The Year Without an Oprah

All of us raising a tequila toast to Oprah.

Today is the birthday of two of my favorite people, my sister Brittany and my dear friend Kate. I wish both of them a year of happiness, good times and good health. Today is also the one year anniversary of “the Oprah Winfrey Show” ending its 25 year run. One year ago, I was gathered around my television set with some of my best friends, drinking Moscow Mules and eating Garrets Popcorn as Oprah signed off. Her amazing last show was essentially a final sermon from the church of Oprah. Encompassing all the wisdom she had imparted on us during the run of the show. Since then Oprah has moved on to OWN and openly discussed and faced the struggles surrounding her freshman network. I was enraptured by “Behind the Scenes: Season 25″, so much so that a write in question I submitted landed me a guest spot on the show. However, OWN’s new Oprah shows “Oprah’s Life Class” and “Oprah’s Next Chapter”, have failed to draw me as a dedicated viewer. In the past year, there have been a few times I was sad that I didn’t have the daily “Oprah” show to tune in to. While I was a dedicated and almost obsessive viewer for the last season, I was a casual viewer for years prior to that. So I watched as Oprah covered things like Britney Spears mania, the Twilight explosion and the OJ Simpson case. So over the course of this year there have been a few times I wished Oprah was there to cover some of the biggest pop culture moments. Here are my top five moments where I missed Oprah.

Would Oprah & her book club love the lit-porn best seller?

5. With the exception of Dr. Phil, Suze Orman and Dr. Oz, Oprah’s famous creation was the Oprah Book Club. She covered classics like Dickens and modern best sellers like “Freedom”, but would the Oprah Book Club have covered “50 Shades of Grey”? The smutty best seller has been a talking point on every talk show and around every water cooler in the US. I would love to know see Oprah ask E.L. James about her knowledge of S&M. I would also love to hear Oprah’s take on Christian Grey.

I love this product… But, does Oprah?

4. Oprah’s Favorite Things was one of the annual traditions I looked forward to. There were some seasons during the 25 year run where I would only watch that one episode. While Oprah ended it on a high note giving everyone in the audience 2012 VW Beetles, I would love to have seen what Oprah would have served up this year. As I made my list this past Christmas and asked for face lotions, an iPad 2 and colored denim I couldn’t help but wonder, would Oprah approve? Maybe she could consider a Favorite Things Special for OWN?

1D did SNL and the Today Show… but little else.

3. Several things came back into style this year, but none bigger than boy bands. With One Direction on a path to global domination and the Wanted scoring a number one hit it is safe to say a new boy band age has begun. While the Wanted has scored an on air home with Ellen Degeneres, who gave them their first American television appearance, the boys in 1D have not done much TV. They did a “Today Show” concert and not much else. Oprah would have been a wonderful launch pad for One Direction, just as she was for the Spice Girls back in the day.

Oprah is the one person could handle the situation that was the Trayvon Martin press fiasco.

2. Oprah may be most well known for her splashy celebrity interviews and her affinity for giving people cars, but she also covered a lot of serious news items. The homophobia in Williamson and her live show the day of the OJ verdict are just a few that come to mind. But, this year when the news was rocked by Trayvon Martin’s shooting at the hands of a white security guard, I missed Oprah and her ability to shed light on these tough situations and unite her audience regardless of their skin color. While the news and press coverage at first was heavy, it thinned out overtime and no one seemed brave enough to ask the tough questions and speak up about this tragedy. Making the situation perfect for someone with Oprah’s tough but insightful on air persona.

Josh was charming on every show on television, but I would have loved to see him seated next to Oprah.

1. “The Hunger Games” was released this spring and the stars of the film Jennifer Lawerence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth hit the ground running crisscrossing the globe in promotional duties. But, one place they couldn’t hit was Oprah’s couch. When the movie became the third biggest opening weekend of all time, and the stars became overnight A-listers, it would have been a natural fit that Oprah be their first megastar interviews. Just like she covered “Twilight”, “Harry Potter” and every other pop culture phenomenon Oprah would have been the perfect place to discuss Jennifer, Josh and Liam’s life after the games. Although, Josh and Oprah on one stage might be too much for my little flaming heart.

“Katie” Come Back

ABC may have won the ratings war, but CBS wins for biggest interviewing. Landing our Lord and Savior Oprah thanks to BFF Gayle King.

