The Oprah Winfrey Show (often simply referred to as Oprah or simply just O ) is an American syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey, and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history. It is currently the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States, having run nationally since September 8, 1986, for over 22 seasons and 3,724 episodes November 21, 2008. The show is renewed through 2011, but in a 2007 interview with Larry King, Oprah said that in 2011, she tearfully announced that she will not renew her contract, thus ending the show . She has plans on a new talk show to run later on her very own televsion network, The Oprah Winfrey Network. The show, a production of Harpo Productions, is the last program currently on the air to be distributed by King World (only the name is mentioned in the Friday show's distribution credits), even though the latter company has been absorbed by CBS Television Distribution.
The show has its roots in AM Chicago, a half-hour morning talk show airing on WLS-TV in Chicago. Winfrey took over as host in 1983, and within a year took it from last place to first place in the ratings. In 1986, it was relaunched under its current title and was picked up nationally.
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 American shows of all time 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 the show followed a Phil Donahue-style exploration of sensationalistic social issues, Oprah eventually transformed her series into one with an image of a more positive, spiritually uplifting experience by featuring book clubs, celebrity interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events.
The show airs on most CBS- and ABC-owned stations in the United States (as well as other stations contracted to KingWorld and its CBS Television Distribution successor), CTV in Canada, Diva TV in the United Kingdom and Network Ten in Australia.
The show began broadcasting in High Definition beginning with its 2008–09 season premiere episode on September 8, 2008, becoming one of the first nationally-syndicated daytime talk shows to do so.
On November 19, 2009, Oprah Winfrey's production company announced the show will be ending on September 9, 2011.
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 with Elizabeth Taylor in the fourth season. The actress refused to talk about her marriages and current relationship. Taylor later apologized and returned in a better mood on Winfrey's couch.
Winfrey's interview with Tom Cruise, which was broadcast on May 23, 2005, has also gained notoriety. Cruise — according to the 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, Katie Holmes." This scene quickly became part of American pop-cultural discourse and was heavily parodied in media as diverse as MADtv , Saturday Night Live , Family Guy , Hannah Montana and the film Scary Movie 4 .
Non-celebrity guests are generally individuals who have been involved in an extraordinary situation. Examples of these include an episode in the fourth season which featured Truddi Chase, a woman with supposed 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 while 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 advisers Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.
Regular segments
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 by producers, found mostly from viewers who write in to the show, be the dream a new house, an encounter with a favorite performer, or a guest role on a popular TV show.
During her nineteenth season premiere (fall 2004), Winfrey surprised her entire audience by giving them each a Pontiac G6. Winfrey famously exclaimed, "You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!" It was named as one of the greatest television moments in history by TV Guide . Although Winfrey may be given credit for giving the cars away, they were donated to her by General Motors 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. Winfrey named this one of her 20 favorite moments on a special DVD set.
Other famous moments
- The surviving members of the Little Rock Nine confront some former classmates who heckled them on their first day of high school.
- On December 25, 1986, a frail Liberace made his final public appearance on Oprah , dying six weeks later from AIDS.
- In 1987, Winfrey traveled to all-white Forsyth County, Georgia, which had gained a reputation as being a hotbed for racism. It turned out that a majority of the county actually supported racial integration.
- "The Weight Wagon" episode airing on November 5, 1988, showed Winfrey wheeling out a wagon containing fat, representing the weight she had lost.
- Winfrey was moved to tears by the sight of her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Mary Duncan, in 1989. She appeared just when Winfrey read her name on the teleprompter.
- The highest-rated single episode ever was in 1993 when Michael Jackson made a rare appearance on the show, during which he attempted to dispel many of the rumors surrounding him and told Winfrey he suffered from the skin-pigment disorder known as vitiligo.
- In 1995 Winfrey confessed to previously using drugs as a result of a relationship.
- A. J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys appeared in 2003 with his mother to openly discuss his drug addiction and rehabilitation. Winfrey surprised him with the rest of the band coming out to give him support, making this the first time they appeared together in two years.
- Jacqueline Saburido, a woman who suffered burns on her entire body after a car crash in 1999, appeared on the show in 2003. Winfrey later referred to her as one of her favorite all-time guest because of her shining inner beauty. The drunk driver Reginald Stephey's mother also appeared on the same show talking to Jacqueline about her son's mistake.
- Tom Cruise on May 23, 2005, jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend Katie Holmes. The "couch incident" was voted #1 of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E!.
- In 2009 Kate and Gerry McCann appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to help a public appeal to find their daughter, Madeleine.
- In May 2009 Scottish singer Susan Boyle appeared via satellite on The Oprah Winfrey Show after gaining worldwide media attention following her performance on UK television show Britain's Got Talent.
- While taping the show's 24th season premiere on September 8, 2009, the entire audience of 21,000 people, gathered on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, surprised Winfrey by breaking out into a synchronized dance set to the Black Eyed Peas' performance of "I Gotta Feeling" (with new lyrics congratulating Oprah on her show's longevity). The dance had been choreographed and rehearsed for weeks by a core group of dancers, which taught it to the entire crowd earlier in the day.
Ratings
The show averages about 8.5 million viewers per original airing and about 4.5 million for repeats.
Criti
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