On Oprah today, it was Oprah who was sitting on Tom's couch. Cruise gave the talk show host a tour of his Telluride home, where they taped the interview, showing him one special area: where he and Katie lock Suri up when she's not being photographed by magazines. CONTINUED »
You will look back on today's momentous occasion – the one-for-the-history-books return of Tom Cruise to Oprah – and think of but one thing: Tom Cruise is a victim! Everybody has been out to get this cultist zealot, and all those jokes about him brainwashing Katie Holmes and inseminating her with L. Ron Hubbard's semen have been entirely unfair to him and his family. It takes the power of Oprah to set the record straight, even if that's where he shed his veil of normalcy to begin with. So let's get to the defensive mechanisms: CONTINUED »
Oprah would do well to lavish herself in Tom Cruise publicity, since this month's Vanity Fair paints a scathing picture of her. No longer is she the innocent victim of the James Frey scandal, but rather a punch puller, duping publisher Nan Talese and the author into appearing on her show to call them out on the falsified memoir.
As Talese herself argued last year, and the Evgenia Peretz's VF article confirms, Talese originally agreed to appear on Oprah's show to take part in a "Truth in America" panel; she'd deliver the publishing industry's expertise. But when she and Frey arrived at the studio, the show's focus was switched on them, and that they'd be discussing the Frey scandal. According to one source we spoke with, they were alerted to the change as they were walking on to the studio stage, with no advance notice.
Meanwhile, as Jossip relayed last week, Frey never pitched his publisher, Talese/Doubleday, as a memoirist. CONTINUED »
Since Tom Cruise won't leave us alone, we won't leave Tom Cruise alone. So there!
As he marches toward Oprah's broadcast for May sweeps, you're going to need a cheat sheet about his first return to her couch since his infamous June 2005 high-jump. So what can you expect as Oprah grovels for ratings and Cruise commemorates the 25th anniversary of Risky Business? CONTINUED »
Tom Cruise has not been welcomed on Oprah's couch since his infamous June 23, 2005, looney-tune appearance, which prompted an outpouring of criticism and hilarious YouTube parody videos.
But sweeps week is sweeps week, and Oprah, who's seen her favorability and viewer ratings drop recently, isn't immune to the pressures of pushy advertisers. Which is why she's expected to invite Cruise back for what could be shaped as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Cruise's breakthrough Risky Business role. Or, with just the right about of springs in the sofa, a new height record.
Our biggest (only?) concern about O, The Oprah Magazine has always been, "How are they going to make the cover look fresh each month if Oprah is always on it?" Manage, they did. Except now, eight years since launch and with editor Amy Gross exiting, they're revamping the cover. Same smiling Oprah, but a whole lot more white space. Gone is the flashy background setting she's usually appearing in, which means whatever top she wears each issue is gonna have to be one helluva dazzler. Below, a look back at the old version.
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FoxNews.com gossip Roger Friedman, in dissing Oprah, conspicuously continues his tirade against black people. Or maybe just Barack Obama supporters? [Fox 411]
The rumors that Dr. Phil could lose his show over his latest stunt – where one of his producers paid $30,000 to bail out a teenager arrested for beating another teen – are getting the "shot down" treatment today. After MSNBC's The Scoop circulated the possibility that Oprah's Harpo Productions has been looking, for months, to ax their deal with the show, Fox 411's Roger Friedman says that ratings are just too strong to see the show get killed. But Dr. Phil's shoveling $2.4 million in tax free cash into his charitable foundation in 2006, and then distributing just $450,000 of it? That will nicely spark a new daytime controversy.
To my surprise, the saddest article currently in The New York Times online has nothing to do with Africa or Iraq, but Oprah and Chicago. Cutely titled “This Old Thing? It Was Oprah’s!” the piece covers the unstoppable Oprah machine’s new retail venture, the Oprah Store. Along with Oprah’s favorite books and kitchen accessories, at the Oprah Store, one can also buy the perma-dieting talk show host’s used clothes, many of which make her seem like a giant: “The pants are too long and the shoes are too big, but I will definitely be back for a sweater or a skirt,” a top-heavy customer noted.
But the shop itself, which donates all of its proceeds to charity, is not the depressing part; its customers are.
While many will point to the moment Oprah announced her endorsement as Barack Obama as the game changing moment when he became a truly viable Hillary Clinton crusher, few have taken the time to see what the impact Oprah's public support has had on her own image. For starters, it hasn't been good. She's taken a hit in the closely watched "favorable impression" category. Pre-Obama endorsement, polls found some 74 percent of Americans held her in positive esteem; post-endorsement, that number dropped to a staggering 61 percent. And then to 55 percent. And then her "unfavorable impression" score jumped to 1 in 3 Americans. And perhaps most telling of all: In the meantime, Ellen DeGeneres approval rating – at least according to an unscientific AOL TV popularity survey that asked which daytime TV host "made their day" – stood at 46 percent; Oprah was just 19 percent. Let it be said, Bonnie Fuller knew this was going to happen.
How come whenever you combine daytime television with dogs, you always want to cry yourself to an afternoon nap?
Shouldn't pups and the exorbitant amount of energy that afternoon programming creates put a smile on everyone's face?
First Ellen DeGeneres had to cry on air about the pound pooch whose life she ruined when she gave it to someone else and then had it taken away, and now Oprah's dog just died, making it the second canine she lost this year.
