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Oprah: Well.....?
Photo credit: AP
Big interview today - to make an almost painfully obvious observation - at 4 with you-know-who.
There will be all this subtext about the future, and what's she's gonna do next, and just how momentous a decision this will be, and exactly what the fan reaction will be and so on and so on....
In a way, so did Oprah.
Well, something happened in recent weeks. For some reason, Discovery Communications put pressure on O to make a final decision about whether to take her show over to OWN full time once her broadcast commitment is up in May of 2011. One website, "Deadline Hollywood," in fact said she had succumbed - my word - and would take the show over, and adios to broadcast TV.
Site later included CBS's reaction - CBS owns King World which distributes - saying no decision had been made, and O echoed that with her own statement. That's where things stand at this very moment. A column on this subject in today's paper is below, but allow me to make one further observation that seems to have been overlooked in all this. Oprah very well may not have made a decision by now. And let me tell you just how many times over the years I've written those words, "Oprah has not made a decision..." It's one of the oldest phrases in the language. It has appeared a million times, in a million places..."Oprah has not made a decision..." And then, magically, finally, miraculously, a decision is made - and a press release appears. These decisions that had not been made typically relate to her continuing with her show, now in its 26th season, I believe. Oftentimes she has said, "well, it's maybe time for me to think about retiring," or maybe I should be doing other stuff, or maybe 10 seasons...or 15 seasons...or 20 seasons is long enough. Cynics say its posturing - that she's trying to hold up stations for more money, etc. That may be, but I honestly think that O doesn't know until she knows. Here's what I've long believed about Oprah: That she has a lot of smart people telling her what's best for her brand, and what's best for her, and what's best for her future, and what's best for goals, and what's best for her many and varied interests. Usually, however, they are also telling her what's best for THEM. But she still buys it - we are all subject to blandishments - until she realizes that she doesn't really want to do what they suggested after all. I remember years ago when she and ABC/Disney signed this vast all-encompassing deal that was going to yield TV series and movies and theatricals and Broadway productions and for all I knew, maybe even a few rides at Disney World. Lots of headlines. And then, lots of silence. Nothing came of it. (Yes, of course she produced TV movies/theatricals and has had an active role in that world for many years, and continues to - "Precious" most recently. But that vaunted ABC deal that was going to change the world never happened.) Same thing with Oxygen. Now, same thing with OWN. If you've gotten this far down in the post then obviously you are interested in Oprah, so now I am about to give you the payoff for your time:Oprah is just like you and me. She likes the comfort of the familiar. She likes to get up in the morning, and know that everything is just where she left it the night before. That's my metaphor for her life in general.
She very well make a decision to take her talk show to cable in a couple years. She very well may decide to ditch it all for this sad little venture that has had a whale of a time figuring out what it is. Or, she may sign another deal to stay on broadcast TV for another three years, after which time we'll revisit this again. I'm betting on the latter. I may be dead wrong. But I think that's where Oprah's headed - which is right back where she started from. Today's column... "Oprah," Weekdays, WABC/7 at 4 p.m., WLNY/10/55 at 7 p.m.REASON TO WATCH The long-awaited Sarah Palin interview.
OPRAH UPDATE Winfrey has promised to make a decision on her new contract by the end of the year. This decision, though, could be a doozy. Deadline Hollywood Daily, a prominent entertainment Web site, reported that after her current deal ends in 2011, she will take her show to OWN, the joint cable venture she has with Discovery Communications. Denials were hastily issued. No decision has been made, she says.
IMPORTANCE OF MONDAY'S SHOW Even if Palin doesn't jump on Oprah's couch, this likely will be the single-most- watched episode of the season. There are minor shades of controversy here, too. Winfrey went on the campaign trail to support Barack Obama's candidacy, and declined to have either Sen. John McCain or his running mate on her program. Palin supporters howled; Oprah calmly explained that she didn't want to have candidates of any party on, and she didn't. Today's interview marks Oprah's first meeting with Palin, whose "Going Rogue" book hits stores Tuesday. It was taped last week.
MY TAKE Oprah is not just the queen of talk TV, but the queen of aphorisms, including: "Don't live your life to please other people" and "The big secret in life is that there is no big secret." Mash those two together and you come up with a reasonable, if superficial, facsimile of Oprah's own psyche. Oprah lives, in fact, to please Oprah. When you are one of the world's wealthiest women, that is feasible. No one tells Oprah what to do, and initial reports - perhaps erroneous - suggested Discovery was strong-arming her to move her show to cable. Meanwhile, the big secret to her life is that there is no big secret: She loves her fans, loves her stuff, loves her fame, loves her considerable influence on popular culture. Mostly, though, she loves her show. The eyes of the world Monday will be on Palin and the host. Perhaps Oprah secretly suspects such power and glory will be hard to achieve on an obscure cable network.
BOTTOM LINE My bet? That Oprah switches syndicators (from King World to, perhaps, Sony), but keeps her show, in some form at least, on broadcast TV.
Tags: oprah , oprah winfrey , sarah palin
