Pop Goes the Psychology: The Dr. Phils Meet the Kerrys

John and Teresa Heinz Kerry, left, with Phil McGraw and his wife, Robin, after last month's taping of the "Dr. Phil" show that ran yesterday. (Sharon Farmer -- AP)

On the other hand, we came away from the whole experience a little worried about Dr. Phil's marriage. Dr. Phil, there are eight traits to a marriage in trouble. You have four of them; Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had six.

Take, for example, when Dr. Phil was asked by Heinz Kerry how old his two boys were.

"Twenty-four and 17," Dr. Phil responded quickly.

"Twenty-five," Mrs. Dr. Phil said, as if she meant it to hurt. "He turned 25 last Sunday."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Dr. Phil said, somewhat sheepishly.

"Twenty-five," Mrs. Dr. Phil said for good measure.

"I need to correct myself," he said contritely to the Kerrys, while his eyes screamed, "Help me, please!"

Later, when Mrs. Dr. Phil asked the Democratic nominee for president of the United States whether one of his two daughters was more like him, Kerry -- not realizing that this was just one of her setups to give the Dr. Phils an opportunity to talk about themselves -- answered diplomatically that daughter Alexandra is more like him in some ways but, in other ways, daughter Vanessa is more like him.

". . . because we have one son that I call Dr. Phil Jr.," Mrs. Dr. Phil prattled on happily. "He is so much like his father. But of course both our boys have a lot of their father's traits. But Jordan is just Phil McGraw Jr.!"

"Yeah, that's true," Dr. Phil chimed in. "But you're just bragging on him now."

Then, remembering that he was in the doghouse, Dr. Phil looked down and said, "Well, maybe not."

Mrs. Dr. Phil was especially intrigued that the male half of the Kerry marriage had the two girls in the "blended" family, while the female half had contributed the three boys.

"Did you ever hope you would have a daughter?" Mrs. Dr. Phil asked Heinz Kerry.

"Yes, I lost a couple -- I had some miscarriages."