VIDEO: A Decade of Oprah Moments

By Scott Harris Posted Dec 16th 2009 01:37PM

In Hollywood, people are often judged less by the content of their character and more by the content of their wallet. Stars have taken to buying up ever more ostentatious items in order to best display their wealth for all to see. Jay Leno, for instance, owns a fleet of rare and vintage automobiles. John Travolta doesn't just own his own jet, he owns a Boeing 707. And Oprah Winfrey? Well, Oprah owns the decade.

The fact that Oprah has decided to end her legendary daytime talk show, 'Oprah Winfrey,' in 2012 after decades of ratings and cultural dominance just gives more weight to her accomplishments over the past ten years. While her ratings have recently fluctuated more than her weight, she's always responded with a new highlight that has had people buzzing online and around the water cooler. And while not every one of her best moments has been memorable for the right reasons, it's clear that perhaps no star has been as influential and central to mainstream American culture over the past ten years as Oprah Winfrey.

Without further ado, then, here's our look back at A Decade of Oprah Moments.

2004: With the nation in the midst of two ongoing wars, Oprah took a page out of the 'Price Is Right' playbook to brighten up the mood, giving every member of her audience a brand new car. The scream-inducing feel-good moment ("You Get a Car! You Get a Car! You Get a Car!) apparently didn't help sponsor GM much, but it did bring a smile to America for one day at least. Watch the 'You Get a Car!' Remix:

2005: Tom Cruise was arguably the biggest box office draw in the world when he decided to go on 'Oprah' to explain his relationship to the much younger Katie Holmes. By the time he was done bouncing on the couch life an over-caffeinated toddler, his career was in recovery mode and the tabloids were circling the blood in the water.

2005: For well over a decade, Oprah and fellow talk-show magnate David Letterman had indulged in an ongoing feud, sparked in part by Dave's infamously unfunny "Uma? Oprah." gag during the 1995 Academy Awards ceremony. But in 2005 they finally buried the hatchet, agreeing to appear on each other's shows and ending one of the rare -- if minor -- controversies in Oprah's distinguished careers.

2006: One of Oprah's biggest legacies is her book club, which introduced millions of viewers to modern classics of literature and almost single-handedly helped keep the publishing industry afloat. That, however, was all build-up to the moment when she confronted author James Frey for spinning yarns in his not-actually-a-memoir 'A Million Little Pieces.' The live beatdown she administered sparked a national debate over the ideas of truth and fiction in writing.

2008: Usually apolitical, in 2008 Oprah took the unusual step of publicly endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president. When he won, she appeared in the front row at his Chicago victory speech and got into the spirit of fellowship by using a random stranger as her crying pillow.

2008: Probably the biggest tabloid story of the decade was the ongoing relationship drama that swirled around Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston. And right in the center of the whirlwind was Oprah, who, along with most of America, took Jen's side, allowing her to clear the air on national television.

2009: With ratings dipping for the first time in memory, Oprah stepped up her game with a series of headline-grabbing -- and controversial -- episodes to kick off the new season this year. Among those was this tell-all with actress Mackenzie Phillips, who discussed an unthinkable taboo when she talked about her relationship with her own father.

2009: Oprah's heir-in-waiting for the title of talk-show queen is likely Ellen DeGeneres. But far from being rivals, the two have become friends, which helps explain why Ellen and her wife Portia de Rossi allowed invited Winfrey to document their highly publicized wedding.

2009: Not all of Oprah's moments this decade have been feel good events. Some critics and fans believed her attempts to solidify her ratings went too far when she asked Charla Nash, who was savagely disfigured by a rogue chimp, to reveal her scarred features to the camera. Shocked viewers may not have appreciated the sensationalism, but there's not doubt people will remember it for years to come.

Comments

(64)

Sunday 27 December

By WENDY

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I WILL BE GLAD WHEN OPRAH IS GONE.....ALONG WITH HER GOOD FRIEND OBAMA

By deedee

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Besides her supporting Obama just because he is black, She also supports Animal Rights people.
HSUS and PETA. Spay/neuter everything and "One generation and gone" no more pets, They want everyone to be Vegans. HSUS doesn't even own a shelter. They take money under false pretense and uses it to lobby lawmakers into making laws to Mandatory Spay/neuter. If you want to donate, give to your local shelter, NOT HSUS.
Animal Rights is not Animal Welfare...

