Embarrass ready to blush for ‘Dr. Oz’ TV show

• Dr. Oz Show

Lisa Gibson of Embarrass signs a media release form for Jayne Tola, who was working as a production assistant for the “Dr. Oz Show,” which was filming in Embarrass on Saturday. Gibson will be traveling to New York City on Tuesday to film her embarrassing medical question for the show. (Janna Goerdt / For the News Tribune)

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EMBARRASS — Lisa Gibson could barely bring herself to reveal her most embarrassing medical question — never mind that in a few days she’ll be flying to New York City to ask that question for a nationwide audience on “The Dr. Oz Show.”

“It has to do with lactation,” Gibson finally allowed, and she would say no more.

A small film crew descended on Timber Hall in Embarrass on Saturday morning, looking for a few good questions for an upcoming episode of the popular body-odd show hosted by one of Oprah Winfrey’s favorites.

While the Embarrass Fair’s Queen Pancake Breakfast went on

inside, and a group of horse riders made use of the fairground’s arena outside, a knot of Embarrass residents waited to enter the Dr. Oz “Truth Booth” and offer up their query.

Some wanted to know why their urine smelled funny. Others asked about odd body odors, about “performance enhancing drugs” and — here’s where Embarrass’ Finnish roots show up — how a body reacts to a roll in the snow after a winter sauna.

Shirley Sarkela Wiitala of Embarrass wanted to know how she might have wound up with a recent yeast infection — in her throat.

“That doesn’t sound good, does it?” Wiitala said, and laughed. The infection is gone, but her question remains, and Wiitala, who watches the Dr. Oz Show during the winters she spends in Arizona, thought she might as well ask.

“For a small town, I was impressed” with the crowd, said Jayne Talo of Virginia, who was working as a “Dr. Oz Show” production assistant for the day.

Given the show’s basic premise — Dr. Oz will answer those questions you may be too shy to ask your own physician — the show’s producers thought it would be quirky to ask people in Embarrass to spill all. They are also soliciting questions from Embarrass, Wis., Peculiar, Mo., and Truth and Consequences, N.M., said Embarrass Town Clerk Diane Nelmark.

Nelmark also will be traveling to the Dr. Oz Show studio in New York City on Tuesday to have her question — why is your butt the last place on your body to warm up after coming inside during an Embarrass cold snap — filmed for the show.

Nelmark has been working with the show’s producers for the past few weeks. She was familiar with the show, and thought it was “tasteful” enough that there was little to worry about, she said. The Embarrass-based show will air sometime in September, Nelmark said.

A film crew from the RumJungle Media filmmakers based in the Twin Cities spent a few days shooting footage in Embarrass — from the pancake breakfast to local landmarks — for the show.

Talo was busy passing out media release forms for everyone to sign, even those, like Embarrass Postmaster Paul Thesenvitz, caught eating pancakes or drinking coffee in the background of a shot.

And Gibson and Nelmark were looking forward to leaving for their whirlwind New York City trip — a first for both of them — on Tuesday. Dr. Oz Show producers are picking up the tab for the two-day excursion.

But won’t Gibson be shy about asking her most personal question to the celebrity doctor? She doesn’t think so.

“Nobody from here will be watching!” she said.

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