Information about The Oprah Winfrey Show

The Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah Winfrey Show title card The Oprah Winfrey Show title card
Created by	Oprah Winfrey
Starring	Oprah Winfrey
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	3,056 (as of September 14, 2007)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Original run	September 8, 1986 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah) is an American nationally syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history.^[1]

It is the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States, having completed 21 seasons and preparing to enter its 22nd, and thousands of episodes since it debuted on September 8, 1986. The show has now been renewed for a twenty-fifth season, which will be broadcast in 2011. In a 2007 interview with Larry King, Oprah said that in 2011 she will not renew her contract, and end the show for good.

The 22nd season premiered in New York City on September 10, 2007.

Oprah has been included in Time magazine's shortlist of the best television series of the twentieth century in 1998, and it made the top 50 of TV Guide's countdown of the greatest shows of all time^[2] in 2002.

The show is highly influential, especially with women, and many of its topics penetrate into American pop-cultural consciousness. While early episodes of show followed a Phil Donahue-style exploration of sensationalistic social issues, Oprah eventually transformed her series into a more positive, spiritually uplifting experience marked by book clubs, celebrity interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events.

Wildest dreams

One of the show's features in recent years has been the "Wildest Dreams" tour, which fulfills the dreams of people reported to her producers by friends and family, be the dream a new house, an encounter with a favourite performer, or a guest role on a popular TV show.

During her nineteenth season premiere (fall 2004), Oprah surprised her entire audience by giving them each a Pontiac G6. It was named as one of the greatest television moments in history by TV Guide. Although Oprah may be given credit for giving the cars away, they were donated to her by Pontiac as a publicity stunt. In 2005, Tina Turner guest starred, allowing Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman to fulfill her Wildest Dream of singing backup to Turner. Another included a man named David Caruso who lost 300 pounds after weighing 525 pounds. He came on the show in 2003 and told Oprah that one of his wishes was to sit in a Porsche. Minutes later, a white 2004 Porsche Boxster S (worth about $63,000) was given to him. Oprah named this one of her 20 favorite moments on a special DVD set.

Interviews

Winfrey has interviewed a plethora of political and public figures during the past twenty years. In the earlier seasons of the show, rather than offering a simple publicity platform, a celebrity would often feature after a period of intense media scrutiny, such was the case when the model Naomi Campbell appeared after there were claims she had a substance abuse problem. She often interviews celebrities on issues that directly involve them in some way, such as cancer or charity work.

Winfrey claims her worst interviewing experience was when she met Elizabeth Taylor in the fourth season. The actress refused to talk about her marriages and current relationship, leading to a number of awkward silences. Taylor later apologized for her behavior and re-appeared on the show a year later, seemingly much happier.

Much to her chagrin, one of the most repeated and heavily discussed clips is that of Oprah's interview with Tom Cruise, which was broadcast on May 23, 2005. Cruise — in the words of The New York Times — "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend." This scene quickly became part of American pop-cultural discourse and was heavily parodied in media as diverse as Saturday Night Live, Family Guy and the film Scary Movie 4.

Non-celebrity guests usually feature a person who has accomplished a heroic action or has been involved in an extraordinary situation. Examples of these include an episode in the fourth season which featured Truddi Chase, a woman with Multiple Personality Disorder who reported being violently and sexually abused beginning at the age of two. After introducing Chase, who was there to promote her book When Rabbit Howls, Oprah unexpectedly broke down in tears whilst reading the teleprompter, relating her own childhood molestation to that of the guest. Unable to control herself, Winfrey repeatedly asked producers to stop filming. Other non-celebrity appearances include guests who are chosen for being particularly un-fashionable and are given a fashion makeover by renowned style advisors Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.

Regular segments

Oprah's Book Club

Originally, Oprah would highlight a book each month and often interviewed the author of the selected title. Because of the book club's wide popularity, many obscure titles became popular bestsellers, increasing sales by as many as a million copies at the height of the book club's popularity. Winfrey suspended her book club in 2002, but brought it back in 2003; the format was shifted, the focus on classic works of literature, starting with East of Eden and making about one or two selection choices per season. In September 2005, she announced a return to her old practice of choosing new titles, with her selection of the now-controversial A Million Little Pieces, written by James Frey. Oprah's selection in January 2006 was Night by Elie Weisel. The book became an automatic bestseller which sparked a trip to Auschwitz for Oprah with Mr. Weisel. Her most recent selection was Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

What's The Buzz

Frequently Oprah introduces an up-and-coming public figure who has been generating industry buzz but has yet to be exposed to the mainstream. Those who have featured in What's The Buzz have included Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx. When singer James Blunt appeared during this segment, his album sales increased dramatically, climbing up to number two on the Billboard 200, his highest position thus far. Several media commentators have labelled this phenomenon The Oprah Effect.

Remember Your Spirit

This segment was most popular during the mid-1990s, during which Winfrey features recurring guest Iyanla Vanzant, a self described spiritualist, who emphasized the importance of self-affirmation and intrinsic worth.

Oprah's Favorite Things

This segment usually airs during the holiday shopping season or at the beginning of spring. In this segment she shows items to her audience that she really likes and gives them away to the audience. Often the audience for that show is filled with a certain group of people, for example for Oprah's 2005 Christmas Favorite Things she had only Hurricane Katrina volunteer workers in the audience. In November 2006, Oprah changed the format of her favorite things - opting to hand out credit cards of one-thousand dollars and camcorders to members of her studio audience. Each audience member was told to do something creative with the money for someone else. Oprah has since called it her "favorite giveaway ever."

