Oprah's Next Chapter: Will Winfrey's bid to save OWN work?

The former Queen of Daytime is back in front of the camera in a new reality series on her struggling cable network

Best Opinion:  Entertainment Weekly, TV Smack Talk, Cinema Blend

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) turned a year old on Sunday, but there wasn't a whole lot to celebrate. Ratings for the fledgling network "have been a major disappointment," says Elizabeth Blair at NPR, and the media has seized on OWN's failure to fulfill its Oprah-sized expectations. Hoping to reverse the negative trend, the former talk show host is getting back in front of the camera. Oprah's Next Chapter, a reality series that follows Winfrey as she tours the world interviewing celebrities and trying out new experiences, debuted Sunday night. In the premiere, she visited Aerosmith star and American Idol judge Steven Tyler at his New Hampshire home for a conversation that ranged from his history as a drug abuser to his love life. Could Oprah's Next Chapter turn OWN around?

This is the Oprah we know and love: It "takes some adjusting" to process the sight of a dressed-down Oprah in the real world, outside her Chicago studio, says Sara Vilkomerson at Entertainment Weekly. But once the Tyler interview got under way, Next Chapter became very familiar. "We saw Oprah... doing what she does best." This "master interviewer" still has the knack of getting important people to open up in surprising ways. She broached remarkably sensitive topics with Tyler, and he responded revealingly.
"Oprah’s Next Chapter: New network, new series, same Oprah"

Despite problems, it's a strong show: Time off has served Oprah well, says TV Smack Talk. In her talk show's final years, Winfrey "was very robotic when interviewing celebrities, shaking her head and 'Um-hmming' on auto pilot." Next Chapter offers a more natural, dramatically more focused Oprah. It helps that Tyler was a captivating subject, but Winfrey should be credited with her ability to "peel the onion." Admittedly, the two-hour show was much too long and, when Winfrey and Tyler held hands and detailed their mutual admiration, intolerably sappy. "But I'm sure people were eating it up."
"Review: Oprah's Next Chapter — Could the show boost OWN's ratings?"

This "interesting" series could actually save OWN: It's no secret that OWN's first year "has been marked with strife and original programming missteps," says Jessica Grabert at Cinema Blend. Winfrey herself admitted disappointment to the Associated Press last week. Spotlighting Winfrey "may be just what the network needs to send its ratings chugging in a new direction." The network's secret weapon has stayed hidden for too long.
"Oprah Winfrey looking to begin a new chapter for herself and OWN"

see comments

Can Oprah's reality show rescue OWN?

The Queen of Talk will get back in front of the cameras for Oprah's Next Chapter, a new series she hopes will halt her network's ratings slide

Since its launch on Jan. 1, Oprah Winfrey's fledgling network, OWN, has struggled with disappointing ratings and negative press. Hoping to turn things around, Winfrey will go before the cameras again in a reality-TV format. Oprah's Next Chapter, which debuts on... More

Can Oprah save OWN?

The Queen of Talk will take over as CEO of her struggling network, in an attempt to end the anemic ratings and bad buzz

It seems even Oprah Winfrey can learn something from the old adage, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." The Chicagoan announced Wednesday that she will assume the role of CEO at her fledgling Oprah Winfrey Network, a move that would give the groundbreaking... More

Oprah's OWN ratings disaster: 4 theories

The queen of talk's new channel is struggling to win over viewers. What's to blame?

Two months after the celebrated premiere of Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel, "it's getting its butt kicked." Ratings are about 10 percent lower than Discovery Health, the channel it replaced. At any given moment, the channel has just 135,000 viewers, and only some... More

Oprah's half-sister revelation: A 'publicity stunt'?

Turns out the talk-show queen has a long-lost half sister. But the timing of the revelation has some critics questioning whether Winfrey used it as a ratings ploy

The video: On her Friday show, Oprah Winfrey teased a "shocking family secret" that she said "literally shook [her] to the core." Fans, who've already learned that the talk-show queen was molested as a child, and gave birth to and lost a baby at 14, were in suspense... More

Rating Oprah's OWN network

The Oprah Winfrey Network launched on January 1. Can the Queen of Daytime TV become even more influential or is she setting herself up to fail?

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) began broadcasting on January 1, with a slate of programming including reruns of shows hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Rachael Ray — and the promise of new reality TV series following Ryan and Tatum O'Neal and... More