is kind of the perfect fit for you of that journalism interview background.
But there's some drama on Doctor Phil.
No. He look, he knows this network television also needs to be entertaining. That's what we're here for too, is to entertain you. And that's again you go back to having a player's coach, having a guy who's been in the trenches and been on TV. He knows we're not just going to do ah. You know, TV, we kind of entertain We got to make you laugh, got to make you think, got to make you cry. That's what TV does and that's what Doctor Phil does and he's brilliant at it.
Another part of the reason the fit seemed so perfect to me, I think you two share reasons that you have been on TV for so long. Like Doctor Phil moved his show to Texas, he moved lots of LA staffers with him.
He takes care of his people.
And you know, when we were going through everything, I know that a huge part of the reason you made a lot of the decisions that you made, I think in part well, I think sometimes really to your own detriment, Like looking back, they weren't great decisions for you personally, honestly, but you made those decisions because your driving force was never yourself. It was I want to make sure the show stays okay. I don't want you know, I want to make sure that everybody who I've worked with is okay.
And you were really focused on their jobs. So Phil brought a bunch of people from LA to hear and his bond with his audience.
He really cares about his audience.
He here in the Merit Street Media Studio has built an entire red carpet audience experience so that when the audience comes in for him tape, they have a really cool VIP Hollywood like experience right here in Texas. And he understands that connection. And you've always understood that connection. I always say The simplest way to explain it is you stop and take a picture with everybody, because you know those people are the reason that you're here.
Yeah, and by the way, if you're ever in the DFW area, you want to come see a life taping of Doctor Phil Prime Time or maybe something else, and I will be talking about and doing very soon. But I thank you, and I feel the same when I'm on stage with him. He has this charisma and this charm and again I go back to sports, all my analogies or sports. But it's been fun to kind of exchange barbes with him and kind of volley back and forth with him when we're on stage together and we're
hosting together. It really is a masterclass in hosting. I really enjoy his style, and it took me a minute, you know, to watch his style to see how he does things. But it's fun to be on stage with another host who does it at this high level because he's so damned talented. And you know, by the way, don't ever underestimate the guy with the accent. That's what he wants. Yeah, that's what he wanted.
He's doing that Texas draw to draw it out of you.
But That's one of the things he said to both of us when when he said, I want you guys to come to Merritt Street, I want you back on TV. I think you both have you resonate with your fans, and you have this fan base that you're going to bring with you. So I like that. You know, game recognizes game.
You know well to have someone tell you, especially in our business, like here's what's a little bit of the contradiction of Hollywood. People who really make it are a personality, right, Like when you think about Jack Nicholson, you know exactly who're thinking about. When you think about Tom Hanks, you know people know that person. But what this business also tells you over and over again is fit a mold,
fit a mold, fit a mold. And you and I were both at places where like I did Roses and Rose and I loved it, and I created that myself and pitched it and they greenlit that and support it. So I'm so grateful. But when I was doing interviews, you know, it was always like, okay, but you have to be doing it the ET way, ask it the ET way. And on the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, you know you lose yourself a little bit.
And so to have him say to us, I want you to come here and do what you want to do and be yourselves.
What a gift. I felt so blessed.
One of the things that there's a quote that's stuck with me, and I've said this to some other people. So We're sitting with doctor Phil in his office and you know, I'm really hand ringing and him and and Holland about how I'm going to return, which of his shows that I would make the first show back, and what subject matter will I cover? And you know, I'm really in the weeds on this, and he just stops me.
And as only doctor Phil could say, he is like, Chris, we don't have to hang this in the louver, meaning everything doesn't have to be perfect. Get let's get you back on TV man. People just want to see you talk. Let's go. And I just love he cuts to the chase, and that's a line that's going to resonate and stick with me for a long time. He just stopped me. He's like, we don't have to hang it in the loover, man, Let's just go do TV. Well.
We're definitely both perfectionists.
We like for our quality to be really high, which by the way, is why I have sometimes honestly struggled with podcasting. I'm excited to be back on TV because I grew up and studied and loved a medium that is really like edited and not a word is wasted.
Scripted, formulaic to a certain degree.
When I would edit Roses and Rose, I would cut out half seconds, like the timing matters so much to me, especially because that's what you learn about in comedy, Like timing matters so much so to just sit and what we've always been told about podcasting is talk longer, go longer.
