Has anyone here seen Maury Povich's shows (he has a talk show, I'm sure you know, and he's most famous for paternity test shows) where he has people with phobias, often very unusual ones, and he cures them by the end of the show? What are your impressions?

I just watched a taping earlier from a show that aired a couple days ago (a repeat, I think). I've seen some of his other phobia shows, and they always make me angry. Here's my impressions of the shows:

1. I know there are people with very strange phobias, and I'm not putting anyone down, but sometimes I wonder if these people are real. Some phobias have included cotton balls, buttons, pickles and peaches. I know not everyone "freaks out" the same as me, but some things seem kind of fake. I'd be more likely to believe them, of course, if I actually knew them and saw that they really have phobias.

2. While I'll argue that these people know what the show is like before they go on (or should--if I were considering going on a talk show, I'd watch a few episodes before agreeing to go on), I feel like Maury is exploiting them. Still, it's their decision to go on.

3. I am infuriated how these people are put on as entertainment. The audience laughs, Maury laughs, he always has someone bring out whatever it is the person is afraid of, often without telling them, to get them to react. Last night, he had a woman terrified of cotton balls, and had a guy covered in them (she'd had nightmares of such a guy coming after her to kill her by stuffing the cotton balls down her throat) surprise her and freak her out. He often says things, like, "Erica! It's just a peanut!" and "This is crazy, Linda! Why are you acting like this?" (Most of his guests are women.) I see the humor in some of these phobias, and I admit I've laughed at some things, but I'm fully aware of how disabling and serious this is, and I'm not making fun of them.

4. Maury has a hypnotist or someone who cures them by the end of the show. I'm not saying this isn't possible, but I'm really skeptical. I know some people would be afraid to even try, but if it's this easy, why aren't more people cured?

You can search "maury phobias" on YouTube to find more, but here's a clip from yesterday's show:

<center><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G45s4GJslGI"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G45s4GJslGI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></center>