Final episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show to air today
Following a two-day star-studded surprise goodbye to “O,” today is the farewell episode of the Oprah Winfrey show. This final broadcast, which will round out 25 years on the air, will not include any of Oprah’s usual antics – no giveaways, no preview of what’s to come, no crazy celebs jumping on couches. Instead, Winfrey offers up this last hour as a thank-you to her loyal fans.
The Oprah Winfrey Show may be coming to a close, but this doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of her. The end of the show comes 18 months after she announced that she planned on leaving in order to focus on OWN, her new cable channel. And with the end of O come changes to daytime TV. Locally, Action News will move into the 4 p.m. slot, and CBS will bump Dr. Phil up from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m. and broadcast its evening news at 5.
In early 2012, she is expected to launch her new show, Oprah’s Next Chapter but not much is known about what to expect from this new venture. In her final show, Oprah steered away from promoting her new network, choosing instead to take a look back on her career.
Along with hundreds of adoring fans, notable members of the audience include Oprah’s fourth-grade teacher, longtime beau Stedman Graham, best friend Gayle King and protégé Dr. Phil McGraw.
If you’re a die-hard Oprah fan who’s just not ready to let go…send her an e-mail. At the end of the final episode taping, she announced that her email address is oprah@oprah.com. Yes, I’m sure Oprah herself will be spending all this new downtime answering them.
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