The Oprah Winfrey Show

[YRBB]

Apparently, a lot of topics have popped up lately about Oprah, so let's talk about the show.

Anyone watching? Jon Stewart and Liza Minnelli on today. lol

Excited about the last season.

[Toups]

I liked yesterday's episode about "Waiting For Superman", the doc about Washington D.C.'s school system (I wanted to see this doc before Oprah promoted it, but now I really want to see it). I was shocked when they said you can get tenure only have 2 years on the job; when they said it's hard to fire bad teachers; schools recycle bad teachers. I liked the proposal that Michelle Rhee had but the Teachers Union rejected it: teachers who trade in their tenure can make up to $140,000 a year if they're very good teachers. I just feel so bad for kids who get settled with bad teachers. Those poor kids who have to hope to win a freakin lottery for them to able to get a chance.

USA ranks 25th in math, 12th in reading, 20th in science among major industrialized nations - I was surprised by this too.

And the story about the little girl who couldn't graduate with her friends because her mom was late on tuition.....

[DaytimeFan]

I can tell you, I'm really going to miss The Oprah Winfrey Show. She blazed a trail and became an icon in the process.

[JackPeyton]

Oprah is love. She is just, amazing. This season has been great so far and it feels bigger and better than ever, and it has a feel of ending. I like it.

The kick off was so fun, Johnny T! The road trip to the stage! AUS!

The Waiting For Superman was a fantastic, emotional episode. Its a great doc and Michelle R should be praised, she is a inspiration and a hero. Fridays episode is a live follow up, i cant wait for this. I wish this issue was getting more press, but when it does its like they try to paint Michelle R as a bitch on a power trip, and to be honest, even if that was the truth i wouldnt much care, shes firing people who deserve it. She came under fire for saying something about teacher/student affairs alluding to she couldnt fire that teacher even tho she believed he was sleeping with a student, then the student came up prego by the teacher. Teachers that are abusive, verbally and even throwing things in the classroom. Why are they still employed? Tenure. Stupid ass thing. That needs to be changed to like 15 years and meet requirements.

John S and Oprah were comedic gold together.

Thurs is Sarah Shourd (held prisoner in Iraq) and the woman who survived the Craigslist Killer, this is cant miss.

Anyone have any fave Oprah moments? For me it is reuniting the cast of Mary Tyler Moore.

[DaytimeFan]

I have many, I've spent 25 years with Oprah Winfrey...

Oprah carting out the Fat Wagon is a standout, she lost soooo much weight and was doomed to fail. But it was still something to watch!

I was on the edge of my seat when Oprah went to that racist county in Georgia, Forsythe County, and had a town hall meeting. The one moment that I will never forget was when Oprah bulldozed over this racist jerk, who was interrupting a polite woman, by saying "Let her speak, let her speak...and BLACK ME said it!" I remember yelling out "You TELL HIM Oprah!"

I loved when Mary Tyler Moore came on the show and surprised Oprah because Oprah was *stunned*...I also loved when Oprah remade the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song for her show in a spoof. Terrific!

Oprah and Gale's road trip was a real standout of recent Oprah.

I also enjoyed Oprah ripping into James Frey. We got to see the REAL Oprah pissed off and confrontational.

Really, I'd say I've loved 75% of her shows, liked 20% and disliked 5%. That is a helluva record for any talk show host. She is the greatest.

[YRBB]

I absolutely agree with what's been said here--the season premiere was just unbelievably BIG: John Travolta, the old ladies being driven right into the show, the surprise trip, the plane. I CANNOT WAIT for the Oprah show done in the Sydney opera house, that is SURE to be awesome.

"Waiting for 'Superman'" was also wonderful. I was shocked to hear everything that was said, I wasn't aware it was this much of a problem and, of course, MR is an inspiration. I cannot believe that the next generation will be LESS educated than the previous. That is just beyond painful. Friday is bound to be awesome. I'm catching up with Wednesday's show during tonight's repeat. The one about the woman held hostage in the jungle for 6 years. Hope it was good.

[bellcurve]

I much preferred Trashy Topics Oprah to "Let's Lose Weight and Change Our Lives" Oprah. Because she set that tone and standard, every other up and coming show pretty much had to do the same.

