History Series / TheOprahWinfreyShow

* BleachedUnderpants: ''Oprah'' was much more of a PointAndLaughShow in its early years (much like ''Donahue'', its direct inspiration), but the decision was made to go "upmarket" shortly after a glut of new point-and-laugh shows emerged in [[TheNineties the mid-nineties]], such as ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'' and ''Ricki Lake'', and began to threaten her ratings dominance. It worked; she would survive all of those rivals except for ''Springer'' and ''Maury''.

** Harpo is also the name of a character in ''Literature/TheColorPurple'', which was Oprah's film debut.

However, there's been some controversy where Oprah is concerned. When Mad Cow Disease fears were at their peak in the '90s, she said that the fears stopped her from eating meat, which caused the beef industry to sue her for defamation. As a result, her show moved to Texas for a month so she could continue filming during the trial. Another such incident was the Book Club endorsement of books that were ''extremely'' dubious, like James Frey's supposedly-autobiographical ''A Million Little Pieces'': when it turned out that [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie Frey had made it all up]], she had him on and tore [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech him]] [[JustForPun to pieces]].

** There was also the well-known "Oprah's Favorite Things," which aired once a year as a kind of ThanksgivingEpisode. Oprah would list off some of her favorite clothes, electronics, media, foods, and other items, with every single member of the audience getting a copy of whatever she discussed, totaling thousands of dollars of goodies per person. The episode was chosen for a random date in Thanksgiving week each year, and people would try their best to get their hands on tickets for every taping they could in that week in the hope of being in the studio on the correct day. "Oprah's Favorite Things" even has a page on Wikipedia!

** There was also the well-known "Oprah's Favorite Things," which aired once a year as a kind of ThanksgivingEpisode. Oprah would list off some of her favorite clothes, electronics, media, foods, and other items, with every single member of the audience getting a copy of whatever she discussed, totaling thousands of dollars of goodies per person. The episode was chosen for a random date in Thanksgiving week each year, and people would try their best to get their hands on tickets for every taping they could in that week in the hope of being in the studio on the correct day. "Oprah's Favorite Things" even has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah's_Favorite_Things page]] on TheOtherWiki!

* SheCleansUpNicely[=/=]UnlimitedWardrobe: Oprah's brave enough to appear without makeup and shows just how amazing her makeup artist is, not to mention the makeover specials. As for her wardrobe, the room-sized closet in her office is filled with dresses and cashmere sweaters [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience arranged in chromatic order]] and shelves of [[NiceShoes Louboutin heels]].

This show turned Creator/OprahWinfrey into a merchandising juggernaut. Whenever she sticks her Book Club sticker on a piece of literature, rest assured that the book in question will [[ColbertBump shoot to the top of the bestseller list]] (though this has caused her some controversy before). She's turned Series/DoctorPhil, [[Series/TheDoctorOzShow Dr. Oz]], Creator/RachaelRay, and Nate Berkus into successful talk show hosts in their own right. Finally, she's had some episodes over the years that have become iconic TV moments, including Creator/TomCruise's couch-jumping, the "Weight Wagon" show (where she wheeled out a wagon of fat to demonstrate the weight she had lost), and the infamous episode where everybody in the audience received a new car.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: The website. "Stem cell research" in the media usually refers to research involving any kind of stem cell when talking about advancements, but is typically short for embryonic stem cell research when talking about controversies (since it is the controversial kind). Unfortunately, in the description for one episode, the website uses it both ways in the same article. In the episode, Michael J. Fox and Oprah spoke in favor of embryonic stem cell research into Parkinson's disease, then Dr. Oz completely [[http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Oz-on-the-Medical-Benefits-of-Stem-Cells-Video disagreed]], calling the stem cell debate "dead" in favor of (a description of what is clearly, though he doesn't call it by name) induced pluripotent stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells, while showing the general process on a brain. Oprah's website [[http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Dr-Oz-and-Michael-J-Fox_1 summarized]] this as "Using a brain, Dr. Oz illustrates how stem cells may help cure chronic illnesses", but in the more thorough description said, "Thanks to recent scientific discoveries, Dr. Oz says stem cells aren't the only solution." Apparently the alternative solution to "stem cells" is induced pluripotent ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stem cells]]''.

It may be SnarkBait, it may be a {{Guilty Pleasure|s}}, it may be SoBadItsGood, but there's no denying that whatever you feel about it, it's easily one of the most iconic daytime TV series in history. Oprah also proved she wasn't going anywhere; though the show ended on May 25, 2011, she soon afterwards launched the '''O'''[[FunWithAcronyms prah]] '''W'''[[FunWithAcronyms infrey]] '''N'''[[FunWithAcronyms etwork]].

This show turned Oprah into a merchandising juggernaut. Whenever she sticks her Book Club sticker on a piece of literature, rest assured that the book in question will [[ColbertBump shoot to the top of the bestseller list]] (though this has caused her some controversy before). She's turned Series/DoctorPhil, [[Series/TheDoctorOzShow Dr. Oz]], Creator/RachaelRay, and Nate Berkus into successful talk show hosts in their own right. Finally, she's had some episodes over the years that have become iconic TV moments, including Creator/TomCruise's couch-jumping, the "Weight Wagon" show (where she wheeled out a wagon of fat to demonstrate the weight she had lost), and the infamous episode where everybody in the audience received a new car.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: The website. "Stem cell research" in the media usually refers to research involving any kind of stem cell when talking about advancements, but is typically short for embryonic stem cell research when talking about controversies ([[CaptainObvious since it is the controversial kind]]). Unfortunately, in the description for one episode, the website uses it both ways in the same article. In the episode, Michael J. Fox and Oprah spoke in favor of embryonic stem cell research into Parkinson's disease, then Dr. Oz completely [[http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Oz-on-the-Medical-Benefits-of-Stem-Cells-Video disagreed]], calling the stem cell debate "dead" in favor of (a description of what is clearly, though he doesn't call it by name) induced pluripotent stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells, while showing the general process on a brain. Oprah's website [[http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Dr-Oz-and-Michael-J-Fox_1 summarized]] this as "Using a brain, Dr. Oz illustrates how stem cells may help cure chronic illnesses", but in the more thorough description said, "Thanks to recent scientific discoveries, Dr. Oz says stem cells aren't the only solution." Apparently the alternative solution to "stem cells" is induced pluripotent ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stem cells]]''.