Oprah Winfrey To Steve Harvey: I Didn't Leave Chicago

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 26, 2013 2:30PM

Onetime queen of Chicago Oprah Winfrey returned to Chicago for an appearance on chiclet-toothed comedian Steve Harvey’s syndicated talk show Thursday. When Harvey asked Winfrey what it was like to be back in Chicago, Winfrey replied she “never left” and was, in fact, “between cities.” Watch.

Winfrey's appearance on Harvey's show would have been unthinkable when she was the undisputed queen of the daytime talk show landscape. But Harvey's show has emerged as a player in syndication, Steve Harvey, according to a March article in The New York Times, posted a 1.0 rating in February, is beginning to turn a profit for producers NBC and Endemol and is doing nice ratings numbers among women ages 25-54.

Coincidentally, that's a demographic Winfrey is trying to bring over to her eponymously named network, which has rebounded from a slow launch and a seizure-inducing logo to produce 13 consecutive months of year-over-year ratings growth, including an 82 percent increase in viewership among women in the 25-54 age demographic.

Winfrey tried to burnish her Chicago roots and told Harvey she still maintains an apartment here (although she did put a Streeterville co-op she never fully moved into on the market) and that OWN's production facilities are still located at HARPO Studios in the West Loop.

Winfrey also told Harvey the thing she misses most about her show was "the camaraderie" with the audience and called sitting down with Harvey "the ultimate role reversal."