Shows back then, like Donahue, Sally, Oprah all balanced interesting celebrity guests with fun, trashy topics. The only show that even remotely follows this pattern is Tyra, but she's a terrible talk show host.

Is it any wonder why shows like Maury and Judge Judy do so well in the ratings? People don't want to be preached to all the f*cking time.

[YRBB]

Ingrid Betancourt's story:

I think it's unfair to say that Oprah preaches all the f*cking time. I agree that there is a heavy emphasis on life-improvement but, if one looks at the episodes, she is clearly balancing fluffy stuff (interviews with stars, etc) with self-awareness and "serious" issues.

[JackPeyton]

I agree, in fact i find her preachy very little of the time. I mean, obviously she has a bias as does every single person and it is HER show so her bias is her show, if that made any sense.

She brings very interesting issues to the forefront and raises awareness on them. I love it. I have learned a lot through her show. I often find myself googling topics she has discussed and learning more.

She does have a lot of stars on, and usually they are kind of fluffy, sometimes they are very serious and whatnot, but its cases like Mac Phillips who was talking about her life, and i honestly think had anybody written that bio they would have been on oprah, the fact that she was famous was pretty irrelevant.

As YRBB said, the show has a heavy emphasis on life-improvement, but i really do not her to be preachy.

[Cat]

Honestly, I think it depends on what mood you are in when you tune into daytime -- one day you might want trashy escapism, other days you may want to be engaged by something else. That's why I like it when Oprah does try to get us thinking about stuff because I do think she wants to inform and educate and get people thinking and asking questions and perhaps even getting up and DOING something. Why not? TV doesn't necessarily have to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I cannot quite believe Oprah is ending, so part and parcel of the TV landscape is she. I don't know which were my favourite episodes, but I totally remember the wagon of fat when I was a kid! And when she followed an obese woman (whose name escapes me for the moment) who wanted to change her life for the better. She got a couple of updates over the years and it was inspiring the direct way she talked about what triggered her over-eating and why she finally decided to stop being holed up in her apartment and eating her way to death. Gosh, that all sounds v. Jerry Springer but the way it was treated was very humanistic and supportive.

Oh, and I will always remember Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's sofa and talking about how "amazing" Katie Holmes is. And all the big giveaways that oprah would surprise her audience with (an audience of schoolteachers, I think it was). Oh, and Cameron Diaz (who I quite like actually) needs to stop appearing on Oprah because she comes across as the smuggest ditz on earth.

[JackPeyton]

I remember Cruz very well because i was all "wow, Joey Potter has an affect on real life men like she does fiction ones"

And i love Cameron, i thought she was great when she was on this last time. but Cam is very... smug. lol. She is above the whole hollywood thing, as opposed to below it like her bff Drew Barrymore, what i mean by that is Cam tries hard to be normal. but doesnt want anyone to forget she is infact famous. Drew is normal and doesnt fully realize/care how famous she is.

[Cat]

And not just Joey Potter! James van der Beek fell for a 17-year old Katie when she first joined Dawson's Creek. But then that fox Joshua Jackson swept her off her feet for a year before they broke up. Luckily, the writers ignored the RL break-up, picked up on their chemistry and paired Joey and Pacey up in the 3rd season.

Nowadays, though, KH looks a little... glazed and dazed.

Cam is smug. She knows that studio execs and other Hollywood bigwigs love her. I used to think she was incredibly annoying (especially when I saw her and Justin Timberlake turn down a little kid's request for an autograph because they were "off duty" -- people, you are NEVER off-duty!). However, "In Her Shoes" won me over.

And I understand what you mean. Diaz plays the game of appearing quirky and relatable but is a Hollywood insider through-and-through. Drew just lives her life without thinking how it's going to play in the media. BTW, I heard that these two BFFs "broke up." Do you know about that?

[JackPeyton]

Exactly.

CamDrew did have a brief falling out a few years ago, from what little i know (i had heard it had to do with Cam not liking Justin Long for her, but idk. they are out of my circle), but had since madeup and are/were looking for a new project to do together.

[Sylph]

Cameron Diaz is annoying.

She was fun, but now isn't.

I wish I felt about Oprah the way DaytimeFan does... I used to, but that changed.

[Adam]

So are you saying I am not the only one who will throw a party when this fake, pretentious opportunist is off the air?