Word: oprah
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...traumatic early life--poverty, rape, a teenage pregnancy, a stretch on welfare, beatings by the relatives who raised her and later by her husband. She left her abusive spouse, put herself through college, became a lawyer, then a self-help/spiritual guru, motivational speaker, best-selling author and perennial Oprah visitor. Now, with her own syndicated show launching Aug. 13, Vanzant is hoping the same life story, empathy and straight-talking humor that made her the quintessential talk-show guest can make her the quintessential talk-show host...
...There's Oprah [Winfrey], and there's everybody else," says Bill Geddie, who along with TV veteran Barbara Walters is the executive producer of Vanzant's show. "Oprah does the interesting, reasonable people that could be you or me. And everybody else does screaming people." Says Walters, who persuaded Vanzant to try a talk show after seeing her on Oprah and inviting her on The View: "How many times have I seen, 'It's not my baby!' 'Yes it is!'?" But Jerry Springer et al. are thriving, while nearly everyone who has promised an alternative approach to sailor-mouthed moms...
Vanzant does follow the Oprah recipe: a la carte spirituality, advice and above all, confession. It is an understatement to say that Vanzant does not shy away from talking about her difficult early life. And as Oprah has taught us, if not with quite so abject a life story, such been-there testimony is essential to bonding with the talk audience (primarily women 18 to 49). "My life is who I am; it's where I come from," says Vanzant. "I don't know what I'd be doing had I not been born in a taxicab or neglected...
...Vanzant or Lewis to succeed, it will mean cutting into Oprah's lane on the high road or proving that viewers, contrary to their recent choices, really are tired of high-decibel escapism. Both are betting that talk, in Vanzant's phrase, has "got the power" to change lives. Now they have to sell that idea to viewers who've got the power to change the channel...
Next I checked out the online version of Oprah's book club, where through Labor Day readers are discussing Cane River by Lalita Tademy. Unlike other clubs I visited, oprah.com lets you click on an audio excerpt read by the author. The chat room was pretty dead, but plenty of people had posted messages. But even gushing endorsements such as "I cannot express how much I love this book" and "I was totally mesmerized by Cane River" couldn't get me past the first 100 pages...