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Oprah Winfrey Stops by 'Dr. Oz' to Show What She's Been Up To (VIDEO)

Jason Hughes — 2011-12-08T00:00:00+00:00

Oprah Winfrey stopped by the 'The Dr. Oz Show' (Weekdays, Syndicated) show to update her fans on what she's been up to since 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' went off the air. After 25 years "in the chairs," as she described it, Winfrey is excited to be getting up and "going out into the world just talking to people who I felt were interesting."

This includes film luminaries like George Lucas at his ranch, as well as a group of Hasidic Jews who'd never heard of her before agreeing to do her program. Clearly, the freedom that's been allowed her with the OWN network has opened Winfrey's mind to the possibilities of what she can explore.

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Oprah Sends Wendy Williams a Letter to Clarify She's Still BFFs with Gayle King (VIDEO)

Alex Moaba — 2011-11-30T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

When Gayle King left her show on OWN to become the host of the new, reformatted CBS morning show, Wendy Williams wondered if the move might signal a behind-the-scenes rift between besties Oprah and Gayle King. She delivered a monologue urging the longtime friends to remember the good times and stay close. And apparently Oprah heard her plea. Or at least her people did, anyway, because Williams received a letter from "Oprah" reassuring her that Gayle and Oprah were still best friends.

Wendy read a copy of the letter Wednesday on 'The Wendy Williams Show' (weekdays, syndicated on Fox) and joked that she was keeping the original in a locked vault in her office. "There is only happiness for Gayle and this wonderful opportunity," the letter clarified. After the letter ended with a "Love, Oprah," Wendy added her own post-script: "stay black."

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Oprah Winfrey Returns to TV in 'Oprah's Next Chapter'

Laura Prudom — 2011-11-21T12:15:00+00:00

Filed under: TV News

Oprah Winfrey is set to put the OW back into OWN with the launch of her new series, 'Oprah's Next Chapter,' debuting Jan. 1 at 9PM ET. The new primetime series will take the media mogul away from the studio and on the road with celebrities, newsmakers, thought-leaders and real-life families.

"After 25 years I got myself out of the studio chairs. I moved into the next chapter, and I am having more fun than ever -- moving around the country and the world talking to people I'm really interested in getting to know and I think viewers will be, too," Winfrey said in a statement. "It is so energizing to be out and about in the world exploring new people, new places and new ideas."

The two-hour premiere episode will feature an in-depth conversation with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, with other celebrities, such as Sean Penn, George Lucas and Tony Robbins, lined up for future installments.

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Top 5 Clips of the Week: Oprah & Rosie Drink Tequila, Roker Gaffes Guthrie's Name & More (VIDEO)

Alex Moaba — 2011-10-22T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

Ever have one of those weeks where things just don't make sense? Just when the relentlessly boozy 'Jersey Shore' season was about to end, Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell started taking tequila shots. Al Roker botched one of his 'Today' colleague's names and Craig Ferguson made fun of his boss' sex scandal. And yesterday's tabloid homewreckers became today's reality show contestants.

Check out our five favorite videos from the week that was and vote for your personal favorite in our weekly poll.

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Oprah Winfrey Teaches Rosie O'Donnell How to Drink a Tequila Shot (VIDEO)

Jason Hughes — 2011-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reality-Free, TV Replay

Rosie O'Donnell learned something unexpected about the one-time queen of daytime television. She discovered that Oprah Winfrey likes to take tequila shots, and even had footage of Oprah teaching her how to take one on 'The Rosie Show' (Weeknights, 7PM ET on OWN).

O'Donnell seemed a bit surprised by the three-step process of properly drinking one down, but was game to try. Unfortunately, she didn't get to the lime part fast enough, and the tequila started to burn.

"What the hell?" she shouted before finally sucking the lime. "There should be a warning: It's gonna burn your throat!"

