Thank You, Oprah!

After 25 years, the last episode of the Oprah Winfrey show aired in American on Wednesday. 25 years is a long time doing anything, but 25 years in television is quite something. I just wanted to take a few moments to tell Oprah thank you.

I knew the the end of her show was coming but somehow I had it in my mind that the show was going to end in September, so I was a little caught off guard when I noticed at article on Mashable asking what was next for Oprah Winfrey. Since I'm not living in the U.S., I managed to avoid the media blitz that lots of people were tired of I'm sure! If you're tired of hearing about the end of the Oprah show, then by all means feel free to skip this article.

When thinking of the end of the Oprah show, I had to think back to the last Tonight Show featuring Johnny Carson. I'm sure that lots of people will make the comparision because both ended their long running television shows without guests and while some people will probably say that Johnny was better, I have to say that Oprah and Johnny are and were two class acts. In a world where so much is fake they both are genuine and have reached heights that few people will ever reach and that most people can only dream about.

The Oprah Book Club got to be so big that being mentioned on the Oprah show was often enough to get a book into the New York Times best seller list. I included Oprah in 100+ People That I Want to Meet and still I would like to meet her. When she started tweeting, it was certainly a high point for Twitter and you have to wonder how many people checked it out just because Oprah was doing it. How many people have forgotten that Oprah and Whoopie Goldberg were an intergal part of "The Color Purple"?

How many people has Oprah inspired to improve their lives and to chase after that impossible dream? How many people has she helped over the years on her show? Although, Oprah said "I won’t say, 'goodbye.’ I’ll just say, 'until we meet again.’", this was goodbye to the Oprah show. I wish her the best with her future projects and hope that she'll keep making a difference in the world in the lives of millions of people that she'll never meet. Oprah, for all that you've done and continue to do, I'd like to thank you.

Below are some other articles that you might want to read about Oprah and the final show.

"Oprah's tearful final episode"
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/oprah+tearful+final+epsisode/4841920/story.html

"Why did Oprah matter? Will she ever again, on her OWN?"
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2011/05/25/oprah-winfrey-show-25-own/

"LIVE BLOG: Oprah Winfrey's Last Show"
http://blogs.abcnews.com/screenshots/2011/05/live-blog-oprah-winfreys-last-show.html

"Live Blogging Oprah's Final Show"
http://www.aoltv.com/2011/05/25/live-blogging-oprahs-final-show/

"Oprah Farewell Gets Spiritual"
http://adweek.com/news/television/oprah-farewell-gets-spiritual-132010

"Oprah. Uma. Uma. Oprah."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-BJTE56I14

"The best Oprah emails to Opera (the browser)"
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/05/25/the-best-oprah-email.html

Note: The video clip above came from "The faithful bid Oprah farewell"
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2011/05/26/local_fans_gather_to_say_goodbye_to_their_best_friend_oprah/