By Richard

Wake Up!!!!!!

By Hello Zack

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

OMG GET OVER YOURSLEFS. I THINK YOU ALL JUST HAVE CRAPPY LIVES AND WANT TO MAKE SOMEONEELSE'S THE SAME. AS THE OLD SAYING GOES "IF YOU CAN'T SAY NOTHING GOOD DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL."

By Randel E.

Hello American's Dakotajoe.Here, I have decided to get into the Federal Political Elections, and I know that this American Lady, Ms, Windfrey is Demo,
to my being life-long Republican, I have choosen to
get involved, on the National level, Because many millions of our young Military soldiers& saliors are fighting for nothing, and our super-rich live off this, billions of tax-payers Dollars , this should not be honestly happening, I stand-up as I was raised to tell & Do right by the voters, I am
here-by challenging Obama, and others to have the personal HOnesty to tell where all the People's money is going to , which he does know, too,DJ,RE

By jpass1

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If she paid for the car is whe is that not enough..Does she have to
pay the tax..And than for gas and a car wash to....She does more for
people in 1 year than most of you will ever do...So get off her back
and turn off FOX NEWs....Same old fox bull..

Wednesday 03 February

By Diane Robinson

Do Oprah have any left over cars. I do not need a new one, just one to get to the doctor, drug store, and grocery store. I know this old lady will not here anything from you.

Thank you

By iceman

Oprah didnt give the cars away GM DID Oprah was just the idiot that took credit it for them everything Oprah gives away on her shows are given to her to give away... Only thing Oprah has done and it was WRONG was open up a school for Girls in a foreign country and its been sued and been in the newspapers since the very beginning because of the abuse that the principal and teachers have done to those kids. So give GM Credit and not Oprah Thank God shes leaving TV..

By GEORGE DRESCHER

WE ALL CAN THANK HER FOR HELPING OUR WORST PRESIDENT GET ELECTED INTO OFFICE,,,IF HE KEEPS SPENDING OUR MONEY WE WILL HAVE TO ASK HIM FOR A BAIL OUT,,,AND WE HAVE THRE MORE YEARS OF HIS INEXPERENCE TO RUN A COUNTRY,,,,BECAUSE AFTER HIS TERM IS UP WE WILL ALL BE ON WELFARE,,,,,

By Tina Fey

This biggot tricked me...she acted like she was for women's rights....played the race card right off the get...said I'd get paid if Bama won....

By T

Simply stated by the author...(what she's done to boost her ratings)..Oprah is a ratings and money whore!

By rd

That B^*@h can't leave the airwave's soon enough. Her advice is all B.S.

By racquhel

so is your life!

By me

is it me ... am i seeing no MEN in the audience?!

i guess the only thing the men got was the airfare bill for the flights the women took to the show.

...it figures!

You people should be ashamed of yourself, things that you say about another individual. What i see is that Oprah helps many regardless to race, religion,or sex. Are you mad becouse you need help and theres no hand out for you. So, meantime the time you take out to critcize someone else look at yourself.

By Orion

That deranged idiot Oprah stuck us with Oh-Blah-ma

By Trish

Who cares if that idiot, Oprah gave away cars "to every member of the audience". Why would that make the tv audience happy? It would just aggravate you that you weren't there to pick up a big payoff for the ONLY reason you would want to watch her show?

By Kathie

I never watch Oprah's show because she is so arrogant and full of herself.
Then to see her take the credit for giving the cars away when she clearly didn't. She could have paid the taxes on the cars to help ease that financial burden for the people. It's all about the Almighty buck!

By G

I remember the CAR GIVEAWAY on Oprah, well. My daughter was one of the models on the show, who subsequently was handing out the boxes which contained the keys.
Too bad she couldn't get one for her Mother, as I'm still driving the same OLD 1997 CAR and could have used a new car back then!

George S. - Keep your stupid political agenda out of this. We don't care if you don't like our President, idiot! Deal with it, you sore loser, and cry baby.

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