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Rosie O'Donnell Returns to TV -- and the Forecast Isn't Good

Stephanie Earp — 2011-10-11T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, Screen Time

I hear Rosie O'Donnell has leagues of devoted fans, but I've never met one. I hope for Oprah Winfrey's sake that she asked her staff to produce evidence of these throngs of Rosie-lovers before she gave Rosie five live hours per week on her network.

Me, I never had very strong feelings about O'Donnell, at least not while she was enjoying her reign as the Queen of Nice. I admit I enjoyed the schadenfreude of her unmasking as not-that-nice, not-that-beloved and definitely not-that-into Tom Cruise, but the truth is I didn't pay her much attention. It was only in researching her recent history that I discovered just how many accusations of breach of contract and unprofessional behavior she leaves in her wake as she joins the OWN team.

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Ryan O'Neal Slams Oprah, Says Reconciliation With Tatum Was Just For TV

Chris Harnick — 2011-09-08T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV News, Celebrities and Gossip

Ryan and Tatum O'Neal's happy ending at the end of 'Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals' wasn't all that real, according to Ryan.

Ryan told TV Guide Magazine the show hurt -- instead of helped -- his relationship with Tatum. He said the two are no longer speaking.

"We only reconciled on the show," he told the magazine. "Not in life. In fact, we're further apart now than we were when we started the show. So thanks, Oprah, for all your help."

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Rosie O'Donnell Opens Up About Her New OWN Show & Working Out Her Rage Issues

Jean Bentley — 2011-09-07T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV News

Rosie O'Donnell used to be angry. Very angry.

The 49-year-old opens up about her anger issues in the October edition of O, The Oprah Magazine, and the extent of them might surprise you.

"You know, I think I had a lot more rage than I was aware of," O'Donnell says in the article, according to a preview of the issue on People.com. "But I've gotten back access to my other feelings. I'm not cut off from my emotions anymore ... The rage has gone away ... There's been a healing."

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Anthony Hopkins Linked With Rumored HBO Version of 'The Corrections'

Catherine Lawson — 2011-09-06T08:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Reality-Free, TV News

Jonathan Franzen's novel 'The Corrections' was the publishing sensation of 2001. It won multiple awards and made its author a household name.

Especially after Oprah Winfrey chose it as one of her Book Club picks and he famously turned down an invitation to appear on her show.

Rumors have swirled for years about possible movie and TV adaptations of the lengthy tome and now there are reports that producer Scott Rudin ('The Social Network,' 'There Will Be Blood') and writer-director Noah Baumbach ('The Squid and the Whale,' 'Margot at the Wedding') are close to a TV series deal with HBO.

According to Deadline, the cable network may soon place an order for a pilot episode.

It's also been reported that none other than Anthony Hopkins has expressed an interest in playing one of the central roles.

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Can Rosie O'Donnell Help Oprah Save Struggling OWN? (VIDEO)

Nick Zaino — 2011-08-03T16:55:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

In her first week on the job at her OWN network, Oprah Winfrey discovered she was in for a much different experience than her 25-year tenure on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' In a note on her Facebook page, she wrote, "It's ten times harder than doing my daily show." 'The Insider' (weekdays, 7PM on CBS) reported on Winfrey's efforts to improve the network, including hiring Rosie O'Donnell to do her own show.

According to 'Insider,' OWN is the 63rd ranked cable network and Web site traffic has recently plunged by 50 percent. Winfrey is hoping O'Donnell's show, which shoots on Winfrey's old set, will give the network a boost when it debuts this fall. O'Donnell seems happy to be involved. "We did like a four-hour sort of sit down, what's going on, what do you think," she said. "At the end of it, she's like, what do you say we do this. I'm like, I'm in."

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'The Early Show' Reports on Oprah's Move to CEO and CCO of OWN (VIDEO)

Nick Zaino — 2011-07-14T12:45:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

News broke Wednesday that Oprah Winfrey has appointed herself CEO and Chief Creative Officer at the Oprah Winfrey Network. Thursday, 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM on CBS) took a look at the nascent network and the problems its run into since launching. According tot he report, OWN is averaging 267,000 viewers in prime time viewing hours, an improvement of just 12,000 viewers over Discovery Health, the network it displaced.

