Yes, our Thursday night sitcom dreams might come true. Oprah is in final talks to guest star on NBC's 30 Rock this fall. Rumor has it that she is slated to appear as herself in the season's second episode to air November 6. Further speculation notes that she will be playing all her scenes opposite Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and it that her story would also play into a feud between Tracy Jordan (Tracy......

Chicagoist headed to the taping of Oprah's Olympic-themed season premiere this morning, along with thousands of other Oprahphiles. The big O welcomed 153 Olympians from Team USA, which was quite a spectacle, but she only interviewed the usual suspects: Michael Phelps (who was then joined briefly by Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale), Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin (who talked about reading The Secret, ugh), the men's basketball team (only Kobe Bryant and Jason......

“The Oprah Effect” hit its pinnacle last night as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, and Oprah Winfrey, who has long endorsed him, was in Denver to celebrate. Oprah watched among the crowd of 84,000 at Invesco Field and was moved to tears, so much so that her fake eyelashes couldn’t take the floods. “I cried my eyelashes off,” Oprah was quoted as saying. Oprah has been sporting faux lashes forever, and considering it’s......

We know people go nuts about Oprah's favorite things, but having their reactions distilled into specific moments of Oprahgasms is a whole other level of amazing. From Scott Simpson: Oprah announced she was doing one of her "Favorite Things" episodes, in which all the members of the audience receive cars, grills, trips, etc. The audience went APESHIT. They’ve gone apeshit before, but this was Kabuki-level, pure art APESHIT THEATER/ So I had to take some......

Photo by doug.siefken Chicago Police Officer Richard Francis, tragically killed in the line of duty early Wednesday morning, is remembered. [Trib, S-T] If you already are or are looking to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago, take note: the school has cut ties with Illinois' student loan agency, leaving students scrambling for other loan opportunities. [S-T, CBS2] A reason to revive public stockades: Patrick Kolman of Arlington Heights was arrested on his......

Photo by efroten One woman was killed and three others injured early this morning when the car she was driving struck a pillar supporting the elevated Green Line in the 3700 block of West Lake Street. [Trib, S-T] We (and some of you) have been wondering about the fuel dump that happened during yesterday's emergency landing at O'Hare. The omnipotent Trib answers our questions. Elsewhere in the plane-i-verse, everything is $50. Did you know......

Oprah, please. We really don’t need to see your crusty feet. But Oprah does what she wants, and last night that meant taking off her shoes on her way out of Nelson Mandela’s birthday party to relieve an aching bunion. The protrusion on her right foot apparently became too much to bear, and the Big O was spotted leaving the star-studded London event sans her usual red-soled Christian Louboutins. Clearly the 21-day vegan detox......

Photo by Jake Merten Dean Cage was wrongfully convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault 14 years ago and has been in prison ever since. DNA evidence cleared him over the weekend. [S-T] Are you one of those people who relies on the kindness of strangers? Say thanks. [via] "'In Chicago, trading isn't a job, it's a lifestyle.'" [Reuters] Superstation WGN has a new, hideous look, and will now be called "WGN America." [WGN America,......

Maybe we're reading too much into this, but we couldn't help but notice that James Frey has left Chicago off his upcoming book tour. Frey will be touring and reading in support of his new novel, Bright Shiny Morning. (Wait. Can it really be considered his "first" novel if...screw it, we're not going to reopen that can of worms.) Maybe he just couldn't fit us in. Maybe Ann Arbor is a bigger literature magnet than......

Ellen at Oprah’s Surprise Birthday Party. Photo by Alan Light. This just in from the Times of India... Oprah Winfrey has lost her title of being America’s No 1 talk show host to Ellen DeGeneres who hosts the popular day-time show Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The article claims that Oprah’s slide is related to her support and campaigning for Barack Obama, and indicates that 65 percent of Americans changed their opinion about Oprah......

Seek and ye shall receive, billboard peeps? Oprah is indeed doing a puppy mill exposé episode on Friday. She's dispatched The View survivor Lisa Ling to investigate animal abuse in puppy mills, though the episode is officially tied to the death of Oprah's dog and not to the billboard that's been up for months asking her to address the issue. We're still waiting to hear back from spokesfolk at Harpo about any connection to the......

Queen of all media Oprah is facing two lawsuits today, one from a disgruntled audience member and one from a disgruntled other lady. Orit Greenberg is suing Ms. Winfrey for $50,000 plus medical expenses, which is about how much money Oprah's made in the second it's taken you to read this sentence. Greenberg says she was injured on December 5, 2006 at a taping of the show when fellow audience members, in their rush to......

Chicagoist hasn't been out to the UC to see a Bulls games this year, but they apparently show this video on the scoreboard during halftime at some games: Who came up with that brilliant idea? Is this really how low the Bulls have to stoop to distract their fans from the train wreck of a season? We pray this is the only Chicago mascot/Chicago-based talk show tie-in we're forced to endure. Is there anyone who......

While we've been busy reading our Eckhart Tolle and feeling horrible about how we've treated ourselves and other people, it appears there is a movement to get Oprah to take on puppy mills. We've been seeing this billboard on the Kennedy Expressway and traced it back to Main Line Rescue, a group based out of Pennsylvania. They are a no-kill shelter with over 58 acres that wants to educate people on the horror of puppy......

Virgin Atlantic is offering free flowers, cards, cab rides and movie tickets in honor of Valentine's Day. You can grab flowers or cards at the NBC Building, Ogilvie Building, Union Station and the LaSalle Metra Train Station between 3:30 and 7:30 tonight. For free movie tickets, you have to text VPORT312 to 51684, and it'll text you back a Fandango code. Word. If flowers and fun aren't your bag, you can also download Suze Ormen's......

