The Oprah Winfrey Show

(States Twitter)-The Oprah Winfrey Show (often simply referred to as Oprah or 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. The show airs on most ABC-owned stations in the United States (as well as various other stations through CBS Television Distribution, successor to King World).

The show is highly influential, 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 has been criticized for frequently being an hour-long daytime infomercial, as product placement plays a major role in the show's revenue. Her promotion of books belonging to her book club has also been targeted by critics as these sales are an important source of revenue for Oprah Winfrey.

As of 2011, it is one of the longest-running daytime television talk shows in the United States, having run nationally since September 8, 1986, for over 24 seasons and nearly 5,000 episodes. The show's last original episode will air on May 25, 2011, with reruns continuing until September 9, 2011.

History

Early in Oprah’s 12th season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah confessed she was “exhausted” and considered quitting. While making the movie Beloved (1997), Oprah then admitted that it brought her back to her responsibility as an admired black woman with a great deal of power and influence. She realized that being in such a position within the media industry, she could make a positive difference in people’s lives. Oprah was once again inspired to continue to help people take better control of their destinies, hence her current slogan, "Live Your Best Life".

“I made the decision…in the midst of doing Beloved. I was doing some scenes – Beloved is about an ex-slave, and during that process of doing that I connected to really what slavery had meant, and my own personal ancestry and history connected it to a way I have never before from reading all about Black history and, you know, talking to relatives. And I realized that I had no right to quit coming from a history of people who had no voice, who had no power, and that I have been given this – this blessed opportunity to speak to people, to influence them in ways that can make a difference in their lives, and to just use that.”

The show, a production of Harpo Productions, was the last program to be distributed by King World Productions, which has since been absorbed by CBS Television Distribution. In 2002 the show made the top 50 of TV Guide's countdown of the greatest American shows.

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 be featured after a period of intense media scrutiny, such as 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 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, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, Hannah Montana, South Park and the film Scary Movie 4.

Product placement and giveaways

In 2004, every person in Winfrey's show audience was given a new car (donated by General Motors). Some 302 "ultimate fans" accompanied Winfrey to Australia (donated by Australian tourism bodies).Other giveaway shows included the annual Oprah's favorite things show, where the studio audience received products Winfrey considered good Christmas gifts.

Other famous moments

The surviving members of the Little Rock Nine confronted 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 cardiac arrest due to congestive heart failure brought on by subacute encephalopathy.

In 1987, Winfrey traveled to Forsyth County, Georgia, which is 95% white and had gained a reputation as being a hotbed for racism. It turned out that a majority of the county actually supported racial integration.

The "Diet Dreams Come True" episode airing in November 1988, showed Winfrey wearing size 10 jeans and wheeling out a wagon containing 67 pounds of fat, representing the weight she had lost.

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. The episode was watched by 62 million viewers.

In 1995, Winfrey confessed to previously using drugs as a result of a relationship.

In 1997, American stand-up comedian, television host and actress Ellen DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on the show.

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 mother of Reginald Stephey, the drunk driver who caused the accident, also appeared on the same show and spoke to Saburido about her son's mistake.

Charla Nash, who was mauled by Sandra Herold's pet chimpanzee Travis on February 16, 2009, speaks about the attack for the first time on November 11, 2009, a few months after the attack and reveals her disfigured face to the public and Oprah for the first time. Charla always covers her face with a veil.

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!.

During a show aimed at pedophiles in October 2008 Oprah read a letter sent to her from an apparent pedophile claiming to be a part of an online community consisting mainly of pedophiles. Oprah read aloud that the community "had over 9,000 penises". In the days following the airing of the episode it was revealed the letter was a hoax sent by an anonymous person. The letter was a play on the infamous "It's over 9000!" meme.

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.

Final season

In 1997, Winfrey said she was planning to retire, but then renewed her contract through 2002. In 2002, she said she would depart in 2006—the show’s 20th anniversary year—but in 2004 she extended through 2011 after riding a wave of high ratings and a revamped program in 2003. In an appearance on Good Morning America on September 10, 2009, Winfrey told Diane Sawyer that she would make the decision of retiring or renewing her contract before the end of the year. By now, her ratings had fallen greatly and were not nearly as high as they were in her heyday.

Discovery Communications chief executive David Zaslav said in early November 2009 that The Oprah Winfrey Show would depart broadcast syndication in fall 2011. Zaslav told analysts, "The current expectation is that after autumn 2011 her show will go off of …syndication, and she will come to OWN," the cable network that Winfrey’s production company is creating in conjunction with Discovery. Harpo Productions denied that Winfrey had made a final decision at that point. However, on November 19, 2009, Harpo announced the show would indeed end in 2011, as noted on-air by Winfrey the following day.

Monday, September 13, 2010 was the season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show's final season. Oprah opened the show with guest John Travolta. Oprah announced that the 300 guests in the audience were her most loyal fans of the show and showed that on the website and through emails. Those 300 people were invited there specifically for the premiere show. She said that Travolta was voted the most favorite guest.

The 25th season premiere included flashbacks from the last 25 years, and included various audience members and their experiences watching Oprah. There was also a segment on how they chose some of the 300 people who were in the audience. Don Johnson and Paul Simon also made special guest appearances on the premiere show.

At the end of the show Oprah announced that she was flying all 300 audience members with her to Australia and that John Travolta would be the pilot. On 11 December 2010 Winfrey arrived in Sydney, Australia to record shows at the Sydney Opera House. Winfrey and her 300 American audience members were officially welcomed at a cocktail party in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens overlooking Sydney Harbour. The beach-themed party, hosted by New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally, featured live music from top recording artist Guy Sebastian and a fireworks display over the water which culminated in the lighting of a red 'O' on the Harbour Bridge.