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Sheesh, I thought she would never exit her syndicated show. (I scooped the news all the way back on Nov. 9, 2009.) Not a fan, though I know millions are. And we’re each entitled to our opinion. But the saccharine sign-off Oprah Winfrey used to end her daytime talker made me reach for my insulin: ”I won’t say goodbye, I’ll just say until we meet again,” she said. “To God be the glory.” The real miracle will be if viewers follow her to OWN for nighttime talk:
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Class. Pure, utter – class. May she go on to continue to do good work in the medium for many years to come.
I gather Oprah was not/is not Nikki’s cup of tea, but I have to agree with the poster TV101 that she was one pioneering woman of accomplishment by all measures (ie, the quality of her show and its resultant ratings bonanza/ her eye-popping wealth/ her steadfast mission to encourage the best in others even as she tried to “remember her spirit” and invoke a gospel of personal responsibility & self improvement)
The thing that I will always remember about her exit from the Big Stage is her grace. Just the other day she had James “A Million Little Pieces” Frey on her show, and she apologized for how tough she was on him when he was immolating in the flames of his own kindling years ago. As I watched that program a week ago, I wondered what Hollywood billionaire or movie exec or mogul has ever or could ever publicly show such class and grace, and admit they may have been wrong in the way they handled things?
If there were more Oprah-like thinking on Wall Street, in Hollywood or D.C., those respective realms would be better, more enlightened places.
Oprah’s magnanimity shows that you don’t have to be a rampaging, mean-spirited, blindly avaricious and rampaging poop head to get ahead either financially or creatively. She did it HER way, the RIGHT way.
Hollywood execs take note.
Ms Finke, for all your personal feelings towards Oprah, at least be gracious enough to acknowledge that her brand of TV works internationally and NO ONE comes close to meeting her on the dollars from syndication sales and appeal.
Finke is right…
In the mid-to-late nineties, Winfrey turned out the most vile, exploitative television that daytime had ever seen. And the local stations – thanks KABC! – ran her lurid promos at all hours, exposing even casual viewers to some very harsh material.
Once she drowned her competition in sewage – so long, “Sally Jesse” and “Ricki Lake” – Winfrey could pretend to be a high priestess of kindness and decency.
This is the kind of snark I live for on this website. Keep it up Nikki!
Oprah hate has been rampant in the last several weeks. It’s so unfortunate. The finale was exactly what it should be. I enjoyed it.
Apologizing to James Frey is something less than a sign or grace or class. Rather, it suggests that celebrities have a short memory when it come to criticizing each other. And Oprah is, first and foremost, a celebrity. Offering her benediction to Frey is just another way to burnish her halo.
How could you not like Oprah? She always leads by example. She’s at the top of success and remains most humble of all. That woman should be cloned!
I cannot believe that Nikki Finke does not like, or at least appreciate Oprah Winfrey! I agree with everyone else, personal opinions aside, how Nikki Finke, a fellow woman in journalism, can’t deny the success and respect that Oprah Winfrey has gained and built all on her own. Her final episode was so classy and made me appreciate her legacy even more.
For inflicting her personal horde of gurus, charlatans and snake oil salesmen on the increasingly gullible American public alone, I’ve come to despise Doprah. Add to that the incredibly, fantastically fascinating weight loss narrative she has shared over the years and the fact that I’ve had to stare at her CGI’d face on the cover of her monthly mag every time I go to the supermarket, and I’m pretty well rid of this one.
Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out, dear.
Who the eff has done so much for so many? Be as cynical as you want, Nikki, but this woman has inspired millions of people to change their lives for the better. For starters… anyone who watched the second hour of the show at the United Center and saw the procession of hundreds of black men who received Oprah scholarships at Morehouse had to have been moved to tears. Or how about sexual abuse victims (female and male) to whom she gave the safety and courage to come out publicly. Or how about all the kids who stayed in school because of her? I haven’t always been a fan, but who else has accomplished anything close to that??? Would that our government had compassion and done as much good for our wounded troops and the victims of the natural disasters of the last 10 years. She will start to distance herself from OWN (it will fail because no one will be able to find it up there in the 200s and Discovery will have to stop the bleeding sooner or later) and she’ll try to become the serious the actress she has always wanted to be (hold the sneers….). Ultimately, though, she’ll leave that to return to the national stage via some sort of live television + streaming show. Connecting and inspiring people is her gift. She is a treasure and those of you who trash her are the poorer for that. Have you done half as much for anyone else in your life, much less thousands of others? Shame on you for carping and hating.
Right on, Nikki! I’m so tired of this narcissistic woman. Those shows were horrible! Where is Tom Hanks’ self-respect? He was up there on stage with her preening and carrying on as if Jack Bailey on the ancient “Queen for a Day” show. Just embarrassing.
Glad the show’s over. Sorry. Yes she did good works, but so did celebrities like Paul Newman, and he knew there may be millions of people out there that didn’t want to see his mug spread all over the culture like peanut butter every bloody day for decades. But not to worry, someone as annoying as Oprah never truly goes away in America.
Thank god she’s gone. Hopefully she’ll never influence presidential elections again.
And who says there isnt a God?
But really, these past few weeks have been one big love-letter…to HERSELF. It’s been the most self-congratulating bit of propaganda ever. Is she that insecure? Has she cured cancer? Split the atom? It’s show-biz. That’s all. How much dumber can this country get?
But, but…she like, gave away cars…and…and…Kindle’s…and…and she introduced us to Obama…and she gave away cars…and…and, like Gayle King and her and BESTEST friends…and, and…
In so many ways, she was the first person to legitimate the feelings and desires and voices of many women. I’ve never been that attached to her – I was raised to be outspoken and voice my feelings and opinions. But I know she really brought so many topics out into the light – and for that I am thankful!
Ding Dong! The witch is dead!!! Or at least somewhat less visible, I’m sure she will still be telepathically running the live of house wives across middle America. Did anyone else catch the subliminal messages planted in the last episode… I feel like I need to watch OWN for some reason.
I don’t think its cynical.
I liked Oprah when she was a journalist. Exposing things like Phil D.
But the last 15 years it’s sort of been a parody of Sally Jesse R. being nice and smiling. I would love you too if you flew me to Austraila, gave me a car and placed nice gifts under my seat.
While her charity work has been great and she has created an empire. The sacrifice has been a journalistic style. If I had cable I might watch O. About as much I watched Lifetime TV.
But verses the Sopranos etc O would not be a fave channel after 8 PM any night.