The Whoopi Goldberg Show

I like Whoppi Goldberg she's a fine actress and starred in many hit movies like Sister Act but when she did this horrid show she showed me that even the best of us make bad career mistakes, like Chevy Chase and his long running talk show that was on fox.

I hope Whoopi learned from this horrid mistake of a show

In addition to missing the interview with Princess Diana, there is another episode missing and that is the one when she had Tom Metzger on the show. I have part of this episode on VHS tape and am still amazed that these two people were able to sit down together and engage in meaningful conversation. My admiration for Whoopi skyrocketed that night. She gave Tom an open forum to explain his position on racial relations and did not belittle him or interrupt him. She is such a class act. Whoopi is respectful of others, no matter their background, and I believe that is the main thing that endears her to us so much. I will continue to support her endeavors and look forward to many more years of fantastic work from this amazing human being!

It's no secret that Whoopi Goldberg is an extremely multi-talented individual, conquering the worlds of comedy, acting and social commentary (via "The View.")

Largely forgotten now is her talent as a TV interviewer. But those who remember "The Whoopi Goldberg Show" know she could have easily filled the shoes of iconic late-night journalists like Charlie Rose or the late Tom Snyder, had she wanted to push her career in that direction.

Whoopi set a relaxed tone and manner that brought an extra dimension to the one-on-one interview style. Her method was more friendly and conversational than other shows at that time (somewhat reminiscent of Merv Griffin, but with much more hip). It was a style that often got her celebrity guests to open up about their lives, express views or discuss topics they hadn't revealed to a TV audience before. Whoopi also made it a point to listen to her guests, always showing genuine interest and asking effective follow-up questions without feeling the need to interject her views on top of what they had to say — something many of today's celebrity interviewers have yet to master.

Of course, Whoopi was already a celebrity at this point, and was destined to go onto bigger and better (and better-financed) projects. But for the brief time "The Whoopi Goldberg Show," was on the air, she provided viewers with a comfortable, inviting and intelligent space to watch, learn and be entertained.

Sadly, I missed too many episodes.

A lot of small things made this show unique. There was no audience, just Whoopi and one guest. The only other people present was the stage crew and a background piano player of gentle music. The stage was large and open, without a lot of typical clutter, flash and noise. The lighting was subdued, and the the setting was a comfortable love seat/end table/coffee table/easy chair.

The atmosphere came together to create a secure, non-threatening, low-pressure, comfortable environment, in which one famous person could finally just relax and openly talk about things with just another famous person, not an Interviewer. Everything worked so well, that the viewer felt like they were right there with them. Something seldomly achieved anymore in television.

Whoopi is an amazingly talented interviewer in such surroundings. Mainly because she never played it up to a TV audience during these talks. She genuinely loves to listen to, talk with, and learn about her guest.

Two episodes remain my favorites. Well..., three actually, as one guest had a two-parter episode. Grace Slick, of Jefferson Airplane/Starship fame, and the two-parter interview with Jack Lemmon.

The piano player, as well as playing the intro and closing music, would also start playing softly to cue the commercial breaks. But for the Jack Lemmon interview, who was an accomplished piano player himself, at his request, they gave the piano player the day off, and the whole two-parter was just Jack and Whoopi talking about his life and events. It was an amazingly intimate insight into his life and times.

If ever a talk show deserves to be released on DVD, this one does! On all the other talk shows Whoopi's guests have done, they came across as if it was another performance. On her show however, they could just be themselves.

I was the editor on this show it ran for 99 episodes and was not cancelled. During this period of time she was doing movies Star Trek the Next Generation and this 1 hour single guest TV show. Princess Diana was never on this show. Whoopi was near exhaustion and left the show for her own health benefit.