Oprah Celebrates 40 Years of The Oprah Winfrey Show

This episode of the Oprah Podcast is presented by our partner, GEICO. I'm Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to the very first National Oprah Winfrey Show! And I have to say, my life changed in ways I couldn't even imagine. Here's a look at how it all started. Hi there, my name is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, spelled O-P-R-A-H, and if you noticed, it's Harpo spelled backwards. I bet on myself this was almost unheard of at the time. Hi there, and welcome to the Oprah Podcast. This is a momentous moment of true gratitude for me. First of all, I live with gratitude in my spirit all the time, but this marks a different kind because it was 40 years ago when I first started doing this show. September 8th, 1986, to be exact, that the very first Oprah Winfrey Show aired on national television. And at the time, I was 32 years old, which is unbelievable to me now that I got to live another 40 years. I'd been working in television since I was 19. I started in radio when I was 16 and moved to television first as a weekend anchor in Nashville, Tennessee. And then as a regular news anchor in Baltimore before I finally co-hosted my first talk show. Started that in 1978. It's called People Are Talking with Richard Scher. People Are Talking with a couple of friends of yours, Richard Scher and Oprah Winfrey, and a lot of heart. Weekday mornings at 9 on Channel 13. That's what friends are for. Richard and I were co-hosts together on that show. And then I left Baltimore, moved to Chicago, which was the big leagues. It was the number three, still is, number three market in the country after Los Angeles. It was in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. And if you worked in television, you wanted to be in one of the top three markets. And the country was a different kind of country then. And I have to say, I was so excited about hosting AM Chicago. And everybody had told me, you know, what a racist city Chicago was and what a hard time I was going to have. And it was not true for me. I was embraced by the city and the people of the city. And most importantly, embraced by my boss, Dennis Swanson. My boss, Dennis Swanson, who believed and trusted that in spite of whatever racial, uh, feelings people might have, that I would be able to be successful on that show, hosting that show myself in the morning in Chicago. And good morning, everybody. I'm Oprah Winfrey, the new host of AM Chicago, and I am thrilled to be here. Welcome to Chicago, Oprah. Yeah! Good morning. Hi, everybody. I'm Oprah Winfrey. And, of course, this is AM Chicago. Our topic this morning will probably shock most of you. In and out of the medical field. According to these two statistics, one out of ten doctors are addicted to drugs or to alcohol. And without further ado, let's meet Tad and his women. Good morning, everybody. I'm Oprah Winfrey. And this morning on AM Chicago, we're getting right down to it. Can a woman be accepted as vice president? Okay, so this is the man who put the curve in Morgan Fairchild and Linda Gray and all those wonderful people. Tell me all the other people you do. Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg. Steven! Steven! Steven Spielberg. I love him. You do? I love him. Want to meet him? Next time you talk to him, I hear he's doing this wonderful movie and mention my name. He has a great role for you. Okay. Okay. Oprah Winfrey. Okay. Where do you turn to when you are just a child and your mommy and daddy are drunk all the time? Good morning. I'm Oprah Winfrey and this is AM Chicago. Over 22 million adults, 22 million in this country, are children of alcoholics. My first guests say that she grew up with an alcoholic mother who still has a drink. Here is a shocking statistic -- at least 60% of married men, 60% of married men, and 40% of married women report that they have had extramarital affairs. I'm Oprah Winfrey. I want to tell you that 11 years ago, I was 19 years old and was offered a job in broadcasting. I went to the CBS affiliate in Nashville and they said, "I know you've never done television before, but would you do an audition for us?" I said, "My God, I don't know what to do." I thought, "I guess I'll do it." I said, "I guess I'll just pretend to be Barbara Walters." And so, here I am today, I think, because I pretended to be Barbara Walters for that first year of my broadcasting career in television, and look where it got me. Ladies and gentlemen, I am so thrilled to introduce my guest this morning, the Barbara Walters. Good morning, Chicago. Delighted. Delighted. Just delighted. Isn't she beautiful? So what did you do when you were doing me? Well, I talked a lot about myself. Oh, I don't. I know you don't. But before the audition, they said, tell us about yourself. But this is what I did. I thought, I had just seen you that morning on the Today Show. And I said, well, I guess I'll sit. Barbara always sits up straight. And she