All good things come to an end.
Whoever first said that was probably having a hard time letting go of something which had brought much happiness to her for a while.
Well, at least that’s how I’m using it.
Last week, The Oprah Winfrey Show had its final episode. When I heard that Oprah was retiring, I thought “can she do that?”, because I couldn’t imagine what talk TV would be without her.
I was also not at all impressed that the show was ending before I had even done something amazing enough to actually be on that set in Chicago with her. What will I work towards now?
I still can’t believe it’s been 25 years of shows. In excess of 4000 episodes full of fun and laughter, but also serious life advice: things which viewers took from listening to the stories of Oprah’s guests.
Some things were just too incredible, and I admit there was a long period in which I didn’t watch Oprah at all, but I was never not interested in what she was up to.
And when people started accusing her show of being a platform for the ideals of some “Oprah Cult”, I was never quite convinced.
I mean sure, she’s quite easily the biggest enigma in pop culture, what with her heart-wrenching life story (a background of abuse- not as uncommon in society as people seemed to think it was at the beginning of Oprah’s career) and the whole “is ‘Oprah’ even her real name?’ thing, as well as the Steadman Situation all making up her complex character. But since when is enigmatic synonymous with evil?
I’m disappointed to have missed the final 3 episodes- well done to SABC for arranging to broadcast the season finale for South Africans, even though technically we still see Oprah until October- but I’m consoling myself with the idea that it will all soon be on DVD. And if I can’t buy it, I’ll borrow it from someone who knows someone who’s a real die-hard fan.
I’ll miss knowing that Oprah is always there every weekday at 17:30.
I wonder what could possibly be good enough to broadcast in its place…
Nkhensani Manabe 