No Stars, Just Oprah in Final Episode: 'Until We Meet Again'

By PopEater Staff Posted May 25th 2011 12:00PM

Just like that, it's over. Oprah Winfrey delivered her final hour on Wednesday in a quiet and decidedly celeb-less sendoff for her 25-year-old talk show. "You and this show have been the great love of my life," she told the lucky audience near the end of the episode, but not before taking viewers on a trip down memory lane.

The show began with a clip from first show ever -- Sept. 8, 1986. According to TV Squad and the Chicago Tribune, audience members were already welling up in the first minute. "How truly amazing it is, this journey that you and I have shared together," she said. "I mean really, people."

Later, she talked about the transformation the show took from featuring "people making bad choices" to the lifestyle and star-studded format it became.

Instead of having a flood of celebs show up, like they did on Monday and Tuesday's episodes, Oprah brought out nuggets of wisdom for her TV followers. "You are responsible for your own life," she said, later advising viewers to look within for guidance. "Your life is speaking to you. What is it saying?"

She got deep, often: "What is all life? What is every flower, every rock, every tree, every human being? Energy. And you're responsible for the energy you create for yourself, and you're responsible for the energy that you bring to others."

Celebrities were in the audience, including Tyler Perry, Maria Shriver, Suze Orman and Cicely Tyson, but none of them joined Winfrey on stage.

There's also a bit of self-back-slapping, when Oprah beamed that people looked to her show to address social stigmas like sex abuse, AIDS, drug addiction and coming out. "Little by little we started to release the shame," she said.

Towards the end of the hour, Oprah says ending her legendary talk show is "all sweet, no bitter" and that she nothing but gratitude for the time she spent with us.

"I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I've tried to be for you," she said. "I won't say goodbye. I'll just say, Until we meet again. To God be the glory."

At that, she walked through the studio audience as Paul Simon's '10 Years' played, hugging Stedman and she begins to cry. Then, Oprah head backstage to hug her staff and ends it all by picking up her dog and saying "We did it, Sadie."

She walks from the camera and ... scene.

The episode was taped on Tuesday at Harpo Studios in Chicago and its contents were a closely guarded secret. Promos for the episode ask "Where were you?" and "Where will you be?" for the finale. One lucky fan, Jackie Polk, told the New York Times that ticket-holders were instructed to wear brightly colored clothing, so that "We all look like a bag of skittles."

As you my have heard, Winfrey left her show after 25 years to concentrate on OWN, her fledgling cable network.

Tags: Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show

Comments

(24)

Wednesday 25 May

By tony

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

goodbye and good riddance,adios and so on.

By Ernie D.

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

What about you, loser?

I love Oprah. She is a world icon. If she did not have our network OWN now, I know that major fans and viewers would be devastated.

I would too. Daytime TV would never be the same without Oprah. I cannot imagine anyone, not even her best friend Gayle King, ever replacing her.

Oprah is one of a kind. She is the gift from God. She is this black woman who brings everyone together. I love that.

When the world wants to segregated blacks and whites, it takes someone like Oprah to bring them together as one.

We are all humans. There is no difference. What matters is good and evil.

By ML

get it over already. I'm proud to say I never watched an oprah episode.

By KS.

THIS is one LONG goodby. Or what ever this is supposed to be. This woman is just way too full of herself. She isnt any better than any one else. SHE just thinks she is.

By MamaMia

Wow, what sour grapes! Oprah has never been one to think herself better than everyone else. For a woman with her wealth and power, she could be a WHOLE lot more arrogant and dismissive of others. But she's not at all. And she's given so many others opportunities to have success that they never would have. For a poor little girl who came from an abusive home in the backwoods of Mississippi, she's done something pretty spectacular, and if you've never watched the show, you have no reason to have an opinion. Instead, tell us what YOU'RE doing to try and make the world better and people more aware.

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Unlike you, she helped many people in need. Would you have done what Oprah had done?

Probably no.

So stop judging someone who has done right and brought so much love and look at yourself in the mirror.

By al

'Until We Meet Again?' I would hope that would be never.

By flash

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why is everyone making oprah look like a God - hey she had a easy job and made trillions doing it - so now she goes on and make a billion more dollars - she is no God just a very rich woman

By Jlea

"Goodby to me and only me. I'm going to miss being me on the show. Oh, I guess I ought to thank everyone for watching."

By chartman

now can you promise that this cow is really gone and we don't have to see her ever again on tv. if you only knew what this woman has done to get where she is it would make you want to send her to prison and give her fortune back.

Well,mama, I work in a wonderful hospital, and I help people every day of my life. And, I most certainly know what folks in need means. This woman, is rich beyond belief. I am not rich. But I still love helping. I just dont advertise it.

Thursday 26 May

By Laura

You just did, think again.

By Jay

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Oprah who?

By Bubbles

No one loves Oprah more than Oprah. She is so full of herself it is disgusting.

By J.K. Lewis

I guess I should feel sorry for all the haters out there. If you can't have great admiration for a woman who came from a life of poverty, who wasn't beautiful, and ended up helping so many people, and changing so many lives for the better, as well as making millionaires out of others such as Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. If you can't admire a woman like that then there is something wrong with you and you need God in your life.

By Lee

Amen

By cgw

well at least I know I don't have to make it a point to watch...what a letdown.

By petey

thank God that black bag of hot air is finally gone,HALLELUJAH!!

By DM

You are all a bunch of haters!!Oprah rose up from the ranks to make something of herself and she helped a ton of people along the way. She shared the money that she has with plenty of families and people who needed it as well as her staff. She worked for every cent that she has so why does that make her a bad person?! I wish her all the best and her new endeavors.

By Alibobbu

"I loves Harpo, God knows I do..."

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