Bring back the days of adorable puppies and cute pet stunts! CONTINUED »
Oprah's Big Give isn't even hitting 10 million viewers. Kirstie Alley's last TV project Fat Actress, while wonderful, was canceled by Showtime. So don't these two celebs look like two yo-yo dieters in a pod?
They're teaming for future TV projects in a deal that could put Alley on Oprah's new OWN channel with a daily slot.
And while Oprah's cable syndication prowess hasn't been tested, her Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray deals have gone on to become huge successes. (Well, some might argue otherwise.)
Alley, of course, strutted her Jenny Craig-branded bikini-clad slimmer body on Oprah after losing 75 pounds. To drum up publicity for her new show, she's gained it all back.
Though Oprah may have given Rachael Ray her shot at TV, the cook's reps have no problem trashing the daytime queen if it means saving face for the client. When Page Six reached out to Ray's camp about rumors from "an impeccable TV source" that Ray's show was being canceled by King World for dismal ratings (she earns a not terribly impressive 2.5 rating), her rep jumped to remind the column that even Oprah's ratings are down 15 percent from February 2007. As for Ray's older viewers, who have an average age of 55.1 (and 688,000 women in the target 18-49 category), again Ray's camp refutes it with data from Oprah's show, where the average age is 54.6.
So is Ray getting the ax? Her rep says the show is signed on through 2010, but the contract may have an out clause based on any number of factors.
More spin from Ray's camp was sent to Huffington Post: "And with regard to our median age rising, yes it has, but less than 3% and the explanation for that is we have a loyal viewership that has been with us since the show launched and they had a birthday since last year!" Or another way of looking at it: They aren't attracting any new viewers. Not that we're cynics!
Update: Ray's camp, obviously very upset with the coverage their show received today, gets in touch with Jossip to point out errors in the P6 item:
1. They call Rachael's Food Network show "30 Minutes a Day." Obviously this is incorrect it is "30 Minute Meals."
2. They claim that King World is producing a chat show for Marie Osmond. This one blows me away….King World has nothing to do with this proposed show. It is being pitched around town by another syndication company called "Program Partners." All anyone would had to of done was google "Marie Osmond" and talk show.
3. And finally, as I said King World doesn't even exist any more. It was purchased awhile ago and is now called CBS Television Distribution. [Ed: To be fair, the email did come from an @kingworld.com email account]
4. In terms of numbers the article reads that Oprah, Regis, Tyra and Martha were down 15% this February sweeps period. Untrue! Regis and Kelly were down 16%, Tyra Banks down 13% and Martha Stewart down 27%. These numbers are widely available from Nielsen and were published this week in several trade publications. Guess no one cared to fact check.
Oprah’s main gay Nate Berkus remains our favorite televised gay. The do-gooder, who’s currently helming the Big O’s The Big Give, recently chatted with AfterElton about whether it’s “important for gay men to be seen as more than just fashion designers and makeup artists”.
At 5,500 square feet, what's the first-ever The Oprah Store, in Chicago, pushing the most of? "$13 cosmetics bags decorated with blue, yellow, pink and purple O's." [CS-T]
The influence of power agency CAA is, in some respects, inscrutable. Then again, so is Oprah's. And when two unstoppable forces meet, well, you see who the weaker party is.
In the instance of Oprah's new TV channel OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, it's CAA agent Michael Camacho who's the weakling. Camacho worked on the deal between Oprah and Discovery Communications, which handed off its Discovery Health channel so Oprah's latest offering would have a home among cable operators. But then, after trying, surreptitiously, to set himself up to steer OWN, Camacho finds himself out of a job.
Camacho, as chief of CAA's Alternative TV unit, worked alongside CAA mega-agent Kevin Huvane on the deal. But without telling Huvane, Camacho is said to have gone directly to Oprah with a pitch to become the network's CEO. (While her name and money is involved in every aspect of the machine, Oprah will not be its chief.) Oprah's camp was dismayed; CAA reacted in kind, by firing him.
But apparently, the agency isn't intent on parting ways entirely. Nikki Finke hears CAA is working to help him set up his own company, while other agency's are reading his resume.
If you don't have time to watch, here's our summary:
• With Oprah's Obama endorsement, less exciting politicians and less talented talk show hosts make due with the scraps.
• Women: Hillary can relate to you about having a philandering husband, which equals if she becomes president, there will be peace in the Middle East.
• Hillary is her own woman. Staying married to a serial cheater is a decision she made for herself. But because of the 19th amendment, that choice is up to you.
Just months after announcing the sale of Oh! channel to NBC Universal, Oprah delivers word that she's getting back into the business of financing a television network. In 2009 her Harpo Productions will introduce, in a 50/50 deal with Discovery Communications, the awesomely-abbreviated "OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network." The new network replaces the Discovery Health Channel, giving it immediate access to 70 million homes. Oprah takes the role as chairman and will have full editorial control over the network while her expanding partner will focus on distribution and a smaller level of editorial involvement. The only question remaining: Who will play CEO?
TOP DOG Oprah's support for Obama may have given the presidential hopeful a nudge, but perhaps it's edged her back in the race for the Harris Poll's favorite television personality. Or perhaps those two events are completely unrelated! Either way, daytime competitor Ellen DeGeneres scored the top slot, which means Americans either like their lesbians out of the closet, or homeless dogs have way more pull than giving away houses. [SH]
• Suri Cruise has already grown disillusioned with fame. So precocious!
• That Vivica A. Fox sex tape is fake, because you know Vivica would be getting a cut if that shit were real.
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Editorial Director
