Fall TV: Can The Oprah Winfrey Show Go Any Farther?

I fully admit to having watched Oprah Winfrey from her plus-sized days to her present fit-and-fiftyish era. Sometimes I may very strongly agree with her opinions and, at other times, I may get irritated with her "know-it-all" stance, but she has always been watchable. No other woman in television history has been as influential as Oprah and she has addressed a wealth of topics, both mundane and highly relevant to her audience. After 20 consecutive years at the top of her game, can Oprah continue to present shows that will garner high ratings or is there a threat that she will finally run out of steam?

The recent premiere of her Fall 2007 season is an indicator that Ms. Winfrey still plans to offer her loyal fans plenty of reasons to keep tuning in to her show. She has already had a triumphant one-on-one with David Letterman, had an exclusive interview with Mary Winkler, the preacher's wife who murdered her husband, confronted Ronald Goldman's family about their decision to have O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It"published and provided a touching outlook on the lives of children who lost parents on 9/11. This is Oprah at her best.

Of course, she has, in the past, occasionally broken away from the highly serious stuff to do "fluff", such as home and people makeovers and "Favorite Things" shows. Hopefully, we won't have to be "treated" to another Oprah and Gail road trip this year. Amongst my sea of acquaintances who discuss "The Oprah Winfrey Show" often, the consensus was far from positive about having to watch these two privileged women riding across the U.S., in attempts to relate to the "common" people. It just seemed far from genuine at times, because Oprah and Gail are both in an income bracket that makes it difficult for them to connect personally to average folks, at least when they are out of their element. On the set of her show, however, there is more of an intimacy established between Oprah and her fans, though, so I am hoping that she sticks to the formula that works this time around.