Oprah Winfrey to bow out of her talkshow in 2011
Oprah Winfrey - there is no single word in the English language to describe her. Influential, philanthropic, enduring, genial, sympathetic, forthright, successful. In there a word that encompasses all these? Perhaps not. This multi-faceted woman is to announce the closure of her far-famed talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show today. First broadcast in 1986 to the US, the show stood out from the rest of it’s kind with Oprah’s casual, affable demeanour that brought out the inner conflicts of the celebrities she interviewed.
It is reported that she told her staff at Chicago yesterday that her syndicated show will end in September 2011, after the 25th season. However, this announcement will not write her off from the media, for Oprah is to concentrate on her cable network OWN (Oprah Winfrey network) that is expected to be launched in January 2011. Though it is not known why she made the decision, she is expected to announce it in today’s show.
Once the most richest African American of the twentieth century, Oprah is known to be the most philanthropic African American in the world. Also once the only black billionaire in the world, Oprah’s talkshow is the highest rated, most watched, most influential shows in history. Though the show initially focussed on exploration of sensationalistic social issues and spirituality, Oprah gave it more sophistication and positiveness and featured book clubs and self-improvement segments. The Oprah Winfrey Show changed the lives of many and has a lot of memorable moments worth a mention.
An episode in 1993 in which Oprah interviewed Michael Jackson was the highest rated one in which Michael declared that he suffered from a skin pigment disorder vitiligo, denouncing his critics. In an episode on May 23, 2005, Tom Cruise made quite an amusing act of “hopping on the couch” declaring his love for his girl friend Katie Holmes. Another incident on September 8, 2009 took Oprah by surprise when the audience of about 21,000 people broke into a synchronized dance to felicitate her for the longevity of her show.
