The Oprah Winfrey Show

Let's look at our talk show options: Jerry Springer, Riki Lake, and Jenny Jones. In an age were lover's quarrels and paternity tests are dominating daytime talk, Oprah Winfrey takes the high road by promoting books, self-help, and education. Granted, quite a few of the Oprah books are graphic and involve abuse, and sometimes her therapist of-the-month gets a bit too preachy. But Oprah generally wants to help society by presenting all sides of controversial issues and letting us decide. It is clear Oprah values liberty and freedom, and has done several shows on human rights abuses in other countries. I applaud her efforts. This show gets an 8 out of 10.

It's amazing media empire that Winfrey has built - including print, film, and television - starting from this show. While the quality has varied over the years, and some might not be a fan of the "touchy-feely" bent many of the shows have taken over the past few years, Oprah is a remarkably likeable, real, and charismatic figure. She has appealed to a wide audience, and has often chosen the hight road when making programming decisions. The show has definitely been a positive force in North America - the effect of "Oprah's Book Club" on book sales alone is proof of that - and hopefully will continue to be for years to come.

I started watching "Oprah" back in 1987 about a year after her talk show went national. At the time, her show was set up like Phil Donahue's, where she would have different topics, and go out into the audience to get their opinions on whatever the topic was. Her subjects ranged from weight loss to racial disharmony in America and everything in between. Whatever the subject, I always looked forward to tuning into her show. It offered thought provoking subjects, and was always entertaining to watch. Whether she was pleasantly plump or skinny, she was always "large & in charge" in my books! Oprah has always had a style about her that has not been matched by any other talk show hosts, back then and now. Her show changed in the mid '90s to be more of a hybrid of the classic talk shows like "The Dinah Shore Show", and "Merv Griffin", but with the flare of Oprah thrown in for good measure. At the time, there were something like 14 other talk shows with the "Phil Donahue format", so I don't blame her for wanting to change the direction of her show. I remember Oprah stating in an interview that she wanted to get away from the sensationalism of the other talk shows and offer something truly unique and inspiring. In true Oprah fashion, she pulled it off and has not suffered from a loss in ratings like what was predicted. Another point that makes Oprah stand out from the rest of the pack is her undying generosity. She was instrumental in starting up "Habitat for Humanity", and is involved with many other charities. Along with this, she helps writers to get their work known to the public by choosing them for Oprah's Book Club & she will do special things for her audience like invite them back for her Christmas special where they get lots of good stuff! In conclusion, I have always admired Oprah Winfrey, not only for what she has done for herself, but how she helps other people achieve their hopes and dreams as well. Whether she is on her talk show or in a movie, Oprah has won an emmy & academy award in my heart a long time ago!

I thought she was quiting in 2006, now she's signed until 2008! When will Oprah's rein of terror end! At least she doesn't have show like, "i want to find my baby's mama's daddy's lover" or something like that. But please she already has over a billion dollars, its time to walk away, its bad enough she's created Dr.Phil.

I'm quite surprised by the number of negative comments here. By no means is The Oprah Winfrey Show perfect, but let's face it in this day and age with so much demeaning trashy crud on daytime TV, Oprah shines like a beacon. The Oprah show has had such an amazing effect on so many people's lives, and has provided information on so many varied topics in a concise, intelligent, positive manner we should be applauding her. Her post 9/11 shows were the perfect example of how TV should react to such devastating events. No scare mongering, but a forum for reaction and information in a loving, healing way.