It crushes me.
Okay, well, before we wrap this up, I think we need People are going to be wondering, Hey, what else are you working on.
One of the first things we're working on is a morning show together, a morning show that we will co host. That was one of our first ideas here at Merit, and again they were super supportive of it. So we have that in the works, and I think that's going to be that great next chapter, as we named our company, Next Chapter Productions for us, where we've been doing the podcast together, but now we can do something together in a medium that we really love, which is television.
Merritt Street Media. Immediately April second, we'll launch with Doctor Phil primetime, and they also have news. There's a big news department and they have a very talented group of newscasters and producers. In the morning, I think they're doing two hours of news. There's going to be evening news as well. That will launch immediately. And then what we are working on is producing a late morning talk show, the two of us hosting together. That could be dangerous, it could be fun, the.
Most dramatic talk show ever.
Yeah, okay, it'll come on right after It'll come on right after the morning news. And that is something that I am so excited about. It's, if I had to pick one thing, that's probably my my most excited project to be diving into. It's something I've dabbled in before because I've you know, hosted with Kelly and The View, and I've done a bunch of that stuff. Obviously you've done ET and you have done your fair share of interviewing. To be on together because you're so damn talented, but
I also love working together. I love our chemistry on TV and off, So I just think it's it's going to be fantastic and I and I again kudos to doctor Phil for saying, LZ, Chris, go do your thing. Man.
Yeah.
Well, when we've been talking about it, you know what we want it to be. I think we want it to be relatable. We want it to be fun. We're going to talk about our relationship. We're going to dive into the issues everybody's facing, but do it in a really digestible, fun way. And I'm really going to fulfill my mom's dreams right now because, like literally, when I was a kid, my mom wanted me to be on the morning news shows in Chicago. So you know what
this is about. This is about making Donna zeba happy Love you mom.
If we can get back to work and be happy and make Donnazema happy, I mean, talk about a win win. One of the things that will work its way into our morning show is the synergy of this network. Doctor Phil has this beautiful synergistic idea of from morning to evening, you can turn this network on and leave it on all day. In one show, we'll not just lead into another, it will kind of bleed into another in that you never know who you're going to see in the morning,
Doctor Phil will be on our show. We'll be on Doctor Phil's show. I almost throughout some other names of people that are coming to this network, But the idea is we're all going to kind of take part in each other's projects. Even the morning news will kind of bleed in and we will go back into the news set at times on our show for breaking news or for the news of the day and making things more digestible.
So that will it's going to be a different vibe and a different show than you're used to, and the network itself is going to be a different vibe in a different feel. And I love this idea of Doctor Phil of like, hey man, everybody's door is open. We're all going to be here one big fraternity and we're helping each other out, which is very different than what I'm used to a network TV, where it is kill or be killed.
Yes, And he's very much about you know, I know, he just released his book We've Got Issues, and he again wanted to I mean, the story I've heard him tell over and over again is that he was having dinner with his lovely wife Robin, and he said to her, Gosh, the media has just gotten like out of control and I'm paraphrasing him, and she didn't even pause between taking a bite of her food and said.
Well, honey, you are the media.
And that made him realize, like, I need to play a part in creating something better. And so he really does want this network, Merrit Street Media, to be a place where it's not just all talking heads screaming at each other. It's real, grounded approaches. And I've watched him now approach his shows, the level of research he does.
He researches every single side of an issue when he's going to tackle it, so that he goes in so informed and he just tries to get to the truth and to the reality and to a solution, not a controversy.
And so I really am refreshed by that.
He one of the first things he said to both of us, this is not political. We're not right, we're not left, We're facts. And he said, Chris, you may not like what you're going to hear on Merit Street Media, but one thing you can deny, it's just the facts, and take from that what you will and just have the debate and be able to ask questions and be able to take that and have a conversation. Heaven forbid, we have a real conversation.
Heaven forbid, people who disagree can just talk to each other and have a conversation.
Okay, So one more thing.
Let's talk about the thing that I think probably a lot of your longtime fans will be pretty excited about, which is the other project we have in.
