Oprahpalooza

Reality to Earth . . . If a talk show falls in the forest and everyone's around to hear it, does it mean it was more than a talk show?

The Oprah "I'll See You 'til I See You" World Tour comes to an end this week, ladies and gentlemen, leaving a one hour scheduling abyss in syndicated markets across the country* and at least three other talk show spinoffs in its wake . . . Along with a roar of trumpets which would have make the blast which took down Jericho's walls sound like a jazz quartet's last set at 3 AM.

Hyped much? The final shows, no matter what happens during them, couldn't possibly live up to the over one year roll-up which preceded them, even if they needed Chicago's United Center to film two of the three. Being sort of an aficionado of the art of television last calls**, I find myself curious at what's going to be going on in this final week, but I don't expect life to stop on this somewhat busy little sphere because one host decided to move on with her life.

If we got over Johnny Carson retiring in favor of Jay Leno, America, we'll get through this.

Don't get me wrong. A lot of interesting television went on in the 25 years Oprah Winfrey held court in her studio (And beside that, it wouldn't be smart for any writer to gnash teeth at someone who A. Puts literacy high on her list of priorities and B. You'd probably consider choosing from a selected list of felonies to do work for), but it's a bit much. Especially when you consider that when the fallout settles from this telenuke, I expect we'll see the lady coming back to the airwaves in some way, shape or form.

I preach patience Oprah fans, for Oprah II is out there somewhere in your future. The truly creative never completely leave the stage, they just recharge their batteries and find new ways to dazzle you the next time they pop-up . . . Especially those creative people with a brand-spanking new cable network at their disposal.


*New York's Channel 7 seems to just be shaking its head and filling the space with an extra hour of news. Normally I'd pan them for their lack of creativity, but as their network, in the past month, ash-canned two hours of daytime soap programming (Both of which have been automatic programming plug-ins for over forty years apiece!) in favor of a new cooking show and a new reality show, they get a pass to grab a mop and bucket and clean up in the aftermath.

**Someday, if the silly season in this country slackens for a few days, I might walk you through a tour of a few personal favorite, or somewhat infamous, last calls. These include both a literal middle finger to the network which cancelled a show and a somewhat cute figurative one given in another case.