Nellie Andreeva

Oprah Winfrey, whose post-Academy Award specials were among the highest-rated episodes of her syndicated daytime talk show, is launching what likely will be an Oscar primetime special franchise on OWN. Oprah’s Oscar Special will air on February 15. This is the first time Winfrey has done an Oscar special on OWN. In addition to the special post-Oscar editions of her talk show, Winfrey did a couple of primetime Oscar specials on ABC, most recently in 2010. On them, movie stars interviewed other movie stars in a format that set the specials apart from ABC’s staple, Barbara Walters’ annual Academy Award specials. Winfrey’s OWN interview program resembles Walters’ specials, which ended their run in 2010 after 29 years. The two-hour OWN special, produced by Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, will feature Winfrey interviewing three of this year’s Academy Award-nominated actors: The Help‘s Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer and Moneyball‘s Jonah Hill.

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