For someone used to dominating television in syndication, the numbers have to be a disappointment for Winfrey. But as Ronald Glover of Bloomberg Businessweek pointed out, cable is a different game. "Cable television is not afternoon television, it's not broadcast television," he told CBS. "The number of channels that the OWN channel is competing against is huge."

CBS also reported that Winfrey sent a memo to her staff, which read, in part, "We are in this boat together in a very real way now. And I will put my brand and my future on the line because I know this one team ... is the boat I want to be in." That's a good thing for Oprah, as since her show ended, OWN is the only TV boat she's in.

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Oprah Winfrey Named CEO and CCO of OWN

Chris Harnick — 2011-07-13T11:45:00+00:00

Filed under: TV News

Oprah Winfrey has been named the new CEO and CCO of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. Makes sense, right?

Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, presidents of Harpo Studios, will now become presidents of OWN. Winfrey's new title change takes place this fall while Logan and Salata's is effective immediately.

"I am ready to dedicate my full creative energy and focus as the full time CEO of OWN. By aligning the mission, talent and leadership of Erik, Sheri, the OWN team, the Harpo team, along with expertise of David Zaslav, Peter and all of Discovery behind us, we can unleash the full potential of the network," Winfrey said in a statement.

In a Facebook note to her fans, Winfrey called merging of Harpo and OWN as part of her "going with the flow" mentality.

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TV Star Fights With Octomom, Oscar Producers Downplay Oprah's Involvement & More TV News

Maggie Furlong — 2011-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Previews, TV News

When Octomom became a household word, people everywhere dreamed of what they'd say to Nadya Suleman, the outrageous single mom of multiples who was grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons.

According to MSNBC, Kristen Johnston -- best known for her role on '3rd Rock From the Sun' -- got the chance on a recent flight from NYC to L.A.

Apparently Octomom was having trouble keeping her 12 children quiet, even before the flight took off, and the outspoken Johnston was not gonna put up with it for the entire cross-country trip.

Suleman's rep told E!: "Nadya and her children were in business class ... apparantly Kristen became upset and came from 1st class to tell her to keep her kids quiet. They had an altercation and Kristen got off the plane and never returned. While Nadya had help from her friend and two older children, it's not easy to travel with one two-year-old let alone eight two-year-olds on a plane. She did the best anyone could."

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Five Real-Life Couples We'd Love to See on Reality TV

Jean Bentley — 2011-06-12T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Features

Ice T and his wife, Coco, have been together for 10 years.

A decade is a long time in show business, but the rapper-turned-actor and model are still as devoted as ever. The couple, who were married in 2005, renewed their wedding vows in an over-the-top ceremony last weekend. Now, their so-weird-but-it-works relationship will take center stage in the E! reality series 'Ice Loves Coco' (premieres Sun., June 12 at 10:30PM).

The fact that it's taken them this long to step in front of reality cameras together had us a little surprised -- they odd couple seems made for TV -- but we're happy they're finally there. But it got us to thinking -- who else would we like to watch on the small screen?

Here are five other celebrity couples we think should get their own reality shows.

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Sarah Ferguson on Hitting Rock Bottom and Her New OWN Show, 'Finding Sarah' (VIDEO)

Jean Bentley — 2011-06-10T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, TV Previews, Celebrity Interviews

When Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was caught by a British tabloid last year trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, she was sure she'd hit rock bottom.

The natural inclination after such an embarrassing incident is usually to slink as far away from the public eye as possible, but not for Ferguson -- instead, she decided to document her redemption in a six-part documentary series on OWN (premieres Sun., June 12 at 9PM ET).

It pays to have famous friends -- Ferguson told AOL TV that it was Oprah herself who suggested she film a show for OWN. After the jump, watch Ferguson discuss 'Finding Sarah,' which follows the Duchess as she seeks the assistance of self-help gurus big and small, from Dr. Phil and Suze Orman to a shaman and a horse whisperer.

