The most influential woman in the country, Oprah Winfrey, announced on her live Nov. 20 show that her quarter-century run as the most award-winning talk show host in TV history will end in 2011. She pledged to "make history" and "knock your socks off" in the ensuing 18 months till the show ends.
The TV show that launched (and many say, secured) Barack Obama's presidential bid, as well as propelling the careers of Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray and Nate Berkus into their own respective stratospheres, has been a mainstay of daytime TV. The show (and Oprah) are so significant that the daytime doyenne's decision was among the top stories on the national news, as well as a lead story on the business news. Winfrey, with a personal worth of over $2 billion, is the highest-paid entertainer in America. She also employs a boatload of people at her two production studios, her magazine and her products division. Her studios are a major tourist attraction in Chicago.
Chicago's Mayor Daley was shocked and clearly unnerved by the announcement. Daley said it would have tremendous repercussions in the Chicago economy. He did not go so far as to say Oprah is Chicago, but it was Oprah - no one else but the First Lady - in Copenhagen with President Obama stumping for Chicago as an Olympic site. That's how important Oprah is.
Of course, it's not like Oprah is leaving the airwaves tomorrow. And when she does leave network TV syndication, it will be to go to cable, where she is setting up her own network, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). Winfrey previously debuted the Oxygen network, which she sold last year for a reported half-billion.
A run for President?
The little girl from Kosciusko, Mississippi who said she was so poor growing up that her grandmother made her dresses from potato sacks now makes $385 million a year. There isn’t anyone else like Oprah, anywhere. Who else but Oprah could put Tolstoy and Faulkner on the bestseller list just by choosing them for her book club? (This has always struck us as one of her most amazing feats, more impressive even than getting Obama elected.)
We have months to go before Oprah leaves us, but it will be a long goodbye tour. The tabloid-TV shows have been rife with Oprahmania, showing clips from her most memorable shows, as well as cataloguing her weight, hair-styles and fashion hits and misses. We can’t help but wonder what Oprah’s planning for the next 18 months, or what will happen after. We would not be surprised if Oprah decided to run for president in 2016, after Obama replaces Joe Biden with her in 2012. (She was reportedly offered Obama’s senatorial seat last fall.)
Palinmania
Speaking of presidential candidates in the news, former vice-presidential contender Sarah Palin has been making the news herself since the release of her memoir Going Rogue on Nov. 17. It was, naturally, Oprah who caught the first interview with the peripatetic Palin, featuring her for the full hour on her Nov. 16 show. (Oprah beat out Barbara Walters for first bid, which must have galled the veteran newsmaker; Walter’s interview aired on ABC’s 20/20 on Nov. 20, and not for the full hour.)
Palin is a national conundrum. Immensely likable, great-looking, charismatic, funny and with an ideology just to the right of Attila the Hun, she is either beloved or reviled. Her interview blitz has been serving her well in whatever it is she plans to be next: presidential hopeful, talk-show maven or next host of Project Runway.
The Oprah interview presented a poised, funny, self-deprecating and appreciative Palin. It was definitely the one to beat. Walters tried to stump Palin in her interview (as had Oprah, but Oprah did it with more finesse, flair and fun), but failed. Walters looked unpleasant doing it, while Oprah looked like she was just trying to get some answers, woman-to-woman. (Oprah’s strong suit: "I’m just like you, only I make $385 million a year.") On cable news, Palin did very well, not that Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly had any intentions of slamming her with hardball questions. Keith Olbermann, who did not interview Palin, did take her to task on his Nov. 19 show, in a segment titled, "Reading, Riting and Roguing." He invoked the infamous Katie Couric interview, and noted that it had taken Palin a year and a half to say what she reads. (It should be noted that Olbermann previously made Couric his "Worst Person in the World" for saying there was sexism in the 2008 presidential campaign, so it was good to see him portray Couric favorably.)
Ratings for all the Palin interviews were, not surprisingly, high. Within five days, she’d sold just under a million books. ABC and CBS reported that hundreds of people have been waiting for hours to see her and get autographed copies of her book. Inside Edition added this tidbit: the Associated Press acknowledged that they had 12 reporters fact-checking her book prior to reporting on it. They also noted that no other political memoir had been fact-checked by the news agency before, including Pres. Obama’s and Sen. John McCain’s. Palin was asked by everyone if she planned to run for president. (Oprah also asked her if she wanted her job, which is open come 2011.) She demurred. (Including about Oprah’s job, although she did say how much she admired Oprah.) Imagine this ticket: Oprah/Palin. Yikes.
