Most of the show is not actually interviewing Burke, most of it is interviews from other people and snippets from John Ramsey's interviews.
Precious little time has actually been devoted to the Burke segments, I think when you add it together he maybe comprises 20% of actual air time.
See my post above regarding time devoted to Burke vs time devoted to JR/Lin Wood
The McGraw Burke Ramsey "exclusive"
focused on JR and JR + Wood over 18. 5 minutes or ~ 30% of total time
whereas Burke got 28.5 minutes or ~ 40% of total time
If you carefully watch how the show was framed or set up initially and then watch each segment unfold
A great deal of time was spent initially ie Part I framing the entire Ramsey story - using McGraw explanations, Larry Schiller, and Joyce DeLong
The audience was being prepared to hear a story which served to 1) exonerate Ramseys of all wrong doing 2) Ramsey's were unjustifiably smeared and vilified by an inept BPD 3) Phil finally would set the whole record straight by carefully interrogating Burke Ramsey - who had NEVER spoken before in a public forum
P Mc Graw carefully set up the story line by heavy use of the "official Ramsey narrative" using none other than John Ramsey himself. We saw a vintage John Ramsey acting as the humble martyr but who after 20 years had earned the wisdom of someone undergoing unearned tragedy and pain - namely speaking like Job ( Book of Job- aka "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People). John seemed genuinely perplexed why he or Patsy and even Burke could have been so persistently excoriated and vilified - even after declaring their innocence, after AH and the DA declared there was NO foundation to indict the Ramseys, even after the DNA "officially exonerated the Ramseys. In effect Ramsey publicly pondered why he had become a victim of a systematic witch- hunt. BUT, he told us, "such is the fate of a righteous man"--,a sort of Prophet of God - scorned by an "evil public".
Larry Schiller and Candice DeLong were used as props - acting like the Greek Chorus in Greek Tragedies - underscoring the assumptions and main messages of the narrative.
Phil mere was the conduit or "voice" of this narrative - in this instance functioning as the omniscient, all-wise detached voice of reason and justice - laying out the story qua "the reality of history". Phil assumed this vital role of final "God-like" arbiter because he deems himself to be
1. Disinterested champion of truth and justice
2. One of few voices on TV or media who is able to cut through deception and self- delusions in order to truly "get real"
3. One who uses hard piercing questioning to penetrate self-delusion and defense mechanisms
4. One who appeals to his vast vast experience of forensic psychology- verification of his "expertise as a Truth seeker and a Truth-teller"
5. One who is neutral and disinterested; Phil McGraw ONLY seeks "the truth in order to help the victim of maladjustment or delusion" recover. "You cannot fix what you do not acknowledge"
And to that end:
Phil assured the viewing public that
1. Burke Ramsey is unequivocally innocent, forthcoming, genuine, and utterly undeserving of any rumor or suspicion or wrong doing
2. John Ramsey's story of innocence and the victim of "race to judgment" and press vilification.
Indeed, in order to effect "damage control" to this "Ramsey is innocent" narrative (I assume) required due to contrary conclusions being derived in the Clemente produced CBS documentary ( namely, by reasoning and by logical exclusion, Burke must have done it and the Ramsey family must have been complicit) Phil inserted an unscheduled "emergency session of the Phil Show" called "Question and Answer Session about Burke". Phil, showing his keen sensitivity to viewer interest and unrest regarding Burke's demeanor on Burke exclusive part I, announced his intention to devote an entire show, in order to quell skepticism about the veracity of the Ramsey narrative launched on Burke Part I.
In this show, McGraw reiterated assumptions undergirding the Ramsey narrative as depicted on Burke Part I.
McGraw showed himself to be only interested in Truth and Justice. And in this instance, some misunderstandings had arisen in his viewership.
First amongst these "misunderstandings" is the "false impression" that Burke, rather than appearing to be honest, largely uninformed, and completely uninvolved in the JBR murder, appeared somewhat of maladjusted maybe even autistic, fidgeting, "?freak?" OR at least, as guy, due to demeanor, body language, eye movements, inappropriate facial expression, who was either guilty or who at least knew a lot more than he was admitting to.
Phil voluntarily and directly debunked this impression in NO uncertain terms- even resorting to sternly lecturing his audience to not be so stupid
"he was NOT a suspect; (little, uninformed, undiscerning) PEOPLE!
Doctor Phil -[ a PhD in "clinical psychology" from "?North Texas State" whose dissertation dealt with "Rheumatoid Arthritis - psychological interventions" - who had received official complaints and warnings from the Texas State Board of Licensure - Psychology Division}
and who had been engaged in all kinds of shady business dealings after his short stint with his Daddy's Psychology practice, etc.
(Source - wikipedia entry for Phil McGraw; also see the unauthorized Phil biography by journalists out of ? Dallas)]
then
proceeded to field "spontaneous questions" from the audience - questions which conveniently allowed to recap the essentials of Burke Part I Ramsey narrative.
So Phil effectively did the bidding of Ramsey Wood PR machine by publicly tamping out the fires generated by a totally bizarre performance by Burke in Part I, and the damage being done elsewhere by the CBS documentary - an extension or improved version of the Kolar Hypothesis.
Note- Kolar's book is somewhat dated now though much of his supporting evidence and logic remains germane.
CBS added supplemental "expertise" thus not relying just on the "musings" of a BPD investigator. For instance both hosts had broad law enforcement backgrounds, experts were special kinds of criminal analysts- "text analysis".
CBS systematically took key events of this crime in temporal order
1. What can be said with certainty regarding the findings/ elements of crime scene?
2. What is the official Ramsey explanation given about the night of Dec 25 and on into Dec 26 etc
3. Analysis - What to make of the 911 call? What to make of the post 911 call sound tracings?
What to make of the ransom note?
4. What to make of the physical findings of the JBR body?
5 What to make of the "pineapple on the kitchen table and in the GI tract of JBR?
6. The matter of Burke Ramsey - body and language analysis of young Burke's initial interviews with BPD- some seven days after the murder?
7. What to make of the ChildServices /child psychologist interview of Burke?
8 Deliberation on the JBR body injuries - head wound, neck ligature, petechia, blood smears, genital abnormalities, alleged circumstances of the final resting place of JBR in Wine Cellar - covered up, lose rope ties around wrists, apparent rigor mortis, ( not much mention of sneaker "IHE" footprint or "palm print" all based on John Ramsey's description.
9. What to make of the evaluation of the JBR body planted down by JR and then subsequently moved- given the obvious significant crime scene contamination?
The final conclusion/ conjecture aligns with Kolars proposition that Burke may have been the killer, not PR, no JR and that JR, PR consequently engaged in cover up and staging exercise.
Kolars theory has gained new respectability and standing from a national CBS documentary at a time when interest in the JBR murder has surged.
It is in this context that we can better judge Phil McGraws strategy and behavior as demonstrated by the content of Burke Interviews Part I, II, III.
