As Oprah Winfrey prepares for the final season of her groundbreaking show, she told an interviewer that the program has been my life. I didnt have children. I had the show.
The television superstar made the remark in a question-and-answer interview with TV Guide. Asked whether there would be a lot of tears between the season premiere on Sept. 13 and the final broadcast, Winfrey said, I dont intend to be crying the whole season. The only time I get really emotional and nostalgic is when I think about the viewersIt will be bittersweet because its bringing this chapter to a close.
Of course, shes not entirely ending her involvement in television. Shes starting OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, which launches Jan. 1 and includes a documentary series directed by superstars like Julia Roberts as well as a talk show by Rosie ODonnell.
Winfreys show is the highest-rated in American television history, and also the longest-running. The topic of her very first show was How to Marry the Man or Woman of Your Dreams. Since then, shes gone on to interview everyone from Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Cruise and Barack Obama. She brought some personal struggles into the spotlight as she talked about her ongoing battle with weight, and she demonstrated unprecedented selling power by prompting hundreds of thousands of people to buy the books chosen for her book club, and by launching the careers of Dr. Phil McGraw and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
