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Sparkle (1)
Image: OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network
Last weekend's launch of Oprah Winfrey's new cable TV network, OWN, was a milestone in TV history and Oprah history: a self-made, black woman starting her own television network using her personal life lessons as the guiding vision for all the programming. It's all Oprah, all the time, even when she's not actually in the show you're watching.
Based on the few shows I've sampled, Oprah's off to a flying start.
OWN is a lifestyle channel that has the highest production values money can buy, first rate talent producing the shows and a firm vision of what it wants to be.
Here's a rundown of the shows I've seen so far and what I thought of them:
Image: OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network
Oprah presents Master Class with guest Jay-Z
This hour long interview show focuses on one guest a week. It's beautifully shot, against a mottled grey background with the interview subject telling their story directly into the camera. The episode with hip hop music mogul Jay-Z offered his thoughts on growing up in a dangerous section of Brooklyn, writing rap lyrics as a way to express himself, and what he feels it means to be a man.
With all the snapshot TV soundbite interviews were accustomed to from celebrities, it's refreshing to have just one subject talk to you for an extended period of time. Master Class uses stylized video and graphics as visual adornments, but it's the guest that stays the center of attention.
The only thing I didn't like about the show was when Oprah introduced segments with thoughts of her own about Jay-Z's life and career. Those moments were jarring and hopefully those will go away in future shows.
Upcoming guests include Maya Angelou, Lorne Michaels, Simon Cowell and Sidney Poitier.
Image: OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network
Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes
For those of us who are going to miss "The Oprah Winfrey Show," here's a place to fully immerse yourself in the show one last time. Except this time, it's behind the scenes. For the first time, Oprah allowed a documentary crew to capture the hard work, long hours and crazy mishaps that go into putting "The Oprah Winfrey Show" together.
The first episode had producers preparing for the 25th season premiere and the announcement that all the audience members would be flying with Oprah to Australia.
The next episode had one set of producers getting ready for a segment and performance from Naomi and Wynonna Judd, while other staffers prepared a followup show about West Virginia residents and their fears about AIDS.
When it comes to production values, the show has the feel of "The Apprentice" or "Project Runway" with its fast paced narrative, "what they're thinking" interviews, and fly-on-the-wall presence at production meetings and rehearsals.
One thing viewers will learn is how much attention to detail goes into such an involved TV production. For example, when Oprah arrives for the show in West Virginia, she's supposed to tape a standup at a local pool, but summer is over and the pool is filled with green sludge.
Because shooting the most powerful woman in television in front of a sludge-filled pool simply won't do, technical camera tricks are used to make the sludge less obvious and the pool more photogenic.
Image: OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network
Kidnapped by the Kids
This show takes a modern familial complaint -- a workaholic parent -- and gives the solution in the form of kids waylaying the wayward parent.
The premiere has two cute but Dad-starved kids corralling Dad at the airport, confiscating his cellphone and laptop and taking him and Mom camping. Dad comes to learn it's tough to give up the old BlackBerry but even tougher to hear that your son feared you had another family because you travel so much.
Though the message was all very "Cat's in the Cradle" and its heart was in the right place, this was my least favorite show. The Dad was a bit of a drip and the Mom somewhat whiny. I also have a feeling the formula may
