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Oprah signs off from record-breaking show

Other News Materials 26 May 2011 03:56 (UTC +04:00)
Talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey signed off from her record-breaking 25-year show on Wednesday, in an emotional final episode that recounted some of her high points, low points and lessons learned along the way.
Oprah signs off from record-breaking show

Talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey signed off from her record-breaking 25-year show on Wednesday, in an emotional final episode that recounted some of her high points, low points and lessons learned along the way.

Winfrey, 57, ended the daily Oprah Winfrey Show after more than 5,000 episodes to concentrate on her cable channel OWN, where she is not expected to feature in a daily talk format.

"I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I've tried to be for you," she told viewers as she signed off, after delivering what she called "a love letter" to her audience.

The homey feel was not tainted by any of Winfrey's signature gimmicks, such as the lavish gifts to her audiences that had been a feature of the show through the years. The stars who looked up to the talk show host were also largely absent from her final episode. They had paid their tributes in pre-taped specials that screened on the previous two days.

Instead Winfrey granted her audience a retrospective of the show's highs and lows, which often included her making fun of her more curious hairstyles and outfits over the years.

"Every day that I stood here I knew that this was exactly where I was supposed to be," she told her audience at one point.

Winfrey rose to fame in 1986, when her local Chicago-based chat show went into national syndication and quickly dominated daytime television with its confessional tales of hardships overcome. In its final years, the show attracted 40 million viewers a day and was syndicated in 150 countries.

"I started the show as a job but it was not long before I understood that there was something more going on here," she said. "It was more than a job. Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I listened and grew - sometimes I was a teacher and sometimes you taught me. I always wanted to be a teacher and this is the world's biggest classroom."

"I'm so happy I didn't stay in the wing until I was punch drunk and people had to drag me out with my microphone and say, 'Enough already!'" she told The Hollywood Reporter in a wide ranging interview that coincided with the finale. "I always thought I would take my cues from the viewers. I took the cue from the landscape of television. It got harder and harder and harder to raise the bar every day. What we're doing is primetime television done in the daytime. The amount of money spent, editors, everything it takes to do this show - it got harder to raise the bar."

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