New Delhi:
For the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" taped Tuesday (24 May), the talk show queen appeared alone on her Chicago stage, talking to viewers about what they've meant to her during the show's 25-year run. The finale will air on Wednesday.
Fans leaving Tuesday's taping said Winfrey had tears in her eyes as the television icon said a final thank you.
"She said, 'This isn't goodbye. This is until we meet again," said Amy Korin, 32, who was in the audience.
Winfrey then kissed and hugged her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, and made her way through the halls of Harpo Studios, saying goodbye to her staff, audience members said. She kept saying, "We did it! We did it!," Korin said, and giving employees high-fives.
There was a single chair on the stage, but Winfrey stood most of the time, audience members said.
"As we entered the studio we had the one chair and it gave me an idea that it was going to be all about Oprah. And that's the reason I came today. Being a fan of Oprah's, I wanted to be able to connect with her in her final show. I want to be part of this history," said Wanda Nash.
Audience members described a simply produced series finale filled with a sense of gratitude.
"Basically she said that you know 'do what you really love to do and you will succeed. And that really actually touched me and I will take that to heart," said Latasha.
Winfrey announced in November 2009 that she would end her popular talk show after 25 years. Tuesday's taping comes a week after Hollywood's A-list and 13,000 fans bid Winfrey farewell during a double-episode extravaganza at Chicago's United Center.
The bare-bones final taping had its share of celebrities in the audience including Tyler Perry, Maria Shriver, Suze Orman and Cicely Tyson, but none of them joined Winfrey on stage.
Hundreds of giddy fans struck by their luck at getting tickets for the final show had gathered outside Winfrey's television studio in Chicago Tuesday morning.
Fans said they went through the normal ticketing process for the final taping by submitting their names online. Some said they wrote letters explaining why they were Winfrey fans.
Winfrey's best friend Gayle King mixed with the waiting fans and interviewed several with a camera phone.
The finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has remained a secret, even as Harpo Studios hyped it as a television event.
Already a television journalist, Winfrey came to Chicago in 1984 to WLS-TV's morning talk show, "A.M. Chicago." A month later the show was No. 1 in the market. A year later it was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Winfrey opened Harpo Studios on Chicago's West Loop neighborhood in 1990. On Jan. 1 of this year she launched the Oprah Winfrey Network, which is based in Los Angeles.
For the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" taped Tuesday (24 May), the talk show queen appeared alone on her Chicago stage, talking to viewers about what they've meant to her during the show's 25-year run. The finale will air on Wednesday.
Fans leaving Tuesday's taping said Winfrey had tears in her eyes as the television icon said a final thank you.
"She said, 'This isn't goodbye. This is until we meet again," said Amy Korin, 32, who was in the audience.
Winfrey then kissed and hugged her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, and made her way through the halls of Harpo Studios, saying goodbye to her staff, audience members said. She kept saying, "We did it! We did it!," Korin said, and giving employees high-fives.
There was a single chair on the stage, but Winfrey stood most of the time, audience members said.
"As we entered the studio we had the one chair and it gave me an idea that it was going to be all about Oprah. And that's the reason I came today. Being a fan of Oprah's, I wanted to be able to connect with her in her final show. I want to be part of this history," said Wanda Nash.
Audience members described a simply produced series finale filled with a sense of gratitude.
"Basically she said that you know 'do what you really love to do and you will succeed. And that really actually touched me and I will take that to heart," said Latasha.
Winfrey announced in November 2009 that she would end her popular talk show after 25 years. Tuesday's taping comes a week after Hollywood's A-list and 13,000 fans bid Winfrey farewell during a double-episode extravaganza at Chicago's United Center.
The bare-bones final taping had its share of celebrities in the audience including Tyler Perry, Maria Shriver, Suze Orman and Cicely Tyson, but none of them joined Winfrey on stage.
Hundreds of giddy fans struck by their luck at getting tickets for the final show had gathered outside Winfrey's television studio in Chicago Tuesday morning.
Fans said they went through the normal ticketing process for the final taping by submitting their names online. Some said they wrote letters explaining why they were Winfrey fans.
Winfrey's best friend Gayle King mixed with the waiting fans and interviewed several with a camera phone.
The finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has remained a secret, even as Harpo Studios hyped it as a television event.
Already a television journalist, Winfrey came to Chicago in 1984 to WLS-TV's morning talk show, "A.M. Chicago." A month later the show was No. 1 in the market. A year later it was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Winfrey opened Harpo Studios on Chicago's West Loop neighborhood in 1990. On Jan. 1 of this year she launched the Oprah Winfrey Network, which is based in Los Angeles.