Last week war broke out. Cut throat, cold blooded, take no prisoners war. Where you ask? On morning television. “Good Morning America”, the “Today Show” and “CBS This Morning” all pulled out the big guns and went all out for ratings. “CBS This Morning”, which is a recent revamp of perennial third place “the Early Show” landed the biggest interview of the week. Thanks to their new anchor Gayle King’s connections, they got Queen of all Media and Gayle’s BFF Oprah. She came on to discuss what’s she been up to lately and shed light on her OWN woes. “Today” went for stunt casting bringing on Wicked Witch of the West, former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin. But, ABC scooped them all bringing on Sarah’s favorite television journalist and the former Queen of Morning Chat Katie Couric.

Katie Couric and I don't always hang out, but when we do she shows up over dressed and makes me look bad.

Katie was the first lady of morning television, hosting the Today Show for 15 years. She famously abandoned her post to head over to CBS and host their evening news. Until last year, when her contract expired and ABC snatched her up for their news division. I am sure when they signed her, they fantasized that one day she would sit behind the GMA news desk. The idea of Katie returning to morning seemed natural as she had became America’s sweetheart during her tenure on NBC. But, to be fair as much as I love the “Today Show” for granting me the opportunity to meet several of my favorite stars in their courtyard, I do not like the program. I find the show to be too glossy and very heavy on shtick. Plus all of the anchors, especially Matt Lauer come off as artificial and insincere. So when Couric was the host I was not really an admirer and most certainly not a viewer. However, over the years watching Couric climb from one project to another bringing a sophisticated, likable and professional aura along with her earned her a place in my esteem. This admiration has only intensified after watching her last week on “Good Morning America”. The GMA team with their serious but still light hearted attitude and their less intense reliance on glossy shtick was the perfect place for Katie.They gave her an opportunity to shine and in return she brought out the best in them.

Matt who? Katie shows that she and George Stephanopoulos are also a dynamic duo in the morning.

Whether it was winning a breakfast sandwich making contest or interviewing the cast and crew of “Bully”, she was perfect on “Good Morning America”. Each morning, I woke up and put on GMA and spent two hours hanging out with America’s Sweetheart. For someone who doesn’t watch news regularly and used to only have a professional admiration for Katie Couric, that’s saying something. I don’t know if it was ABC, GMA or Couric herself, but whoever came up with the idea to put her on the show is a genius. It was the perfect way to remind people why they loved her, gain some new fans and all the while drum up excitement for “Katie”, Couric’s new daytime talk show set to debut this September.

Ideally, her new talk show will be similar to her morning show days. A platform for her to interview regular people and celebrities, cover news stories and trends and all the while be her likable self. With Oprah gone and talk shows becoming less and less common, I think the timing is perfect for her to launch a show and remind us how smart, fun and enjoyable daytime used to be and could continue to be. It goes without saying that I will be watching, but in the off-chance that the show doesn’t work I hope ABC will save Katie a seat at the GMA table. Because, she has proven that she always has her skills as a morning person to fall back on.

A Look Back: 2011′s Top Celebrity Encounters

I have been following a friend’s countdown of their top celebrity encounters and decided that since 2011 was an amazing year that provided me several opportunities to come face to face with many of my favorite singers, actors, and singer/actors that I would share my own list. One of my favorite things, is being able to get close to my favorite stars and tell them how much I admire them, the work that they do and sometimes even hearing a little behind the scenes dirt straight from the horse’s mouth. 2011 was a great year and I got so many wonderful opportunities and while almost all of them were special in someway, I want to showcase the Top 5 of the past year.

At number five, is Emma Stone. Emma has been on my radar for a while, but I like so many other people truly came to love her after her star making turn in Easy A. Emma had an amazing 2011 with Crazy, Stupid Love and the Help. The latter, was one of my favorite movies of the past year. As someone who had read the Help, I had high expectations for the film and Emma and the rest of the cast and crew blew me away. I met Emma at the Premiere of Crazy, Stupid Love and she was so nice. She signed my copy of the Help and was generally just super awesome. At number four, is Emma’s on screen ex-boyfriend from Friends-With-Benefits. No your eyes don’t deceive you, that’s not me with a wig on. Its my sister, Brittany. While I did not technically meet Justin Timberlake myself, I did help my sister meet him. She has loved him since his days in Nsync and has followed him through his solo years and now his movie career -however, Brittany’s favorite JT movie is still Model Behavior. What made this extra special was the fact that Brittany was headed off to college and she got to have this amazing adventure right before her send off. Hopefully, JT and I will have our own moment in 2012.

