Results tagged “oprahwatch”

Considering Oprah’s weight gain was the impetus for her Best Life Series that kicked off the new year, we weren’t surprised to flip on the TV and find her still talking about the struggle, as she’s done in so many shows over the decades. Monday’s show had an unprecedented focus, however, as it featured about a dozen obese teens who had participated in an experiential program that helped them address the issues underlying their immense size. Through massively tearful exercises led by counselors Yvonne and Rich Dutra St. John, the kids and their parents dug deep to figure out what emotional void each teen actually hungered to fill. The most telling of activities were also the simplest, as both teens and parents shed armor to fill in the blanks: “If you really knew me you’d know____” and “I’m angry that___,” the latter of which often causing an eruption repressed turmoil in each kid. As we lay on the couch watching this in sniffly sobs, we hoped Oprah had some purpose to all this soul searching other than to rip out our hearts and send them through a paper shredder. Luckily she did, as Dr. Oz joined her on Tuesday with a show full of healing antidotes.

No one has been anxiously awaiting the Obama Inauguration more than his number one fan Oprah Winfrey, and this week she kicked it into high gear with a second round of Obamarama to celebrate the swearing in of our new president. We found ourselves a little confused on Monday when we were greeted with a rerun of a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at 9:00 a.m., but Oprah was prepping for her star-studded pre-inauguration blowout we Chicagoans were finally graced with at 11:00 that night.

Last week Oprah gave us a five-point instructional checklist on how to live our best life, and on Monday she gave us a pop quiz to make sure we’d paid attention. First thing’s first, we all know Oprah’s madder than Faith Hill after losing her Grammy for once again falling off the wagon and putting on weight, and clearly, misery loves company. Oprah invited a handful of former weight loss success stories who have recently bulked up again to, as she did, face the truth and get back on track. Her featured guest was Erik Chopin, who lost 214 pounds and won his season of The Biggest Loser. He once told the Oprah camp he wasn’t able to appear on a recent show due to a busy work schedule, but in truth, he was afraid to show the world he’d regained more than half of what he’d lost. But Erik, as well as with various chubbed up Skypers, forgave themselves and began anew, and Oprah sent them running along towards a better year. Oprah also peeked in on our sex lives, and viewers raved about Dr. Laura Berman’s foreplay map, which can of course be downloaded at Oprah.com, although we think hands-on learning may be the more appropriate approach.

It’s a new year, but Oprah’s back to her old self. It’s been a few weeks since she stated the obvious: she’s gained weight, and it’s not just holiday pounds. But there’s a silver lining to the somewhat inflated cloud that is Oprah, and that beacon light is the Best Life Series. Oprah began this week-long self-improvement program on Monday talking about her weight. Yes, “again,” but she’s the first to admit we should all be sick of this subject. She can’t believe she’s once again the big 2-0-0, especially considering the downright arrogant stance she took on weight loss during her skinny mini stage about four years ago. Open mouth, insert foot. Oprah spent the first half of Monday’s show eating crow, admitting her life has been out of whack, and that balance was what she truly hungered for. You may assume sitting through a solemn Oprah diatribe would make you want to head for The Hills, but in fact hearing the Great and Powerful Oprah speak honestly about her own flaws made her amazingly human, and we immediately rooted for her.

After the holiday, we were ready to hunker down under a blanket and catch up on our Oprah Watch-ing, but were dismayed to find a week's worth of repeats coming down the pipeline. But we get it, Oprah's got priorities. While she left us to revisit Barbara Walters' sultry affair and deets on the latest internet scam, Oprah took time off to plan Obamarama Take 2. We figured she wasn't done celebrating, but it turns out the Obama Inauguration Special the Oprah camp has planned will be more grandiose than we thought. It appears Oprah will shoot her show from Washington D.C. all inauguration week, and has rented out the Opera House at the Kennedy Center for the occasion. As she told Access Hollywood, "See you there...that's the place to be." (If Access Hollywood's invited, we assume our invitation is on its way.)

Oprah kicked off the holiday season of giving on Monday with free home makeovers for viewers care of Thom Filicia of Queer Eye and Oprah Show live-in lover Nate Dreamboat Berkus. First Thom scrambled to complete a home renovation in 42 minutes while wearing a child-size plastic fireman’s hat. We thought we were in for a light-hearted show, but it took a tear-jerking turn with Nate’s assignment. Guests Joan and Ken had made an appearance on the show back in September and won the chance to take Nate home for a domestic upgrade. What we didn’t know then is that Joan had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and has little time left to live. She wanted to make sure her husband and sons had a “manly” place to hang out in their house, so Oprah charged Nate with the task of upgrading the family’s unfinished basement into a guy’s wonderland. Some wood paneling, a pool table and autographed photos of dirt bikers seemed to do the trick, and the joy and relief in Joan’s eyes Oprahfied us.

This Monday, Oprah opened the floodgates for pushy stage moms everywhere with the “World’s Smartest and Most Talented Kids” show, featuring freakishly amazing children hand-selected from thousands of video submissions. The cute-but-tame, pint-sized b-boy and tap dancer along with the demon child hula hooper kept us entertained in the beginning, but the talent show took an awkward turn when the 11-year-old yodeling sensations took the stage. Instead of letting Taylor Ware and her Pippy Longstocking pigtails have their moment, Oprah had the yodelette give the entire audience a lesson, making the whole room “littleoldladyheewhooo” about 16 times before she cut to commercial. Oy. The absolute stunner of the show was little Connie Talbot, the seven-year-old British singing sensation, whose head shaking-induced vibrato in her rendition of “Ben” wiggled its way into our hearts.

