The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American daytime talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran in syndication for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped in Chicago and produced by Winfrey. It remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in American television history.
The show was highly influential to many young stars, and many of its themes have penetrated into the American pop-cultural consciousness. Winfrey used the show as an educational platform, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events. The show did not attempt to profit off the products it endorsed; it had no licensing agreement with retailers when products were promoted, nor did the show make any money from endorsing books for its book club.
Oprah was one of the longest-running daytime talk shows in history. The show received 47 Daytime Emmy Awards before Winfrey chose to stop submitting it for consideration in 2000. In 2002, TV Guide ranked it at No. 49 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, they ranked it as the 19th greatest TV show of all time. In 2023, Variety ranked The Oprah Winfrey Show #17 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.
Early history
Oprah had its roots in A.M. Chicago, a half-hour morning talk show airing on WLS-TV, an ABC owned-and-operated station in Chicago. In 1983, Dennis Swanson, the new general manager of WLS-TV, hired Winfrey to replace Robb Weller, that program's former host. Winfrey took over as host on January 2, 1984, and, within a month, took it from last place to first place in local Chicago ratings. By 1985, the local A.M. Chicago program was renamed to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Following Winfrey's success in performing in the role of Sofia in the film The Color Purple, on September 8, 1986, the talk show was relaunched under its current title and picked up nationally. For the premiere, the show's producers tried rigorously to book Miami Vices Don Johnson as the first guest, even trying to bribe him with Dom Pérignon and a pair of rhinestone sunglasses. All attempts to book Johnson failed and Winfrey decided to "do what we do best, and that is a show about and with everyday people". The theme for the premiere show was "How to Marry the Man or Woman of Your Choice".Interviews
Winfrey interviewed a plethora of public figures and everyday people during the show's 25-year history. When celebrities and newsmakers were ready to share their most intimate secrets their first stop was Winfrey's couch and when a serious story hit, the Oprah show focused on putting a human face on the headlines.Celebrities
Winfrey claims her worst interviewing experience was with Elizabeth Taylor in the show's second season. Just before the interview, Taylor asked Winfrey not to ask any questions about her relationships. Winfrey found this to be a challenge considering Taylor had been married seven times.On February 10, 1993, Winfrey sat down in a prime-time special broadcast with Michael Jackson, who had performed ten days earlier in the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show, for what would become the most-watched interview in television history. Jackson, an intensely private entertainer, had not given an interview in 14 years. The event was broadcast live from Jackson's Neverland Ranch and was watched by 90 million people worldwide and, as a result, his then 14-month-old studio album Dangerous returned to the top-ten on the album charts. Jackson discussed missing out on a normal childhood and his strained relationship with his father, Joe Jackson. During the interview, Jackson attempted to dispel many of the rumors surrounding him and told Winfrey he suffered from the skin-pigment disorder known as vitiligo when asked about the change in the color of his skin. While admitting to getting a nose job, he denied all other plastic surgery rumors. Later in the interview, Jackson was joined by his close friend Elizabeth Taylor, her third appearance on the show.
Winfrey's interview with Tom Cruise, which was broadcast on May 23, 2005, also gained notoriety. Cruise "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his then-girlfriend, Katie Holmes." This scene quickly became part of American pop-cultural discourse and was heavily parodied in media.
Celine Dion appeared on the show 28 times, the most of any celebrity, besides Gayle King, Winfrey's best friend, who appeared 141 times.
Winfrey also interviewed Chicago's "Guardian Angels" and Raymond Lear in 1988.
Notable guests
Winfrey interviewed Kathy Bray three weeks after her 10-year-old son, Scott, was accidentally killed by a friend who had found his father's gun. Viewers later commented that the interview changed their feelings about having guns in their homes.In the 1989–90 season, Truddi Chase—a woman who was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, having 92 distinct personalities—appeared on the show. Chase had been violently and sexually abused beginning at the age of two and said her old self ceased to exist after that. After introducing Chase, who was there to promote her book When Rabbit Howls, Winfrey 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.
Erin Kramp, a mother dying of breast cancer, appeared on the show in 1998. After realizing that her six-year-old daughter, Peyton, would have to grow up without her, Kramp began recording videotapes filled with motherly advice on everything from makeup tips to finding a husband. She also wrote letters and bought gifts for Peyton to open every Christmas and birthday she was gone. Kramp died on October 31, 1998. She had recorded over a hundred videos and audiotapes for her daughter.
