CBS's Bull Jumps Off From Dr. Phil's Life To Dramatize Trial Consulting: What Episodes Should We Expect?

Dr. Phil McGraw is not just a TV therapist with somewhat controversial credentials and a bandwagon jumper with regard to recent true crime pop culture phenomena; he's also about to be a scripted drama producer! Deadline reports that CBS has ordered a pilot for Bull, which McGraw apparently co-wrote with Paul Attanasio -- a real-deal writer whose credits include House, Homicide: Life On The Street, and the feature film Quiz Show -- and which is based on McGraw's former career as a trial consultant in Texas.

It's CBS. And it's a procedural. So it feels like there's absolutely no question this thing will go to series. What is in question is how the show will reflect the Dr. Phil we've all come to know, roll our eyes at, and sometimes imitate unkindly...but we think we can make some reasonable predictions about what to expect.

S01.E01: Wake Up, Sheeple In the series premiere, we meet Bill McGrath (Michael Chiklis), a Psy.D. working as a trial consultant in Dallas and raising two boys with his wife Bobbie (Sharon Lawrence). Suddenly, he's thrust into the limelight when he's hired to work for the defense on a lawsuit brought against Olivia Withers (Octavia Spencer), a popular talk show host who dared to suggest that lamb might be an unhealthy dietary choice and is now being sued by the powerful sheep lobby. When Olivia has too many Moscow Mules with Bill one night, she confides in him the truth about her infamously long engagement, and before you know it, she's won the case...and he has a very big bargaining chip in his back pocket.

S01.E04: Keeping Abreast Of The Situation Bill has to do some soul-searching when he's approached by a disgruntled former patient who wants to sue the doctor (guest star Esai Morales) who botched her nose job -- the very same doctor who did Bobbie's breast enlargement and lift, and who she therefore considers a member of the family, if one she only acknowledges in secret.

S01.E05: The Marriage Of True Minds Bill's in the middle of working on the acrimonious divorce of local oil baron Chet Palmer (Gary Grubbs) acrimonious divorce when Bill's son Ray asks him to come watch The Parent Trap with him. The film's simple message leads Bill to an epiphany: no one should ever get divorced, no matter the circumstances! He immediately contrives a plan to lock up Chet and his wife Patrice (Mischa Barton) in a house equipped with cameras, while Bill observes and directs them through a variety of exercises over a PA system. Result: Chet and Patrice find the magic again, and Bill finds an important therapeutic sideline that puts his training to even more important use.

S01.E17: The Big Easy Does It Bill's holiday in New Orleans turns into one of the busman's variety when his nephew Christopher (Lucas Black) seeks his assistance on the case of a smuggling ring operating on naval vessels; elsewhere, Bobbie becomes convinced they're staying in a haunted B&B. (Crossover with NCIS: New Orleans.)

S01.E22: Grace Of My Heart When Nancy Grace (as herself) comes to Dallas to cover a murder case on which Bill is consulting, pro bono, for the prosecution, the two happen to run into each other in the bar at Nancy's hotel. Though Nancy has historically had issues of principle when Bill has worked on the defense side, she admires him for following his conscience this time. Their shared sense of outrage puts both of them in a passionate mood, and as they stand in front of the door to her suite...will they? You'll have to tune in for the Season 2 premiere to find out!