Oprah Watch

By Margaret Hicks in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 28, 2007 7:30PM

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 nice lady, they really do love Oprah (and her favorite free things).

We always wondered how Oprah et al picked the Favorite Things ... and now we know. The staffers collect a ton of things Oprah has been talking about all year and put them in different rooms: the "food" room, the "spa" room, etc. Then Oprah walks around, tries everything again, and picks her final 20 things. So, yeah, it seems like Opes picks some things, her staffers pick others, but she definitely tries everything out and OK's it for the next round.

Let's go through this year's selection....

Most of the choices seemed pretty standard. Williams-Sonoma spent their advertising dollars giving away mixing bowls, cupcakes and a Panini Press (or what we regular people call a “George Foreman Grill”). She also gave away her most expensive Favorite Thing yet, a refrigerator with a fancy TV in it, so you can watch Oprah while you’re eating. Yay!

Oprah says she knows it‘s not about material possessions, saying “you are not changed by the things, but you are changed by the experience of it all.” We can tell you now the “thing” that would change our lives would be the United Artists Anniversary Prestige Collection. You get 90 movies, like Midnight Cowboy, Rocky, Annie Hall and West Side Story. The price tag? $869.00. Just play it cool boy. Real cool.

But they never did answer our most burning questions about the Favorite Things show. When Oprah gives out Ugg boots, do you get one size? Do you get your size? Are all the women standing outside after the show trading sizes? Why do people find Josh Groban attractive when it looks like he's sleeping? Why do the women scream so much when they don't even know what they're getting yet? And finally, why in the world would Oprah spread the disease of this particular outfit, that no one — not anyone — could ever wear?

We're hoping these questions will be answered in next week's "Making of the making of Oprah's Favorite Things." Today's show is about a woman who lost 530 pounds, we'll for sure catch that. Oh and from an email blast, Oprah is looking for people who are inspired by Hillary Swank's hair ... count us in for that too.