Tuesdays With Dr. Phil

In 1996 Oprah Winfrey hired "Relationship and Life Strategy Expert" Dr. Phil McGraw to prepare her for her trial in Amarillo, Texas in which she was accused of intentionally defaming the U.S. beef industry. Winfrey credited him for her victory in that case and soon after, he made weekly appearances on her show, tackling human issue topics such as weight loss, financial planning and errant children. One episode saw a grieving woman who could not overcome the death of her daughter and revealed that she had planned to kill herself after the show.

Dr. Phil's Tuesday slots, with running commentary from Oprah herself, quickly became a popular feature and in 2002 he was given his own syndicated daily TV show, produced by Winfrey's Harpo Studios. Thus, this segment no longer airs.

Other famous moments

• When Oprah said "My Vajayjay is paining" while being suspended in the air.
• In December 1986, Liberace made his final public appearance on the Oprah show. He died six weeks later.
• In 1987, Oprah traveled to all-white Forsyth County which had gained a reputation as being a hotbed for racism. It turned out that a majority of the county supported racial integration.
• The highest-rated episode is entitled "The Weight Wagon". Airing on November 5, 1988, Oprah wheeled out a wagon containing fat, representing the weight she had lost.
• Oprah was moved to tears by the sight of her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Mary Duncan, in 1989. She appeared just when Oprah read her name on the teleprompter.
• In 1992, a woman named Betty Broderick who had murdered her millionaire ex-husband Dan Broderick and his wife Linda Coulquina in November 1989 appeared via-satellite on Oprah. Betty went on to explain to all women watching that it is very important to not give yourself up to the idea of the perfect life.
• In 1996, seven members of the original Little Rock Nine appeared on the Oprah Show and finally came face-to-face with the white students who had tormented them.
• In 1996, a lonely woman named Joni Jacques told Oprah that she bought a pair of Oprah's shoes at an auction; so that whenever she feels upset, she could (literally) stand in Oprah's shoes.
• In 1997, a man suffered a heart attack while appearing on Oprah. He was rushed to the hospital and recovered. Oprah later did a show surrounding the heart attack and the doctor who was in the audience who came to his aide.
• In an emotionally charged episode, airing in 1997, Winfrey was moved to tears during a surprise appearance by Mary Tyler Moore, one of her childhood idols. It started when Oprah spoke on the phone with her in 1993 and wished that Mary would be here. She came on the set, as introduced via a Mary Tyler Moore Show musical link. It was named as one of Oprah's 20 favorite moments on the DVD set.
• In 1998, while Oprah was on trial for libel and slander against cattlemen in Texas, she filmed 29 episodes in Amarillo, Texas.
• In 2002, Oprah surprised people at a McDonald's drive-through. She encountered a very rude customer, and when he drove up she recognized him as her attorney.
• In June 2006, Oprah and Gayle spent ten days driving 3,600 miles cross-country - frequently along intermediate highways, back roads, and side roads, passing through small communities - from Santa Barbara to New York City (arriving just in time for her appearance on the Tony Awards broadcast), in a Chevrolet Impala, followed by a camera crew that recorded their every move. Their sometimes moving, often hilarious experiences, entitled Oprah and Gayle's Big Adventure^[3], aired over the course of several Tuesdays in the early weeks of the Fall 2006 season. Oprah said she got the idea for the journey from a Chevrolet commercial, with its catchy "See the U.S.A. in a Chevrolet" jingle sung by Dinah Shore, from her childhood.
• On the third episode of the first week in 2006, rockstar Jon Bon Jovi gave Oprah $1 million to put towards Hurricane Relief. This is the highest amount ever donated on Oprah. There is now a street named after the band, named Bon Jovi Boulevard.^[4] In January 2007 Oprah's topic was "Self made women Millionaires", One of the guests (CEO and founder of company Spanx), who had inspired her to become a millionaire, donated $1 million to Oprah's School for Girls.
• On April 22, 2006, two sisters who had won a Holocaust essay contest appeared on the Oprah Show. They had been victims of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and had had their families separated from them for 12 years. With Elie Wiesel on hand, Oprah informed the girls that they had received a letter from their parents. After presenting them with an envelope, Oprah told them that they didn't have to open the letter at that moment because their family was in the studio. Their parents and siblings then appeared out of a side door and embraced the girls, who were struck with amazement.

In popular culture

See also: Oprah Winfrey

The Oprah Winfrey Show appears in at least two films:

• A clip from The Oprah Winfrey Show appeared in Ocean's Thirteen.
• In White Chicks, one of the two cops (posing as a girl) starts calling for Oprah (as well as Dr. Phil), because he said that it was his first time experiencing how women tend to think they're fat ("it's 'Tina the talking tummy' or "Cellulite Sally").

Criticism

While the show is generally revered for its commitment to highlighting international issues, Oprah's detractors accuse her show of having a liberal slant. A controversial episode, which aired in 2005 (though originally aired to little apparent notice in October 2003), saw guests discussing the sexual act "tossed salad", igniting criticism. The FCC received a proliferation of complaints from angry parents whose children watched the show in an early-evening slot in many television markets. However, most FCC correspondents were prodded to write by Howard Stern, a noteworthy target of the agency, as well as Jimmy Kimmel, in an attempt to expose an FCC double standard.^[5][6]

See also

• Oprah After The Show

References

External links

• The Oprah Winfrey Show
• Oprah's Angel Network
• The Oprah Winfrey Show at TV.com