Martha opens up
Speaking of craziness, that other daytime doyenne, Martha Stewart, the one people mostly love to hate, gave an exclusive interview to ABC’s Cynthia McFadden for the Nov. 19 Nightline. We like Stewart in principle, but she does put the perfect place-card B in bitch. It’s difficult to imagine a less-likable TV personality. (Although Whoopi Goldberg and the rest of The View team are quickly catching up.) McFadden asked about the prison time, and Stewart responded with amazing aplomb. McFadden stated, rather than asked, "Surely you were humiliated." To which Stewart said, "Hurt, yes. Sad, yes. But never humiliated."
McFadden quoted Maureen Dowd, of all appalling people, from a column in which Dowd asserted that America liked seeing strong women broken. Dowd used Hillary Clinton and Stewart as her examples. Stewart narrowed her perfectly made-up but not-Botoxed eyes and told McFadden: "Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State of the United States of America. I would hardly call that broken. And I am certainly not broken."
At another point in the interview which traversed Stewart’s working farm in Connecticut and her Manhattan business empire, McFadden said, "Surely you know you aren’t normal." Again the narrowing of the eyes, and Stewart retorted: "Neither are you, neither is anyone." Point, set, match, Martha.
Bye-bye Lou, hello Chaz
n other news of the week, comments made by John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation, in a PBS discussion of the week’s politics were interesting. Nichols called Obama’s trip to Asia a huge waste of time, which it certainly did seem to be. And he said of Obama bowing to Japan’s Emperor: "No American president should be bowing to any foreign leader. We fought a revolution to get rid of that crap." Rim shot. These comments come from the farthest left side of the aisle, where the Kool-Aid was originally sold. Perhaps the President should spend more time securing his base in these trying economic and political times? Just saying.
Meanwhile, it is soooo nice not to see Lou Dobbs’ crazy mug on CNN anymore, isn’t it? Remember when he was just a Republican and not a flaming lunatic? For a send-up of Dobbs, check out Darrell Hammond’s portrayal of him on last weekend’s SNL. Pitch-perfect. (On hulu and NBC.com.)
Speaking of things that make us shake our heads, Chaz Bono was interviewed by Chris Cuomo this week on GMA. Chaz has some new suits, which make him look a lot like the missing (fatter) Gotti grandson. It was a strange and slightly repellant morning chat. In addition to the mobster stylin’. Cher’s comment on her famous formerly lesbian daughter now heterosexual son to ABC: She supports her daughter, but doesn’t really understand it.
Bierdz out
Speaking of things we don’t understand, after a sadly pointless and wildly underused stint at The Young & the Restless, openly gay actor Thom Bierdz (playing gay character Philip Chancellor) is now officially off the show. His character left Genoa City for Australia on Nov. 19. We had the pleasure of a brief online discussion with Bierdz the day his character was sent to Coventry. He had nothing but nice things to say about Y&R and the show’s current creative director. Because he’s a nice guy as well as a solid actor.
Since Bierdz won’t say anything rude or unprofessional, that leaves it to us. Why begin three separate storylines involving characters that are either gay or bisexual, then let them either languish or die an unnatural death? After 30 years with no gay characters, surely the top-rated soap on daytime didn’t need a crass ratings boost. So why add gay characters and do nothing with them? Rafe (also the show’s only Latino character) has been MIA for months. His brief tryst with Adam happened off-screen, and Adam has since disavowed the entire incident, explaining he just can’t help using people who care for him.
Then Philip makes his grand return - to meet his son, an Iraq vet he barely knows, reunite with his mother and grandmother, and announce he’s gay - and Y&R leaves him hanging. Bierdz’ character was carefully integrated into various levels of front-burner story. He was primed to meet Rafe and create an intriguing relationship. Fie on Y&R for not just dropping the ball on this one, but kicking across several time-zones in the process. The door is open for Bierdz to return. Let’s hope Y&R does so, and also gets the GPS on Rafe in the process. Stay tuned.