ryan and tatum the oneals

Ryan and Tatum O'Neal's happy ending at the end of 'Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals' wasn't all that real, according to Ryan.

Ryan told TV Guide Magazine the show hurt -- instead of helped -- his relationship with Tatum. He said the two are no longer speaking.

"We only reconciled on the show," he told the magazine. "Not in life. In fact, we're further apart now than we were when we started the show. So thanks, Oprah, for all your help."

Ryan and Tatum O'Neal have a lot of issues to work through, more than they could get to in one season of a reality TV show. On the finale of 'Ryan & Tatum: The O'Neals' (Sundays, 10PM on OWN), the recently reconciled father and daughter pledged to each other that they would continue in therapy together, even after the cameras turned off.

Ryan seemed reluctant to have the therapy on camera. "Is it healthy to air your dirty laundry?" he said. "And should family members do that?" Tatum disagreed that there were "a lot of dirty laundry aspects to it." Still, she brought some perspective to the therapeutic process. "We're not able to fix the past," she said. "The past is the past. And I know, dad, how you really feel. I know you have great regret."

The rift on 'Ryan & Tatum: The O'Neals' (Sun., 10PM ET on OWN) isn't something that's going to be able to be healed over a few short episodes. But it was encouraging seeing them talk openly about what happened during Tatum's teenage years, even if Ryan still doesn't seem to get it. At least he didn't run away this time.

When she talked about being left alone, he tried to argue that she wasn't. She had her mother, who'd already given up custody of Tatum to Ryan, as well as "many, many friends," he told her. "You were a famous person."

"You hear how crazy that sounds," she said to him, but he didn't. He refused even to acknowledge that she was still a kid at the time, talking about how sophisticated she was for 17, and how she got her own apartment.

Sometimes, parents do the darnedest things. Like in one episode of 'Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals,' in which Ryan taunts his daughter, Tatum, a recovering alcoholic, with a bottle of tequila. Tatum spoke about that incident Wednesday on 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated on NBC) and how it represents something of a role reversal in the traditional father/daughter relationship.

Tatum acknowledged that her father has a quirky sense of humor that is sometimes misunderstood. "It's terrible, but at the same time, that's my dad," said Tatum. "He's funny. But you see how I react on the show, I go, like, 'Oh my god, that is not funny.' So in a way, I can be the parent, too."

The roles were a little reversed with Tatum O'Neal on 'Chelsea Lately' (Weeknights, 11PM ET on E!). O'Neal has been rather famously estranged from her difficult father, Ryan, for decades. That relationship is now the subject of the series 'Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals.' But O'Neal wanted to talk about Chelsea Handler's father.

"He's a real hot mess," Handler admitted. "Right now he's an even bigger mess than your father."

Tatum then asked if the story was true that Handler's father had gotten them upgraded to first class on a flight by saying he and Chelsea were married.

The relationship between father and daughter actors Ryan O'Neal and Tatum O'Neal has been strained at best over the past couple of decades. So estranged were they, that Ryan hit on his daughter after failing to recognize her on the day of Farrah Fawcett's funeral.

Their attempted reconciliation is at the heart of 'Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals' (Sun., 10PM ET on OWN).

The eight-episode series premiered with Tatum, having relocated to the West Coast after nearly 25 years estranged from her father, in an attempt to reconnect. She's battled her own demons, particularly a volatile marriage to tennis pro John McEnroe and heroin addiction, but is sober now.

Tatum invited her father to her birthday party, and this time he showed up. The pair laughed and reminisced about her crazy 15th birthday bash, which saw thousands of people show up, including Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson.