Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fine. It's About The Oprah.

Yeah, it is about The Oprah....but not like you think.


And I have to say, this is going to be long cause much like Festivus, I have a grievance to air.


So everyone knows today was the last show of The Oprah. And while everyone has been feeding her ego for the last year (or 40) about how she is so great and helped all those abused kids and gives many monies to needy people who live in Lack of Money Land, I have another tale to tell. And it is one of horror and smashed dreams and nobody got a car.


So let's retrace our steps back to that very day.


Three of my college pals and I got tickets to the show. Super fun. We talked and planned and booked our tickets. Yay!


Then the show got cancelled. So we had to change all our tickets, flight/hotel whatever. (FYI, The Oprah doesn't pay for all those change fees, our broke-ass right--out-of-college-butts did).


So anyway, we are scheduled to appear on the Monday before Thanksgiving. We have so much fun planning the trip and are super excited to go.


So we get there. And here is what some people don't know: The Oprah, when she started in Chicago, was aired at 9am. So, she told us that day, that she continued to honor that time slot that even to this day, and even though she is on at 4pm anywhere from Tuttle to Thailand, she is on at 9 am in Chi-Town.


Why does this matter, you ask? Well, because when you go to see The Oprah, you have to get there at 5am. Yeah, not kidding. And since she tapes two shows a day, and you don't know which taping you get in to, you get there at 5am to stand in line. Because like Penny Beer Night, first come, first serve.


But we get in....and what is this???? We get escorted by some lady to the front row???? Yeah we did. This must be good, right?? There were even little "reserved" signs on our seats!


Then they bring out the people who "warm up the audience". And that means "threaten the audience that if you aren't animated enough there are people waiting in the lobby who didn't get in and will lick dog poop if I ask them because then they will be on The Oprah and you won't be". Not kidding. I can have people email you to back this up.


So we are getting warmed up and even do a fake "The Oprah Walks In". Now I should mention that I was on the end of the front row and in the warm up, I shake fake Oprah's hand. It was way intrusive, even with Fake Oprah.


So the show starts....The Oprah walks down the little hallway and smiling and fake waving all the while coming closer and closer to me. What do I do? Approach The Oprah and invade her space? Give up the chance to shake The Oprah's hand? Just stand there hoping The Oprah wants to shake my hand?


Yeah, I did. I invaded The Oprah's space. I shook her hand. I shook her dry, cracked, haggard little hand.


And it was at that moment, we were wronged.


It was the worst.show.of.all.time.


ALL.TIME.


Cause see here is the deal, we got there so early and made it in to the first taping.


Great, right?


Nope.


How could it be bad?? It was. Wanna know why?


Well, remember that show "After the Show"? where The Oprah hung out with her guests for, like a half hour after the show (get it?....get it? "After the Show"). Yeah, we watched clips that weren't even good enough to show on the second rate "After the Show". The entire show was based on out-takes from "After the Show".


So while we were watching clips of past shows of Kirstie Alley and rabbits in her kitchen and hearing about the miso bean paste that Gwyneth Paltrow likes and other bits that didn't make the crappy re-run show, the other group for the second taping, were loaded on to buses and shipped off with a box lunch to watch an exclusive screening of The Aviator then got to chat with the entire cast.


Our show was so bad, Oprah didn't even change her clothes before the second taping. Yeah, that bad.

We were wronged!


Wronged, I tell you!


I can tell you, in the end, The Oprah was either going to get a hand shake from me, or an angry fist in the air. One or the other.

WRONGED!!!


And if you even made it through this whole rant, be sure to comment and I will send you any book from The Oprah's book club, cause you deserve a reward. And, much like I wish there was a "sarcastic" font, I also wish there was an "angry/look at me getting flustered/The Oprah wronged me" font. Cause I would have used it.


Although, I will say, I can understand why the show sucked so bad. I mean, the taping right before ours had been Favorite Things, so everyone was probably tired.


Jerks.

6 comments:

  1. Is this the same The Oprah trip that Katie went on??? And waitaflippinsecond, I thought "black don't crack"!!!????? Maybe she just meant her face, not her hands.. huh.

    I'm not an Oprah fan. Her ego is just too much for me. I, like most smart people, take a lot of my cues from Joel on The Soup, and when you start becoming a regular on Chat Soup, ala annoying Tyra Banks, you know you've crossed a line you can't jump back over and then it's time to syanara off of regular daytime television. And please take Dr. Phil with you. Amen.

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  2. Hi, Janie,
    I remember how disappointed Katie was with The Oprah, but I must agree with Katie . . .you surely do know how to make it sound hilarious. That's awful that you girls were so wronged!! My daughter and I paid big bucks to see The Oprah on her Best of Life Tour in Dallas, and we were also very disappointed . . . though not quite as wronged as you!!
    Love, Katie's Aunt Angie

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  3. I was never a fan of Oprah. She's done some great things but meh.

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  4. This is why I need you to blog more! This seriously made my morning. I am in the minority in that I've never liked the Oprah...glad to see others are seeing the light. :)

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  5. Love your hilarious recap with details I'd forgotten!! I was so scared if we weren't cheesy enough we'd get sent to the back--man, besides rush, I've never been so cheesy! Fun times though :)

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  6. Hopping over from Katie's blog. It's a good thing the Oprah show isn't on anymore. I might have had to boycott after reading this! ha!

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