“Oprah’s Lifeclass” and “The Rosie Show” debut tonight on OWN

By Lori Acken

Addressing gathered journalists at the summer Television Critics Association press tour, Oprah said it was time to own up to what was happening at OWN.

The Oprah Winfrey Network — OWN for short — debuted in January with much fanfare, lots of retread programming and tepid ratings, disappointing her massive fan base and the media superpower herself. So with her legendary syndicated show ended, Winfrey named herself CEO of the struggling network and set to work melding it with her longstanding Harpo Productions.

“I can tell you now, I am officially in,” Winfrey told the crowd in July. “I’m here in the office at OWN listening to budget meetings and marketing meetings and talking about how to strategize and make this network everything that we know it can be.”

And she’s starting by putting a sure bet in front of the cameras: herself.

“[We’re going to] take the 4,561 shows of The Oprah Winfrey Show and use them as a teaching tool, repackaged and re-hosted by myself in ways that we can teach people how to live their best lives,” Winfrey said of Oprah’s Lifeclass, the daily show that was inspired by a newspaper article that called her former talkfest “the world’s biggest classroom.”

Winfrey will also welcome another erstwhile talk-show talent to the fold with The Rosie Show, a family-friendly variety hour hosted by Rosie O’Donnell. At the same gathering, O’Donnell called the new effort “free-flowing,” saying it features standup comedy, celebrity chats, audience participation and insight into the 49-year-old O’Donnell’s life — all wrapped with a kitschy game show ending.

“When Oprah announced that she was leaving, all of the people who usually call my agent called and said, ‘Oh, please, now we’re really in need of you to come back,’” O’Donnell said, “and I kept calling my agent going, ‘Can you call the OWN people? Could you tell them I would like to go back but I would like to go back for OWN?’”

Not that she doesn’t get the occasional moment of “careful what you wish for.”

“I have to tell you, I’m still nervous when she calls,” the funnywoman admitted of her new boss, saying that she has to tell herself, “Get your @#$% together, O’Donnell. It’s Winfrey. Kick it up a notch!”

Oprah’s Lifeclass and The Rosie Show debut tonight beginning at 7 on OWN

Click here for a list of the week’s guests on The Rosie Show.

About Lori Acken 1195 Articles
Lori just hasn't been the same since "thirtysomething" and "Northern Exposure" went off the air.