Oprah to do nighttime show
The Wall Street Journal has a very good piece today on Oprah's plans for the new network - includng a new primetime series called 'Oprah's Next Chapter.'
Here's the outtake:
Expect an announcement "Thursday that she will host an evening show on her new cable network. The aptly named "Oprah's Next Chapter," an hourlong show, will probably debut late next year.
Ms. Winfrey's new show, which could air as many as two or three times a week, will take Ms. Winfrey out of the studio setting that has been her home for 25 years and follow her around the globe for conversations in places such as Egypt and China. "I'm going to take viewers with me, going to take celebrities I want to interview with me" around the world, Ms. Winfrey said in an interview."
MORE: Oprah snags Rielle Hunter interview
PHOTOS: Oprah Winfrey through the years.
Questions, questions, questions and I'm absolutely certain the devine Ms. O will answer them in the long detailed press release about to hit my in-box any hour now:
1.) Do people really want to see Oprah on a plane travelling the world with Jay-Z? How many questions can she ask him between here and Eqypt?
2.) And if you're taking celebrities with you to all these places, wouldn't it just be easier to sit in some studio and do the same thing? Cheaper on gas certainly, and the planet is warming, so you have to think about this, Oprah.
3.) Why would we follow Oprah to China to have "conversations?" What sort of "conversations?": Will O be talking to Chinese citizens, or just Jay-Z? Why China? Why not Thailand? Or Taiwan? Why not the US of A, where most, if not all, of her potential viewers be?
4.) Do viewers - who have stick with her for 25 years - really want to see her in a setting outside the studio? They've been reluctant to do that before. Do they really want to see her talk about stuff that she doesn't talk about on her show? They've been reluctant to do that before.
In any event, the Oprah train - or plane - is about to take off. Not much any of us can do about it except go along for the ride. If, that is, we choose to.
MORE: Oprah snags Rielle Hunter interview
PHOTOS: Oprah Winfrey through the years.
