At his private Texas birthday celebration on Tuesday, he was destined to be the co-star anyway: He shares a birthday week with one of his grandkids, London, 9. “We always celebrate our birthdays together,” the talk show pro said. London gets a “giant cake, and I get a cupcake.”

The family was also gathering with two new members: The rescue puppies Phil and wife Robin McGraw adopted this month when he went to Austin, Tex., to shoot footage for a new show he’s exec producing for CBS All Access, “That Animal Rescue Show,” with Richard Linklater. (Phil joked of the on-the-nose title, “We had a committee from Viacom, CBS … we all worked on it, and came up with ‘That Animal Rescue Show.’”)

He also has 23 shows already banked for the 19th season of his hit “Dr. Phil” show, debuting this month — as one of the very first shows to go back to production after the coronavirus shutdown in Hollywood.

“The technical challenges were pretty steep,” he said. But with a network COVID task force, the show has used cutting-edge technology to beam-in virtual audiences, use 12 different production teams, and test guests right up till they exit the greenroom to hit the stage.

Phil said that 80-percent of his staff are working remotely. “But we’ve had so little turnover … We’ve had the same executive producer since the day I started … the same seven cameramen.”

He also consults a “blue-ribbon panel” of Ivy League experts for each episode, he said.