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here! Yes, friends: The Oprah store has finally opened. We'll make sure to check it out this week and let you know how it is. Also this week, Tyra admitted she was jealous of Oprah on her "Moment of Truth." Tyra? Jealous of Oprah? Nah. Monday's show was pretty disturbing with mothers of teenagers sending their kids in for gastric bypass or for gastric banding. One mother......

If you were wondering what happened to Oprama, you don't have to worry anymore: They're back. Even though Obama will be in St. Louis and Illinois, he's sending Oprah, Caroline Kennedy and his wife, Michelle, to California. That's quite a trifecta of women....watch out, Hillary. In more hilarious news, we learned from our friends at SFist that the sculptor, Daniel Edwards -- the artist best known for making the "Britney giving birth" sculpture -- has......

mmmmarshall captures the new Chicago winter wonderland: Millennium Park With Mega Tuesday looming, Oprah readies to hit the campaign trail again for Barack Obama, along with Caroline Kennedy. It looks as though Obama Girl's fifteen minutes of fame aren't up yet. Neil Steinberg and Eric Zorn give us a modern recasting of the Ballad of John Henry. A double dose of Drew: while attorney Joel Brodsky says recent photos acquired may show Stacy Peterson......

We here at Oprah Watch would like to say happy birthday to Gayle's bff. Here is what the Calcutta, India Telegraph has to say about you if your birthday is today, too: Though you are emotional, you are also mature enough to hide your feelings.You know the art of keeping your co-workers inspired. You are quick to perceive what others are thinking.You are a quick learner, and you have it in you to be successful.......

It's been a hard week for Oprah. Seems some peeps are mad that Oprah signed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (mouthful of a name) to her Oprah and Friends XM radio station. They're questioning how Oprah could sign someone who backs Giuliani when her support is so strong for Obama. Wah? This is why we don't wish for fame. Oh, and this reason: one of the other news stories this week is how Oprah is a......

The fun never stops at Oprah Watch. Earlier in the week, Ellen was rated the number one television personality, knocking Oprah out of the number one spot she's held for five years. Oprah, never one to be held back, made the announcement that she will be working with Discovery Communications to have her own cable network channel. Oprah will take over the Discovery Health Network, changing it to OWN -- the Oprah Winfrey Network. We're......

Photo by Joseph P Oprah is getting her a cable network, OWN ("Oprah Winfrey Network"), which will--gasp--replace the Discovery Health Network. Noooo! We all know what Oprah wants, Oprah gets, but we freaking love the Discovery Health Network. [Trib] Lisa Madigan and 48 other attorneys general--minus just Texas--announced an agreement with MySpace today. They say the resolution will better protect kids from online predators. We say we're still digging through the report. [IL AG's......

Last week Oprah was on top of the world with good movie reviews and positive caucuses. Ah, how things can change in a week. Now, Oprah and FOO(Friends of Oprah) are having a bit of a rough time. Rumblings are that Oprah and long-time boyfriend Stedman are on the outs. Rumors are that Oprah has cut Stedman Graham out of her will and her money will go to various charities and her three (future) adopted......

It's been a slow couple of weeks on Oprah Watch. Even the great and powerful O needs to rest up. Her movie The Great Debaters is receiving positive reviews. Her candidate for president seems to be staying the course and her new reality TV show, Oprah's Big Give is right on schedule.......

There are precious few days left for your last-minute holiday shopping. If you're out to get a jump on the crowds, consider catching an early breakfast and shopping through the lunch rush by hitting one of these Near West Side joints. Le Peep: Somewhat Le Dull but at last visit, they did serve Lavazza coffee made in a French press. That is always a good thing. Wishbone: Tagged as "Southern reconstruction cooking," which sounds as......

It's another big week for Oprah. Oprah has a new reality show in the works. She's planning a film version of the stage version of the film version of the book "The Color Purple." She went to the premiere of her movie, "The Great Debaters" with Denzel, and best of all, Oprah's been fugged.......

Oprah is everywhere this week. She took her first campaign trip with Obama to Iowa where over 18,000 people came to hear Oprama speak. Oprah said, “Despite all the talk and speculation and the hype. I understand the difference between a book club and a free refrigerator -- that was a nice refrigerator." Okay good, we’re really happy Oprah explained herself because we weren’t sure if that was a nice refrigerator or not. Now we......

Chicagoist can't deny the influence of Oprah. Her book club books shoot to best-sellers, her favorite things become best-sellers, and her presidential candidates become best-sellers. Chicagoist is going to start an Oprah Watch so you'll know sooner than later who to vote for, which fridge to buy, and which book will make your book club cry. Wednesday, Oprah and her personal trainer Bob Greene, welcomed people who have lost 100 pounds or more with no......

Oprah’s 2007 Favorite Things show was last week. We thought since Oprah is deciding who our next president is going to be, we should catch yesterday's “Making Of” show, so we won’t be caught unawares when chocolate-covered-yogurt-soy-smoothies become national law. Yesterday's show was reasonably interesting. They went to Macon, Ga., for the taping, because Oprah's highest ratings are in Macon; 45% of the people in Macon watch Oprah. 45% of the people! Judging by this......

Oprah has been doing everything in her colossal and terrifyingly formidable power to see that Obama is elected, but now she's taking it up a notch by going on the campaign trail with him. While she won't be offering everyone in Iowa a new car, she will be stopping there in the first week of December, as well as in South Carolina and New Hampshire. Tickets for each of the four stops (two in Iowa,......