Michael Weatherly is Bull-ish on His New Hit Series
Just five months after exiting NCIS, Michael Weatherly already has a new hit on his hands. After a 13-year stint playing fan fave Tony DiNozzo, he’s seamlessly transitioned to his own CBS drama. Bull is the brainchild of psychologist Phil McGraw (yep, that Dr. Phil) and his son Jay, who based the series on the former’s early career as a trial consultant. Like McGraw, Dr. Bull has a team of experts—lawyer Benny (Six Feet Under’s Freddy Rodriguez), ex-cop Danny (Jaime Lee Kirchner), stylist Chunk (Christopher Jackson), hacker Cable (Annabelle Attanasio) and neurolinguistics expert Marissa (Geneva Carr)—with whom he travels the country helping defendants plead their cases more effectively using high-tech research, behavioral cues, jury analysis and the occasional makeover. But Weatherly says the similarities between Bull and McGraw stop at their chosen career.
“The biggest mistake everyone makes is that I’m playing Dr. Phil,” he points out. “Others have called the series ‘inspired by’ Dr. Phil, which I also don’t get.” McGraw, he says, is more of a tech adviser. And to Weatherly, this is a very important distinction, because it manages expectations. “I’ve heard people go, ‘I watch it thinking of Dr. Phil,’” he says. “Well, if I gave you a glass of orange juice but told you it was milk, it would taste funny to you, right? I don’t want audiences to have preconceived notions.” Especially since Bull is hardly a straight shooter. The clue is in the name. “It’s not called Mr. Earnest, you know? There’s an element of a snake-oil salesman to him,” he says. “Even I’m not sure when he’s bluffing.”
Also in this issue:
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Our report from the set of Fox’s time-warped reboot of the 1975 cult classic movie.
• Killing Reagan: National Geographic Channel adapts the bestselling book about the 1981 Presidential assassination attempt.
• The Simpsons: TV’s first family of animation celebrates their 600th episode just in time for the annual “Treehouse of Horror.”
• Plus: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown turns 50, NCIS, Scorpion, Blindspot, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.