Phil McGraw, who talked to me about his interview with Robert Blake — airing on tomorrow’s “Dr. Phil” (3 p.m./Ch. 2) — describes the actor as a “spider monkey on steroids” who was willing to answer any and all questions about his checkered life.
Blake, 79, was acquitted in 2005 of killing wife Bonnie Lee Bakley, but was found liable for her death later that year in a California civil trial. He’s written a new book, “Tales of a Rascal.”
“I read his book and I was absolutely intrigued by it,” McGraw told me. “He’s 79 and sharp as a tack. The book is about his life and major portions are about that [murder] trial and what happened to him in the aftermath, with the civil verdict against him.”
Blake, who almost walked off CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” in July — after accusing Morgan of calling him a liar — didn’t set any ground rules for the “Dr. Phil” interview, McGraw says.
“I said, ‘If you come on, I’m going to ask you whatever I’m going to ask you — it won’t be an ambush, and I’ll tell you right now what I’m going to ask you about.’
“He said, ‘I think you’re being very forthright and you can ask me whatever you want.’
“We talked about everything,” McGraw says. “It’s an interesting interview, not because of the questions — they were so predictable — but because of his answers and the rationale behind those answers and his point of view.”
McGraw says Blake let him and the “Dr. Phil” crew into his apartment and gave them “unprecedented access.”
“At one point he says in the book that he’s writing it from the grave ‘because they’ve killed me — I have no friends, no family, no one.’ I said, ‘So what you’re telling me is that if you die in this apartment, you could be here for a few weeks before anybody finds you, and then it’ll be the smell.’
“He thought about that for a minute and said, ‘Well, I never thought of it that way, but that’s what my life has come to.’
“Afterwards he said that [interview] might have been the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.”
More talk: Joy Behar reunites with her former “The View” compatriot, Meredith Vieira, on tonight’s “Joy Behar: Say Anything!” (6 p.m./ Current TV). Vieira, who hosts “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” will talk about the show’s annual Celebrity Week (airing all this week), which raises money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Behar and Vieira probably see each other more than you think, since “Millionaire” has moved its studios into the same building as “The View” on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
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Noted songwriter, author and memorabilia collector Seth Swirsky has snared a worldwide distribution deal for his first documentary, “Beatles Stories — A Fab Four’s Ultimate Road Trip,” which will open Oct. 2 at the Egyptian Theater in LA to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of the band’s first single, “Love Me Do.”
In the documentary, Swirsky, who’s originally from Long Island, interviewed over 80 people — celebrities and non-celebs alike — about their brushes with the band and their personal stories of how this impacted their lives.
Last June 6, “Beatles Stories” was screened in England (Liverpool, London and Manchester) on “Beatles Day” in the UK and received unanimous praise.
“Beatles Stories” is also out on DVD (complete with a slew of “extras”).
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“Bachelor”/”Bachelorette” alums Ed Swiderski, Reid Rosenthal, Rachel Truehart and Ashley Spivey, among others, will join 46NYC founders Graham Bunn (also a “Bachelor” alum), Hal Kivette and John McGinn to help raise awareness for childhood cancer by hosting an Alex’s Lemonade Stand in Central Park this Sunday, Sept. 23 (from 1 to 5 p.m.).
The stand will be located at Merchant’s Gate (West 59th and Columbus Circle). 46NYC partnered with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to create the “cur46le” T-shirt.
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Last, but not least:
* “Dateline” correspondent J
osh Mankiewicz will visit a viewer’s home for the Sept. 28 season premiere, watch that night’s episode (10 p.m.) with said viewer and tweet with the viewer, live, throughout the broadcast . . . Kay Unger New York hosts an exclusive fashion show, in partnership with Neiman Marcus, tomorrow (6 p.m.) at 230 West 38th. So why am I spilling cyberink about this? Well, 10 a.m. “Today” co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb are big Kay Unger fans . . . “Dance Moms” executive Jeff Collins will continue in his role as host of the “Dance Moms Reunion” show next Tuesday (Sept. 27) at 9 p.m. on Lifetime. Part 1 aired last night . . . FX has ordered a second cycle of “Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell,” which kicks off Oct. 11 in a new timeslot (11:30 p.m.). The first season ends tomorrow night at 11 . . . Kristin Chenoweth will host the 2012 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards, airing Nov. 8 (8 p.m.) on Hallmark Channel . . . Fox hosts a viewing party for “The X Factor” tomorrow night at NYU . . . Ed Asner and Thomas Haden Church will be guest voices this season (its fourth) on Cartoon Network’s “Regular Show” . . .Cable’s RLTV, which caters to a 50+ audience, won Gold and Silver Awards for National Media in the 2012 National Mature Media Awards competition.