Tag: Oprah Winfrey (81-90 of 159)

Sep 29 2010 09:21 AM ET

Letterman discusses Oprah feud with Jon Stewart

by
Tags: , , , , , , , About Last Night, Television, TV

For anyone who’s been following the ongoingly frosty and seemingly endless feud between David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey, last night’s Late Show provided new insight into their long-standing Cold War. Chatting with guest Jon Stewart, Letterman revealed that the iciness dates back much further than Letterman’s notorious (and notoriously awkward) joke while hosting the 1995 Academy Award telecast: “Oprah, Uma…Uma, Oprah”. In fact, Letterman told Stewart — and the insomniacs watching at home — that the real cause of the rift was a practical joke Letterman played on Winfrey long before he laid his Oscars egg.

Turns out that Letterman and his then-girlfriend, Regina Lasko, found themselves having lunch in the same restaurant as Oprah and Steadman while on vacation. As a gag, Letterman told the waiter that Winfrey’s table was picking up their check. Apparently, Winfrey didn’t find this as hilarious as Letterman did. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 27 2010 02:30 PM ET

Oprah to reunite 'The Sound of Music' cast for the first time in 45 years

by
Tags: , , , , , , , Movies, Television, TV

Sound-of-Music-castImage Credit: Everett CollectionIn a development that is sure to bring tears to the eyes of anyone with a heart, Oprah Winfrey has announced she will reunite the cast of The Sound of Music on her Oct. 29 show. What’s that sound, you ask? Why, it’s the hills, alive with the sound of my excitement! Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer will be in attendance — an “Edelweiss” performance better be on the show’s schedule — as well as the Von Trapp kids: Charmian Carr (“Liesl”), Nicholas Hammond (“Friedrich”), Heather Menzies-Urich (“Louisa”), Duane Chase (“Kurt”), Angela Cartwright (“Brigitta”), Debbie Turner (“Marta”), and Kym Karath (“Gretl”). It will be the first time in 45 years the Music cast has been together. Be sure to mark your DVRs now — that is, if you haven’t done so already — and to tide you over, click after the jump to watch of my favorite performances…which I may or may not have tried to recreate as a child. (Like you haven’t!) READ FULL STORY »

Sep 24 2010 05:44 PM ET

'Oprah': Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (officially) gives away $100 million on show

by
Tags: , , TV

oprahImage Credit: George Burns/Harpo ProductionsWith the button-pushing Facebook movie The Social Network‘s premiere only a week away, the company’s real-life CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on today’s Oprah Winfrey Show to donate $100 million to the Newark public school system. As Oprah ruefully noted during the segment — which also featured New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Newark mayor Corey Booker — the news had already leaked two days earlier, so some of the announcement’s impact was blunted. Still, it was undoubtedly a huge chunk of change for an often beleaguered city. (Booker said at one point that a full half of Newark’s public school kids don’t graduate high school.)

What I found interesting was that while The Social Network buzz was undoubtedly lingering in the background, the show was actually about a whole other movie that’s been making waves: Waiting for “Superman”. In fact, today was Oprah’s second show this week devoted to the lauded documentary about the crisis in American education. And the focus stayed there throughout, even as Oprah got a never-before-seen peek into Zuckerberg’s modest, rented house in Palo Alto, Calif., that he shares with his girlfriend. (Oprah briefly brought up the “unauthorized” Facebook movie without ever mention its title, and Zuckerberg shrugged it off, saying “It’s a movie. It’s fun. A lot of it is fiction. Even the filmmakers will say that.”) Another interesting wrinkle: Oprah noted that Zuckerberg had initially intended to make the donation anonymously, but that when she heard the news from Booker, she said “Is he crazy?” and convinced Zuckerberg to announce it publicly. She also explained the timing of the news, saying that it would have happened much earlier had it not been for her show’s airing schedule. Me, I couldn’t care less why Zuckerberg is donating so much — I just think it’s very cool he did.

Did you watch? Is Zuckerberg aligning himself with “Superman” and trying to ignore…the unauthorized Facebook movie? What are your thoughts on him post-announcement?

Read more:
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg to make a $100 million donation to Newark’s public schools
The full ‘Social Network’ trailer hits: Will you friend the Facebook movie this October?
‘The Social Network’ new commercial: Zuckerberg as mean Josh Lyman

Sep 23 2010 10:10 AM ET

Forbes 400: Oprah only 130th richest person in America

by
Tags: , , , , , Movies, Television, TV

oprahImage Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesThere are 129 people more wealthy than Oprah Winfrey in America, according to Forbes. Why do the rest of us even try? Winfrey’s net worth, estimated at $2.7 billion, ties her for No. 130 on the Forbes 400, the magazine’s annual list of the richest people in the nation. (Walmart’s Christy Walton, with $24 billion, is the country’s leading woman at No. 4.) For the 17th straight year, Microsoft’s Bill Gates tops the list with an estimated $54 billion. A sampling of others making the cut: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 21 2010 11:22 AM ET

'Sesame Street' still the coolest show on TV: Katy Perry, Jason Bateman, Kara DioGuardi among the new season's celebrity guests

by
Tags: , , , , , , ,

If you remain unsure about whether ubiquitous singer Katy Perry is annoying with her Betty Boop eyes and whip cream-shooting bikini or actually a pure pop delight, take a look at her cameo appearance on the new season (the 41st! debuting Sept. 27!) of Sesame Street. She may in fact be the most adorable creature alive: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 15 2010 07:18 PM ET

Australian tourism officials call seven-figure 'Oprah' visit priceless. Agreed.

by
Tags: , , Television, TV

oprah-austaliaImage Credit: Mark Segal/Getty Images; Albert L. Ortega/PR PhotosThere was some surprise when it was announced that Aussie taxpayers would foot the bill, estimated at $3 million, for “Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure.” That’s the eight-day journey Down Under on which Oprah Winfrey will take 300 of her most loyal viewers this December. They’ll see the sights, drink the wine, and shoot at least two episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show in Sydney’s Opera House (dubbed “Oprah House” for that week). But the fact is: A tourism board does spend money on advertising to bring visitors into the country, and Winfrey filming her first trip — for a show seen by an estimated 40 million viewers in America and aired in roughly 145 countries — is a decent investment. At a press conference yesterday, federal tourism minister John Brown put it into perspective when he compared what has been dubbed “Project O” by some of the tourism officials who worked on the partnership in secret for months to a past campaign: “‘Where the bloody hell are you?‘ was a $180 million absolute disaster,” he said. “You couldn’t possibly quantify the success that you’re gonna get from this.” Aussie tourism officials consider it a coup — and it was their idea. “Tourism Australia approached us about a year ago with the idea to bring The Oprah Winfrey Show to Australia,” a rep for the show tells EW. “We were honored by their gracious invitation and look forward to showcasing their beautiful country to our viewers around the world.”

Now, how exactly do Australian citizens feel about the investment their federal and state governments are making? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 06:00 PM ET

'Oprah' premiere: Australia poised to spend $2.8 million for trip. Didgeridoo or didgeridon't?

by
Tags: , TV

oprah-premiereImage Credit: George Burns/Harpo StudiosHelloooooo, Austraaaliaaaaaaaa! Oprah Winfrey announced on Monday that she and her entire audience would be making a trip Down Under, to the land where toilets flush backwards and Burger Kings are Hungry Jack’s. Now, this all sounds pretty ace, but Oprah’s antipodean adventure carries with it a pretty hefty price tag. According to Reuters, Australia’s tourism minister estimates that bringing The Oprah Winfrey Show to his country will cost the government more than $3 million. That’s $2.8 million in U.S. dollars.

Now, it’s likely that the temporary relocation will have the intended effect of helping to boost tourism, but we couldn’t help wondering what else Australians might have purchased with that kind of money. And seeing as most of what we at PopWatch know about the continent comes from Men at Work songs and Outback Steakhouse commercials, forgive us if our suggestions are more than a tad, er, stereotypical. For the cost of one Oprah-tastic week, Aussies could have gotten: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2010 06:11 PM ET

'Oprah': 10 Facial Expressions of Near-Terror Before Free Trip to Australia Announcement

by
Tags: , , , , , , , Television, TV

For today’s premiere of her 25th and final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah filled the studio with 300 special people she called “the ultimates” — viewers so loyal they’ve written her letters (on paper!), organized regular restaurant meet-ups just to talk about her, and forced their children to re-watch her birthday episode from 2004 (also featuring today’s “favorite guest,” John Travolta) over and over again. Would they get a car? No! Hilariously, one group of women who’d driven cross-country to attend what they thought would be the season’s second show ended up on today’s show because Oprah’s team transformed a loading dock into a make-believe parking garage so that the women would think they’d arrived at their hotel (Harpo Resort and Casino, West Loop branch?) when really they were just rollin’ right on into the studio! (Obviously they were freaking out and it was adorable, but the best part was that the first thing one of them said was that it would have been nice to “shower and get dressed.”) No free cars for them! Oprah also surprised super-fan Crystal Brooks with a video message in her elementary school classroom, announcing “A car is waiting for you outside…” Her face lit up knowingly, but then Opes continued, “…to bring you to the airport and come to our season premiere.” No car for her either! BUT THEN… READ FULL STORY »

Aug 8 2010 03:37 PM ET

Oprah be darned! Zach Anner starts his own travel show on YouTube

by
Tags: , , , , , , , Reality TV, Television, TV

Zach-AnnerAfter rocketing to internet stardom thanks to his audition video for Oprah Winfrey’s Your OWN Show reality TV series — and unwittingly finding himself in the middle of a possible vote-rigging kerfuffle (see below) – the irrepressibly charming Zach Anner has taken his idea for “a travel show for people who never thought they could travel” to YouTube. Anner, who has cerebral palsy (which he calls “the sexiest of the palsies”), posted a series of videos about his current home town of Austin, Tex. back in June. But since he didn’t really need to travel all that far to shoot it, we’re counting the episode he posted Aug. 4 of his tour of Niagara Falls as the true series premiere of Zach in the Buff. And it is awesome. Check it out after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 03:55 PM ET

Kitty Kelley's unauthorized Oprah bio to become movie: Who should play the Queen of All Media?

by
Tags: , , , Television, TV

oprahKitty Kelley’s scandalous, very unauthorized Oprah Winfrey biography will be getting the movie treatment, EW has confirmed. Oprah: A Biography has been optioned by Larry Thompson, who brought us biopics about Lucy and Desi Arnaz, Sonny and Cher, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor — with the project on track to debut around the same time as Winfrey’s Sept. 2011 sign-off. The book, which Winfrey dismissed as a “so-called biography,” included hints at drug use, a secret birth father, and a liaison with John Tesh in the talk queen’s past — so while it won’t likely get a prime promotion spot on Oprah’s couch, it certainly isn’t likely to be dull.

The bigger question: Who might play Oprah? I’d want to see a Viola Davis or a Jennifer Hudson — an actress with enough spirit, spark, and gravitas to take on the Almighty Oprah — but, honestly, I can’t think of anyone who’d want to incur her wrath by daring to do so. Do you have any thoughts, PopWatchers? And do you even want to see Oprah’s life played out on the small or big screen? And most importantly of all, who could play John Tesh?

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP
Your favorite social platform?