Oprah-geous

I'm not a fan of Oprah. I know my wife loves her, as do about 20 billion other people, but I'm against all things Oprah. Will I dispute that she is a good, if misguided person? No. Am I worried about her army of people who, at a moment's notice, would overthrow the government and create the United States of Oprah? Somewhat. It's just unbelievable that she is as influential as she is. What's more unbelievable is the Spin-off showcase that she is. She could have a weekly show called Oprah's Book Club and it would be a cash cow. She's already got herself a Dr Phil show and, mark my words, she'll have a Dr. Oz show someday too. What usually happens in the classic Oprah pattern is that she finds a doctor, marries them for a brief period of time, then sends them out on their own to a lot of success doing whatever it is they did on her show but for longer. On top of all of this, she ignored Dave Letterman for over 6 months while he was doing his Oprah diary. Of course, this sin was atoned for by going on The Late Show and inviting Dave on the Oprah show (which, I have to say, I saw and thoroughly enjoyed. Dave, while wanting to stay out of the spotlight even though he's the host of a big-time talk show, seems even more like a genuine good guy after seeing him on Oprah).
No, at the end of the day I just think that Oprah's the 800 pound gorilla of television and I think that people listen to her a bit too much. She says jump, they say how high, and so on. Instead of the Optoberfest that is traditionally indulged in, perhaps people should take a step back and see that Oprah's not the queen of the world and she might be wrong, as she is on many issues (including something that I recall her being particularly misguided on was some of the reasons behind the Oprah Winfrey School for people in South Africa. The concept is nice, but the execution is a bit beyond me) like politics and the way things are. Yeah, this is just general whinging, but enough of the Oprah.