turns and she does this. And I did those kind of movements. I had no idea where to look into the camera. We're continuing our talk with Barbara Walters. And we only have a minute left in this show. Because I love it so much, I hope you'll agree to stay on and talk to us. We'll continue tomorrow. I'd love that. That's wonderful. I have to ask you, though, were there times during interviews with some very, very famous person where you'd have a question right there on the tip of your tongue and you'd forget it? Oh, yeah. Has that ever happened? More and more now. Isn't that horrible? But it's, oh, aren't we lucky? I mean, to do what we do and to meet the kind of people, to be able to ask the questions that you really would love to ask, except if you asked it in private life, people would say, how dare you. How dare you. But you can do it on. Do you always go for that question? I don't think. It's not that. It's what we were talking about before. It's not the question that's going to. It's not going for the jugular. It's trying to have somebody open up. It's what you're trying to. It's what you're trying to do with me. What won't you ask? I think it's different. On the specials, I won't ask questions that I feel. Sometimes I know what they don't want to talk about. Paul Newman talking about his son who died. Someone talking perhaps about a recent divorce. If I know that it really is painful, I won't. But, for example, Jane Fonda on this interview talks about her father and the tears come. And that's not something where you're going. That's something where it just opens up and she begins to talk about their relationship. And then it's right. And then it works. And then it works. Oh, I can't even tell you how nervous I was because I was. Barbara Walters had been an idol of mine for years. And for me to now be sitting there talking to Barbara Walters on my own little AM Chicago show in Chicago was pretty remarkable. I wouldn't have been sitting next to Barbara Walters at all if it were not for the man I mentioned earlier, Mr. Dennis Swanson. Take a look. Today's show means a lot to me and many of my guests. Throughout the hour, we're going to be doing something that all of us need to do much more often. And I'm going to kick it off with a surprise visit to a man I owe a great deal to. In September of 1983, 11 years ago, I came to Chicago, as a matter of fact, from Baltimore on Labor Day to audition to be the host of a local TV show called at the time AM Chicago. It was one of the biggest days of my life. There was one man who was in charge of the decision to hire me or not to hire me. It was this man. This is the man that you're looking at right now. His name is Dennis Swanson. He's now the president of ABC Sports. And he has no idea that we have a camera on him right now at his office in New York, nor does he know that I'm talking about him right now. And furthermore, he doesn't have a clue as to what's about to happen. I first met Dennis on that fateful audition day. 11 years ago. And this is what I look like on that audition tape. I had a little chair curl for Dennis as I just went on about it. They told me to talk about myself. They said, tell us something about yourself. That's why I'm talking about myself. Take a look. Hi there. My name is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah spelled O-P-R-A-H. And if you noticed, it's Harpo spelled backwards. My folks did not particularly like Harpo marks. We did not even have a television set in our home. For a number of years. Originally, I was named from the Bible by Aunt Ida, who named me from Ruth, the first chapter and the 14th verse, Orpah. But no one knew how to spell in my home, and that's why it ended up being Oprah. I was born in Kosciuszko, Mississippi. I was raised by my grandmother for the first six to seven years of my life on a farm in Kosciuszko. It's been a long way getting to Chicago, a long road here. Most of my teen years, I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, which is very interesting. I had a very strict father who, that I shouldn't date until I was 16, and I was-- 36, 22, 36 at age 14. To kill, to die, to die, to die. And after being in Baltimore for seven years, I'm ready to come to Chicago. Bye. Wow. So you see that black and white outfit? That was an Anne Klein II. Those of you old enough will remember Anne Klein, the designer. That was an Anne Klein II, which was the second line, you know. It was cheaper than Anne Klein. I was so happy about that Anne Klein II outfit. I wore it for the audition. I wore it for every special occasion. You just saw me wearing it with Barbara Walters. I wore that thing until I couldn't wear it anymore. It was like threadbare. My Anne Klein II, black and white, I call it, was like my priest collar outfit. And I have to say, for my audition, I didn't have one single thing prepared. I flew into Chicago and had never been to Chicago and remember flying into Chicago. Thinking, wow, this is a great city. And