 

Coming in to at the midpoint of the countdown is a new addition to the Brian Tuft’s Favorites list. Michael Bublé might have sold over 30 million records and sold out MSG several times but until he released his Christmas album it was pretty much lost on me. His album Christmas released in the Autumn is flawless. Its a wonderful holiday album filled with classic standards and new takes on old favorites. When he stopped by the Today Show during the promotional rounds for the album, I was there. It was actually insanely crowded, apparently Bublé has a lot of dedicated fans. He was so nice, and I got to tell him how much I loved his record, he complimented my jacket and even told me he loved me. Well MB, that’s mutual. At number two, is Academy Award and Emmy Award winning actress, New York Times best-selling author and founder of my homepage GOOP – Gwyneth Paltrow. My friend CQ turned me on to the wonder that is GP a while back. Gwyneth and I came face to face during her book tour for her cookbook and then crossed paths again the night of the MET Gala. I got to tell her how much I loved her turn as Holly Holiday on Glee, her website GOOP and her cookbook. I even told her I knew she would win the Emmy, she laughed and told me I was too kind. Well Miss Paltrow, you did win that Emmy so I’m not the only one who thought you were amazing. Now, if only you would be as kind as to return to McKinley High.

Number one should come as no surprise. When I headed to Chicago for a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show I never imagined that I would get the chance to chat with the Queen of Talk. So imagine my surprise when she and I came face-to-face on stage after a taping of the show during the Farewell Season. It was wonderful, and something I will never forget. Oprah and I got to talk about how long I loved the show, the importance of literacy and our struggle to get through Dickens. After that, I figured my relationship with Oprah at peaked. However, a surprise was waiting for me. I got a call in May asking me to be part of a special Oprah was putting together for OWN. I got to interview Oprah about her a remark she made to Terry McMillan. The people at Harpo sent me a Skype kit with a camera, sound kit and computer, it felt so official. Oprah and I chatted about her censoring the comment, my favorite episode of the Oprah show, her sense of humor and Moscow Mules. Plus, O loved my question, talk about a stamp of approval. Then on Mother’s Day, the special aired on OWN and I got to watch it with my family. Meeting Oprah was one thing, but being on TV with her was another all together.

That concludes my look back at my favorite celebrity moments of 2011, I feel like there’s no way I could expect or imagine 2012 to be better. But, when I stood on the opening of 2011 I never would have imagined I would have had such fantastic moments and interactions. Although, being on Oprah is going to be pretty tough I forward to seeing what this coming year holds.

Femme Fetality

I hope that you’re all watching Oprah’s Life Class on OWN. If you’re not and you enjoyed The Oprah Winfrey Show and have missed Oprah since she signed off back in May I think its worth checking out. Essentially they take 25 years worth of the Oprah Winfrey show, and focus on lessons she learned from the show. Sometimes the lesson is based in the guest and their story but other times it comes from Oprah and how she views her behavior in hindsight. Anyway, as I watching last week I saw a coming attraction for the OWN Documentary Club’s latest selection Miss Representation.

I am obviously not a woman, but as a gay man I feel a connection to the female community. Plus, I have a sister. A sister who is a kick ass chick, who won the New York City Woman’s Leadership award in school. So I felt a strong urge to watch this documentary. As I type this I am watching it, gotta love TIVO, that’s how good it is. I am not even done and I want to share my recommendation. It is amazing. It is disturbing. It is game changing.

The reason I call it game changing is because before I even sat down to watch it, I became more aware of the sexism women face daily. In my Public Relations course on Thursday night we were having a discussion about the GOP Candidate Debate. We discussed all the men who were running – Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain. We discussed what thy did right, what they did wrong. When the conversation turned to Michele Bachmann, the moderator of the conversation – our FEMALE Professor started the conversation with WHAT WAS SHE WEARING? I then watched as a room full of college students discussed a white sailor suit worn by Bachmann in the same way we had discussed Cain’s business plan and Romney’s Mormon background. This is not something I think I would have noticed before. But, now I have, and I am angry.

Michele Bachmann and I may not have much in common, reading a few entries in this blog will tell you that. But, I do not think that she as someone who is a college educated woman running for President should be reduced to what she wore. Never mind, do I think its acceptable that my professor said she lost the debate because of her fashion misstep. And, that’s coming from someone who thinks fashion is very important. If we’re going to hate on her or any of these candidates let’s hate on them for what they said on the debate. Not what they wore.

To learn more about this very important film, please check out:

http://missrepresentation.org/

or

http://Oprah.com/