Oh Lord here we go. The highly-anticipated “sex show” finally premiered on Monday, and we were all ready to cover our ears from Oprah’s awkward interjections of anatomical misnomers. But we admit, we sold Oprah a little short on this one. What we assumed would be a “vajayjay” festival was actually an intelligent and frank discussion about the state of sexuality in America and what we can do to improve it. Apparently there’s no time like the present, since according to Oprah’s guest, sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman (pictured right), a whopping 1 in 5 couples are in sexless marriages. If avoiding that fate isn’t enough to get you bouncing around the bedroom, consider what else we learned: sex can make you look 7-12 years younger, make your immune system 33% stronger, cause a 50% decrease in heart disease, lessen stress, insomnia, and even relieve menstrual cramps and headaches. Sign us up! Guests Tom and Debra, who win the most courageous couple on the planet award, joined Oprah to discuss their sex life dropping to absolute zero. The pair braved cameras for a few sessions with Dr. Berman, who gave them some handy tips. First, Dr. Berman encourages couples to share fantasies, but in an environment of safety and trust. That means you can’t judge your partner when he asks you to dress up as a Ninja Turtle and spank him. For women specifically, look at your vulva and identify the parts. “Love your vulva,” she told us. Ok, so there was one cringe-worthy moment.

Lately Oprah’s Monday shows have been pretty heavy, so we were relieved to have something easy and fun to indulge in during this week's chilly start. Oprah and her O Magazine glam squad helped frumpy schlumpdinkas “get their sexy back.” (Are people still using that phrase? Well, Oprah is.) O always brings out the big guns when it comes to makeovers, but these were almost at the level of The Swan. (Without all the gruesome plastic surgery, of course.) The big reveal song choices were the best. The ladies stepped out to such tunes as Tom Jones’ “You Sexy Thing” and the Isley Brothers’ “Who’s That Lady?” while the sometimes tactless Oprah quipped, “Is that even you? I don’t even recognize you!” Interestingly the O team flipped it on us by bringing the Real Housewives of Orange County to the show, who notoriously dress pretty whore-ifficly, and gave them a makeunder. The California girls looked much more sophisticated and classy, but made it clear they wouldn’t wear the heavy fabrics and turtlenecks back in the O.C. Infidels!

On Monday, a disturbing story yielded disturbing information about our legal practices in this country as the show welcomed Marty Tankleff, a man recently freed from prison for the murder of his parents. Marty, who always knew he was not his parents’ killer, told the story of why he confessed to a crime of which he was wrongfully accused. Before he could get a word out, our knee-jerk judgmental side asked, “Why would anyone confess to a murder they didn’t commit?” The answer was in the mind games prosecutors sometimes play when investigating crimes. Per the experts, in 25% of cases seeking overturn through DNA evidence, a confession has been signed. So how does this happen? In Tankleff’s case, the police told him his father had been pumped full of adrenaline, came out of his coma, and fingered his son for the crime. Marty, only 17 and feeling his father would never lie, became confused and began to doubt himself. The trick caused him to confess. The most shocking part of this story? American police are allowed to do this stuff.

Suze Orman again?? Who are we kidding. We can’t get enough of the Suze. This Monday there she was wearing the same gold earrings as always, but this time she was doing her “Can You Afford It?” thing from her show. Show me the money! Can a speech therapist mother-of-two afford to stay at home? No. Can a hip, young college grad afford an extravagant lifestyle? Hells no. Can a sales manager with a healthy 401K and stock options afford to retire? FUCK no. Man, these are troubled times we’re living in.

It was all squeals right off the bat this Monday when Oprah brought out Nate “Dreamy Dreamhouse Maker” Berkus and announced someone in the audience would be taking him home for a free home makeover. Oprah followed this act of benevolence by doing the meanest thing ever: dragging an unsuspecting mother of 5 out of bed and throwing her on national television via Skype. Oprah had good reason, though, as Mom won a free home makeover too. Yippee! The show took a more sentimental turn with the return of Fannie Eugene, a guest Oprah once crowned “Princess for a Day” and showered with gifts back in 2003. Now a post-Katrina victim stuck in a FEMA trailer for the last 18 months, Fannie once again received the much-deserved royal treatment from Dreamboat Berkus. With a new house and new hope, tiara-sporting Princess Fannie’s spirit was renewed, as was ours. This is why we watch Oprah.

Oprah was not about easing us into the week this Monday. Her opening show blew the lid off internet child pornography, exposing the startling prevalence of sexual predators and the deeper lows they’re sinking to in the abuse of children and infants. Some shocking stats: 30 to 40 percent of those downloading child pornography are molesters themselves, yet law enforcement for this type of crime is so underfunded that only two percent of leads are able to be investigated. Girls who had been victimized spoke bravely about their experiences, sending the message that the “stranger danger” we warn our kids about could be right next door. When we thought we could handle no more, Oprah thankfully ended the show by providing viewers with an action plan to help eliminate this epidemic. This was a difficult program to watch filled with tears and lacking a single clap of applause, but this is clearly an under-reported topic that deserves our immediate attention. Way to go, Big O.

We here at Oprah Watch would like to say happy birthday to Gayle's bff.

is right on schedule.

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...