I really, really, really do want this job. And I stayed up all night the night before with an editor. I did my hair. I had a jerry curl at the time. Those of you who know, know what that is. Those of you who don't, it was a jerry curl. And years later, I decided to pop in on Dennis Swanson and say my two favorite words. Thank you. Our listeners tell us that the podcast is resonating with you and is serving as a bright spot in your day. That means a lot to me. So here's the thing. I would really appreciate it if you like and subscribe to the Oprah podcast on YouTube or wherever you podcast. It's just a quick tap of the subscribe button. And that way you won't miss an episode in your queue. You don't have to pay anything. I know subscribe usually means you're paying something, but this time it means you just are notified when there's something new. There are many more to come that we're excited about. So thank you for watching and listening. Those of you who watch the Oprah podcast or listen to us, you know, every story we share, every guest we welcome is chosen with purpose. And when people share their stories, we're reminded that we're not alone in this journey called life. As the official insurance partner of the podcast, the folks at GEICO understand that the way we move through life and who we are, who we move through it with matters. And I know that life starts to move even faster as a new school year begins. Fall routines get underway. The calendar fills up. Whether you're waiting in the school pickup line, loading up the car for a weekend getaway, taking a quiet drive home after a hard day, or cheering on your son or daughter from the sidelines. These moments remind us the road is not always a straight line. GEICO is there with insurance designed to help keep you covered along the way because life happens. And with the right support, we all just keep driving forward. And that, dear listener, is everything. Hey, Dennis? Dennis? Dennis Swanson? Yes, Oprah. How are you? Can you see me on the monitor there, Dennis? I can see you on the monitor, Oprah. Okay. Dennis, we're on television. We're live on TV right now. Okay. Well. That's what scares me. I got off the television a long time ago, Oprah. How you doing, Denneru? Yeah, I'm doing real good. Not as well as you, but real good. Well, Dennis, it's Thank You Day today on the Oprah Winfrey Show. We have made it National Thank You Day. And I wanted to kick the day off because it was 11 years ago, about this time 11 years ago, that I came to Chicago to audition for you for the AM Chicago Show. And I, you know, over the years, anytime anybody asks me how this all got started, I always behind your back, Dennis, give you the credit. And. You're very kind. I remember. And let me finish, Dennis, I never have said it to you to your face how much courage I think that took at the time. It was 11 years ago, because Harold Washington had just recently been made the mayor and this was a very racially volatile city. And I remember when I came here and I thought there's no way you're going to hire a black woman. There's no way you were going to let me do it without a co-host. And I sat in that meeting and I said, do you know I'm overweight? And you said, so what? So am I. And I said, you know, we're going to go up against Donahue. And you said, don't worry about it. You're not hiring Donahue. Just be yourself. And I tell you, that gave me the freedom to be myself on the air. And you made such a difference in my life. And that's what I'm trying to do on this show every day is to be able to, in some way, make a difference in other people's lives. And I wanted to say, loud enough for the whole world to hear, Dennis, I thank you. Also, I remember it like it was yesterday. You're so kind to say that, and I appreciate that. I do remember Labor Day weekend 1983 when you came to Chicago, and I remember the audition. And if it hadn't been me, it would have been somebody else. You're as talented. As I sat there and watched that audition, I thought, oh, my goodness. This is a home run, a grand slam home run. And when we met afterwards and we talked, and we talked about--. I remember I said, I said, and I'm black, you know, and that ain't gonna change. And you said, yeah, I know, I'm looking at you. Well, I want you to know, if you can lose weight, so can I. Hey, you look good. You look good. How much have you lost? I'm just--. I've lost about 30 pounds. I'm just back from a couple of weeks in Fiji, and I'm well-rested. A little bit of a tan, and I'm just so happy for you. One piece of advice I gave you at the time--. Yeah, I do, too. I don't know if you recall this, but I told you, make sure your head always fit on your shoulders when all the awards and money and accolades came to you. And I give you credit because you've been able to do that over these past--. Thank you, Dennis. Thank you, Dennis Swanson. So, thanks, Jenna Rowe. Thank you, Oprah. Wow. I was--. You know, as the years have gone