The works here at Mary the Elephant in the Room. Yes, there are talks for a relationship show that is indeed happening. There are talks. We're still early days because we're early days in this network of the Vibe and we kind of want to see how this feels and what kind of show would fit. But we're in talks. And again, the beautiful thing is you just sit with doctor Phil and that's who we're dealing with, and when he says yes, we go, and he loves it. He loves the ideas
we're talking about, and we're pitching. And so yes, there will be I believe a relationship show at Merritt Street Media and we will be back with that as well. So hopefully people will be happy that we'll be coming back with a relationship show and probably some you know, familiar names, some familiar faces that will be helping me put this show together.
If you were going to let me just put you right into tease mode, how would you tease it?
Well, this will be the most dramatic relationship show ever for real. No, I am excited and I do love again that Doctor Phille said. Look, I'm not bringing you here, you know, to hand out roses or to do a relationship show. If you want to do that and we think it fits, great, we can add that to the repertoire. But I want y'all to think bigger. I want you to be creative because he knows that we love TV and he was such a huge fan of you because y'all kind of shared the CBS world and so he
knew of you. He loves you. He thinks you're talented as hell. He's been very appreciative of my talent and he's been so complimentary. I love that we kind of can just run with this and the Morning show, whether it's a reality show, Doctor Phill Primetime, There's going to be other projects coming through the door. Here, sky's a limit. The sky's a limit, and we are back. We're back on TV.
To see you.
Walk out on stage again was emotional for me, it's been a minute, and I never had any doubt that you would be back with what you wanted to come back with. But there's something about the actual moment of you walking out. Everybody went crazy and applauded for you when they saw you. I was just so proud of you. I was so proud of you.
Thank you.
You crushed it. You didn't miss a beat, you were I'm in awe of your talent. I am. I used to feel this way even before we were ever dating. I would interview you and just I would look forward to our interviews because you were a SoundBite machine and you'd get me all the headlines I wanted.
And you're so good at what you do.
So to just watch someone you love do what they love to do is always a blessing. And I feel so grateful. I feel so thankful for where we're at, so happy, and I just feel like this is such an exciting moment for you, because you talked about this earlier about doctor Phil being kind of a masterclass for you. For me watching YouTube up there, I was like, God, I am watching two of the best in the business together, And what you can create from here is.
I think going to be some of your best work.
Yet I'll let everybody behind the scenes a little bit. So, as I said, we've taped already a few episodes of Doctor Phil Primetime where I'm appearing on Doctor Phil's show, and the very first time, right as he was about to introduce me, and I'm about to walk on stage. While I knew I was going to come back to TV, I didn't know if it would ever happen again. You know, you just you don't know because this business is difficult.
I don't care who you are, It is a tough business, and so you never that stage is never promised to anybody. So as I do, before I walk out on any stage, I say a quick little prayer, and I got emotional because I realized, deep down, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to do this again. And I'm grateful for the opportunity, just as I was always grateful to
walk on any stage when I was hosting. I was so grateful for that opportunity, and I thought of you, thought of our family, and I got a little teary eyed to walk out to that audience again and to be able to do what I love, and I realized being here at Merritt Street Media. I'm getting to do what I love again, and I have that passion at
a very real, raw level. You know. I feel like I got to go to the mountaintop with what I was doing previously and here now I get to do it because I love it period to do it with you. I get to do this with the woman. I love you, and I have been coming to work every day. We drive into work every day, we talk about what we're going to do, and I know that can be a
slippery slope. Maybe we'll do a podcast on working with your such a gift and significant other, but it's just been such a dream for me to get to watch you being so damn good at what you do, and so to bring our talents together and to do this together. This is the dream. Mary Street Media is the dream. And with that, we'll wrap this up and just say
thank you. As Lauren said off the top, thanks for all the love, your response, your notes, your direct messages since we announced this what less than twenty four hours ago, has been overwhelming. And I love you guys. We love you guys. You have always meant the world to me,
and I mean the audience. I always you know, as Lauren said, I tried to foster that connection with you guys, and it meant something to me, So it means something to me now that you guys are so excited that we're back and we can't wait for what is to come. And stay tuned because we'll keep you posted as this network launches April second, as Lauren and I announce our projects and shows we're doing. But thank you. We can't say enough how excited we are to be back here
at Merritt Street Media. And we will talk to you soon because we have a lot more to talk about. Thanks for listening. Follow us on Instagram at the most dramatic pod ever, and make sure to write us a review and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.