Jo Ann Compton's daughter Laurie Ann was stabbed to death in 1988—and a decade later, the mom was tangled in her grief. "I hope they're in the same hell I'm in." she said of her daughter's murderers on a 1998 show. Oprah brought in Dr. Phil McGraw to help Jo Ann. He asked her if she thought her daughter would want her to be in so much pain—and Compton said no. "Maybe the betrayal is focusing on the day of her death, rather than celebrating the event of her life." Phil continued. "She lived for 18 vibrant years, and you focus on the day she died." After a moment, Compton uttered her breakthrough sentence: "I never thought of it that way." Later, she sobbed while revealing that she had been planning to end her life after the show. When Compton returned to the show in 2011, she had a new viewpoint on the daughter she lost: "She continues to stay alive every time I do something positive." Compton's surviving daughter, Cindy, said "She went from existing to living. It was an amazing transformation."
In 2001, Winfrey met 11-year-old Mattie Stepanek, who was born with dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy and wrote inspirational poetry he titled "Heartsongs". On the show, Stepanek stated, "A heartsong doesn't have to be a song in your heart. It doesn't have to be talking about love and peace.... It's your message, what you feel like you need to do." In October 2008, Winfrey spoke at the posthumous dedication of Mattie J.T Stepanek Park in Maryland.
Regular segments and campaigns
Oprah's Book Club
Originally featured a monthly book highlight, including author interviews. Its popularity caused featured books to shoot to the top of bestseller lists, often increasing sales by as many as a million copies at its peak. It was suspended in 2002 and returned in 2003, featuring more classic works of literature, with reduced selections per season. The original format was reintroduced in September 2005, but Winfrey's selection of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces became controversial due to accusations of falsification. January 2006 saw Elie Wiesel's Night selected; Winfrey even traveled to Auschwitz with Wiesel. In 2008, Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth was selected. Modernizing the book club's platform, Winfrey and Tolle began a series of live webcast classes that were streamed on Oprah.com to discuss elements of the book with a worldwide audience.Oprah's Favorite Things
Items personally favored by Winfrey were featured on the show and given away to audience members. Since its launch in 1996, the "Favorite Things" episode quickly became the hottest ticket in television. When a product was featured, its sales skyrocketed. Select groups were sometimes chosen to receive the items. In 2004, the audience was made up of educators from across the country. Hurricane Katrina volunteer workers were invited to the 2009 show. Winfrey has said that the iPad, given away to her 2010 audience, was her all-time favorite "Favorite Thing". During a Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes episode documenting the production of the giveaway, Winfrey talked about why the event resonates with viewers:Oprah & Gayle's Big Adventures
Winfrey and Gayle King are friends. In 1976, Winfrey was working as a news anchor in Baltimore when she met King, a production assistant. The two bonded during a snowstorm when Winfrey told King she could stay at her home to wait it out. Their friendship was often showcased on the show when the best friends decided to take a trip together.In 2004, they traveled back in time, participating in the PBS series Colonial House. The series intended to recreate daily life in Plymouth Colony in 1628. Their 24-hour Puritan adventure included wood-chopping, cooking over an open fire, battling with mice, and using leaves as toilet paper.
Winfrey and King joined 60 other women for a spa getaway in 2006. They spent five days at Miraval Life in Balance Resort and Spa taking part in self-improvement exercises. For an exercise called A Swing and a Prayer, the women were hoisted 40 feet in the air and told to let go. Once in the air, King—who is afraid of heights—would not let herself fall. Winfrey could not help but laugh as King remained in the air, but eventually persuaded her to let go.
In the summer of 2006, Winfrey and King decided to go on an 11-day, 3,600-mile road trip across America – from California to New York. They were excited to meet people from small towns and see how America really lives. However, the initial excitement quickly wore off. The friends had minor meltdowns and fought for control over the radio; King likes to have music constantly playing while driving, while Winfrey prefers silence. Despite the challenges of the road trip, they got to see the beauty of Sedona, meet the people of Navajo Nation, crash a couple of weddings, take a dip in the healing waters of Pagosa Springs, and learn about Amish culture. Winfrey's many driving anxieties and King's tone-deaf singing made the trip a huge hit with viewers.
The friends visited the State Fair of Texas in 2010. They played traditional state fair games such as Flip-the-Chick and the water gun race. They tried many of the fried foods offered at the fair and judged a best "Best of Show" food contest.
For the farewell season, the best friends hit the road again for an overnight camping trip at Yosemite National Park. Park ranger Shelton Johnson wrote to Winfrey because he was concerned by the low number of African-Americans who visited the national parks each year. So Winfrey and King packed up their camper and headed to Yosemite to help Johnson attract visitors. When they arrived, Johnson took Winfrey and King around the park to see some of its famous sites including Mariposa Grove and the Tunnel View, from which El Capitan is visible in the distance. On the way to the campsite, Winfrey made a sharp turn causing their trailer to hit a rock. After setting up their pop-up camper, the two mixed up some Moscow Mules to pass out to their camping neighbors. The drink has become a signature Oprah cocktail. The next day, they took a lesson in fly fishing and wrapped up their stay with a mule ride.