through--. As the years have gone forward, I have even a deeper appreciation to him because things were pretty volatile race-wise and gender-wise in the country at that time. And that was a really bold decision on his part to put me in that seat. Don't you think, Keith? I mean, at the time, I just, you know, I was coming to apply for the job, Keith's a cameraman, who lives in Chicago and has lived in Chicago. At the time, I came and applied for the job. I was just happy to be applying for the job. I had no idea of all of the political undercurrent that was going on. And that was a bold decision. I don't know if anybody would make that kind of decision today. Dennis Swanson is now retired from television, but his words to me, "Just be yourself. Just be yourself." Because at the time, Donahue, Phil Donahue, was the reigning king. He was--. Everybody said, "You shouldn't go to Chicago, because then you'll be up against him." And if Dennis Swanson had said to me, "We want you to come here and we want you to beat Phil Donahue," I wouldn't have even known how to begin to do that. So him saying to me, "Just be yourself," was the most powerful and still to this moment cherished words I'd ever heard. Steve and me gave me the foundation that would become the Oprah Winfrey show. And I have to say, I didn't take one minute of it for granted. I live in just, yeah, deep gratitude for the privilege and opportunity that he gave me. That was a privilege of a lifetime, beyond anything I could have dreamed of for myself. But I have to say, when I had the opportunity to take the show national and own it, I bet on myself. This was almost unheard of at the time, to be able to take the leap and bet on yourself. I had an attorney, Jeffrey Jacobs, who said, "Listen, you should think about owning yourself and take the risk." And I did, and it turned out pretty well. So my own show with a nationwide audience that eventually was broadcast in over 145 countries. It was a show that we watched on a daily basis, over 145 countries were watching daily, but I never imagined the kind of reach that we eventually achieved back then. I remember not sleeping the night before the first national show. And I wrote in my journal, which I've been keeping a journal for years, and I wrote in my journal that night, "I keep wondering how my life will change." if it will change, and what all this means. why have I been so blessed? Maybe going national was to help me realize that I have important work or that this work is important. I just want to acknowledge to the universe right now, to God in all his glory, my praise, my thanksgiving for this experience. Okay, that's what I wrote in my journal, verbatim. Hello, everybody. Hello. Hello. Hello. Thanks. Thank you. You know, there has been so much hoopla about this premiere show that it's enough to give a girl hives. I've got them right now under my armpits. I've been busy these past few weeks traveling to as many of your cities as possible to introduce myself. And in every newspaper, every town, people would ask, Oprah, who are the guests for the first show? Is it Mother Teresa? Is it the Pope? Is it Greta Garbo? I say, who knows where Greta Garbo is? Well, the pressure has been unbelievable, but after deliberating for some time with my staff and spending a fortune, a fortune, bribing Don Johnson, Don Perignon by the case, and Don, would you please send me back my rhinestone sunglasses, if you don't mind? We decided to do what we do best, and that is a show about and with everyday people. I've been doing talk shows now for years, and one thing I've learned is that no matter how far down you go, and I tell you, I have been down on my knees with the best of you, no matter how low you feel, this show, this show always allows people, hopefully, to understand the power they have to change their own lives. If there's one thread, running through each show we do, it is the message that you, you are not alone. And if you feel you are alone, today's show may change all of that. Now, I don't have a lot of problems in my life, I have to tell you. Things are going pretty good for me right now. But two things have bugged me for years. The first, my thighs. The second, my love, life. And it was not a happy day when I found out about the Yale University study saying that women not married by the age of 40, I'm 32, have a greater chance, of being killed by a terrorist, can you believe it? Killed by a terrorist, than walking down the aisle to say, I do. I wore a black armband for a week, of mourning about that one. So, today, how to find a husband, how to find a wife. And if you already have a mate, how to keep the one you have from all of us single people who want 'em. Later in the show, you're gonna meet a woman who promises a marriage partner within 30 days. I don't believe it. And another who is fast becoming the Dr. Ruth of the singles world. My first guest, though, has one of the most controversial techniques to meeting a partner you will ever