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TV 101: The Post-Oprahpolyptic Era

Dr. Ryan Vaughan, PhD (no, seriously) — 2011-06-02T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Features

Don't worry everyone! Oprah will be OK. But how will we do without her?

She has certainly changed the talk show game, fostering a relationship with fans and our culture that transcends that of most every other host that has come and gone during her tenure as the reigning overlord of daytime talk, with the exception of Jerry Springer who is more like the reigning "guy who cleans up after the strippers."

But what will TV look like in this Post-Oprahpolyptic (I'm trademarking that) time of confusion and sadness?

Let's take a look at what some of you are already experiencing: Life without Oprah.

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Dr. Oz Talks About Moving Into 'Oprah's' Time Slot on 'The View' (VIDEO)

Harley W. Lond — 2011-05-26T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

Dr. Mehmet Oz and 'The Dr. Oz Show' is moving into 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' time slot and the good doctor was on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC) to talk about what that means to him and his show.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck kicked things off by asking him, "Do you feel pressure moving into that time zone? ... What's your mindset?"

Despite the fact that it's a mighty time slot to fill, Dr. Oz feels no pressure. Instead, he said he has a responsibility.

"At the end of the day what I'm really doing is carrying on the tradition she's crafted," he said. "Historically, there was always a healer or a teacher, someone in the village who connected everybody. They made them feel that they were worthy. That's what Oprah taught me how to do. I spent eight years at Oprah University," which is more years than he spent at college and med school.

He's made the commitment to make her proud. "That's my intention, my promise."

Lofty ideals indeed ...

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'The Oprah Winfrey Show' Finale Gets Highest Ratings Since 1994

Jean Bentley — 2011-05-26T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV News, Finales

It seems Oprah Winfrey's message of love and self-acceptance during the final episode of her talk show was enough to boost yesterday's goodbye to the top of the ratings.

Despite the fact that none of the multitude of celebrities present at the taping in Chicago's United Center actually appeared during the episode, during which Winfrey looked back on her 25 years on television, the last installment of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' scored a major 13.3 household rating.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, that's the biggest audience for a single episode since 1994. For a show that's been on the air for two and a half decades, that's a pretty respectable way to go out. The previous record-holder: a Feb. 21, 1994 show called 'People Shed Their Disguises,' "during which Winfrey convinced guests to stop hiding behind questionable style and grooming choices," THR reports.

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'Oprah' Won't Say Goodbye, But 'Until We Meet Again' (VIDEO)

Nick Zaino — 2011-05-25T18:20:00+00:00

Filed under: TV Replay

After two days of the arena-rock version of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' (weekdays, syndicated) and a parade of guest stars, Winfrey took the stage alone back at her studio today to say thank you to the fans and wrap things up. She said there were "no words to match this moment," contemplating 25 years and 4,561 days of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' And she refused to say goodbye.

"I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I've tried to be for you," she said. "I won't say goodbye. I'll just say, until we meet again."

Few would expect Winfrey to retire from television, especially now that she has OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network. But there are no immediate plans for a new show. That might change by the time her reruns finish airing in syndication.

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Live Blogging Oprah's Final Show

Maureen Ryan — 2011-05-25T10:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, TV News, Finales, Stay Tuned

Well, Oprah's final show is here. Depending on your level of Oprah love, it's time to either get out your tissue box or your vomit bucket.

But I'm here not to pass judgement on Oprah's 25-year daytime career, offer an assessment of her influence or offer you another list of memorable Oprah moments. The goal here is to share a comprehensive live-blog of the final episode of her daytime show.

Yep, after 283 Favorite Things, 1.3 million audience members and several dozen free cars, the Queen of Daytime is signing off. And since the show airs at 9 a.m. in Chicago, which is where your fearless correspondent lives, you can read about the whole going-away shebang here before you even have lunch! You're welcome.

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