hear. Some of you will no doubt be shocked. She charges $95 a piece. That's for each one of them, of her two books. How to marry the man of your choice, and how to marry a superior woman. And promises, if you haven't met and married that perfect man or woman within three years, she will give your money back, if you can find her. Margaret Kitt. I think the best pick-up line I've ever heard is, "Are you really a blonde?" I saw your eyes, and I wanted to get to know the person inside 'em. Haven't I met you in Warsaw? Is your husband married? I've actually heard the "what's your sign" deal lately. I mean, people still use that. That's disgusting. Hi there, dimples. Want to buy me a drink? Opening lines. What is a good one? What is. A good thing to say. I mean, the problem is, you're in the elevator. You see a great-looking guy, or girl, if you're a guy, and you're getting off on the seventh floor, and you only have a few seconds. What do you say? Well, you might say, "Are you as intelligent as you look?" Because what you have to do is you have to be memorable. Come on, we're talking about you. Don't you hate that? You've got a few minutes in the elevator. If I saw you in the elevator and said, "Are you as intelligent as you look?" What would you. You wouldn't get away with that. I'd just start laughing at that one. I really would. I think it's about being totally real, because that's jive. Give the slant, but that's jive. Women and men, they want a real person. Thank you. That's true. Thank you. Whatever happened to feelings? Whatever happened to that? I want to know what you didn't know that you now know. I know more about women, what they want. Tell me about me. Ron, baby, what is it exactly I want? You want a man that has a high self-esteem. True, true. That's right, true. Is that true? Yes. True, right. Okay, what else? What else do we want? You want a man who knows he's in control. Right! What else? What else? Those two are the basic things that I needed. There were other things that the book described, but those two things helped me the most. You think men can be too nice? Is this not true? Sure, yeah. Is this not true? Someone just said to me yesterday that she had a guy who liked everything about her, and it made her sick. Made her sick. Can you relate to that? Men give too many compliments, I think. If they give you too many, it's no fun. You want the thrill of a chase. Hello, you're on the air. Yes. Yeah. What'd you want to say? Well, I went out with Brenda, Brenda Foreman. Oh. I don't know what happened. You went out with-- oh, so you saw-- and what happened? Well, we had met in Chicago. I'm from Detroit. She was from Minneapolis. And I'm not sure if she was following the whole book, but we went along just fine. We probably talked for four hours in a bar, which we're not supposed to do via the book, and had a wonderful time. So what attracted me to Brenda was probably her smile, which she has a great one in her eyes. And we hit it off very well. You did. OK. Let's hear what. What Brenda says about that. Oh, man. OK, so my microphone cover was crooked. Nobody said anything. And that was the least of our worries that day. In those days, we could not book a celebrity to save ourselves, because nobody wanted to come to Chicago. Chicago wasn't on the way to wherever anybody was going. So either celebrities were in New York or celebrities were in LA. And that actually turned out to be-- the best thing that could have happened, because it taught me and all of the producers at the time that the real impact was creating conversations, real conversations, transformative conversations with regular folks, everyday people. That was going to be the staple for the show, because we just couldn't get celebrities to come. And it's what I'm still doing here all these years later, trying to have transformative conversations, meaningful, conversations. But I was beginning to see that television could be so much more than just a show, that it could be useful, and not just as a spectacle, and not just as entertainment, that you could actually connect to people who were there in the audience and who were at home. You could build genuine human connection. That's what I'm saying, and that's what I'm saying. And that's what I'm saying, and that's what I'm saying. 25 years, and I'm still saying, thank you, America. Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment. Every word I've ever spoken from the stage of "The Oprah Show" for 4,561 days of my life. Is what this moment is all about. Yesterday, you heard the legendary Aretha Franklin sing what has really been a constant in the theme song of my life, "Amazing Grace," and how truly amazing it is, this journey that you and I have shared together. I mean, really, people. When I arrived in Chicago from Baltimore, where I'd co-hosted my first talk show with her, my first talk show with Richard Shearer, who's here today. Richard, I was, I was, I was just happy to get the job. And as you can see from my first day on AM Chicago at WLS, I had no publicist, no publicist advising me, no stylist. There was no hair and makeup team. Just a jerry curl and a bad fur coat. When I came here, I was about to determine 30 years old. I didn't have a vision for, or a lot of great expectations. Stedman talks about vision all the time, but I didn't have one, honey, when I came here. I just wanted to do a good job and cause no harm. I was so happy to get the job. I forgot to ask Dennis Swanson, who hired me, do y'all have an audience? Will there be an audience? Because in Baltimore, we had an audience. It was just about 24 people. So I came here expecting that I'd have at least the same. That first day was a shock to me. There was no audience. There I am in my best Anne Klein to velour outfit. Yes. My first guests were a few Chicago football players. New Year's Day, 1984. There we are trying to make chili with no stove, no heat. And no you. I needed people. I needed to have you to gauge how things were going during a show. If you were responding, if you were laughing, if you were tracking with me. So after that first show, we put some folding chairs in the audience. We brought in the staff. Look at there. Pitiful. Secretaries, anybody we could find in the building. And filled in the rest with people off the street that we bribed with. And we'd say, come in. You want to get warm? Well, from day one, Chicago, you took me in. Into your living rooms and into your kitchens and your dens. And you spread the word to your friends. I heard you saying, have y'all seen that black girl on TV named Ofri? The first week, we went national. I remember I got a letter from a woman named Carrie in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And Carrie said, Oprah, watching you be yourself, makes me want to be more of myself. That was and still remains one of the nicest things I ever heard. What Carrie felt is what I wanted for every single one of you. I wanted to encourage you to be more of yourself, just as you all encouraged me and you cheered me on. And occasionally complained about my outfits. My big hair. And earrings the size of napkins. I now see you had every reason to. But at the time, you couldn't tell me nothing. I thought I was styling pretty cute. But soon after I started the show, something shifted for me. It really did. I started the show as a job and was very happy to get the job. But it was not long before I understood that there was something else going on here, more than just job satisfaction. And I was very happy to get the job. But I was very happy to get the job. Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I listened and grew. And I know you grew along with me. Sometimes I was a teacher. And more often, you taught me. It is no coincidence that I always wanted to be a teacher. And I ended up in the world's biggest classroom. And this, my friend, is what I did. This, my friend, is what I did. There has been so much hoopla about this premiere show that it's enough to give a girl hives. Oh, the hives were real, honey. Oprah Winfrey. Because when I hit the road to promote the show, there was one question everybody asked. Who will be your first guest? I tell you, the pressure was on for us to get a really big celebrity. Miami Vice was the hit show in 1986. So we decided to pull out all the stops to try and get Don Johnson. But after deliberating for some time with my staff and spending a fortune, a fortune bribing Don Johnson, Don Perignon by the case. And Don, would you please send me back my rhinestone sunglasses, if you don't mind. So in the end, Don Johnson turned us down. And you know what? Doing a show about everyday people was the right call. And it's still what we do. 25 years later. And thank you, America! At the time, I gotta tell you. At the time, those rhinestone sunglasses were all the rage, and they cost a fortune. That's why I wanted mine back. No, they didn't! No, they didn't! No, they didn't! Hi, baby. Hi, baby. No, they didn't! They didn't surprise me! Hi, baby. Listen. Hi, baby. Hi, baby. Uh, I know it's taken me about 24 years to get these back to you, but thank you. Wonderful. Don, how are you? I'm good. Now, for clarity. For clarity. For clarity, I was shooting about 18, 20 hours a day at the time. It's not that I didn't want to come. They wouldn't let me come. I understand. Listen. But I understand things have been going okay for you. Things have been okay. You're the greatest. Thank you, John. Thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Don Johnson! Don Johnson. Thank you, Don. Thank you. Don Johnson. And thank you to our friends at GEICO for presenting today's episode. So here's the thing. I would really appreciate it if you like and subscribe to the Oprah Podcast on YouTube or where you podcast. It's just a quick tap of the subscribe button, and that way you won't miss an episode in your queue. There are many more to come that we're excited about, so thank you for watching and listening.