Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Former queen of daytime talk Oprah Winfrey recently admitted that she had to add lighter, more humorous programming to her network in order to save it from dying a slow, boring death.
The Butler actress is featured in a new interview for New York Magazine and says that she while she was trying to build a network of uplifting programs; she forgot to add the funny.
“I have a tendency to look at everything from the point of view of: What is going to be meaningful and uplift people? That can become too stoic and too serious—which is the same issue I suffered with at the magazine in the beginning. It needed more humor. So we [began] looking for lighter fare. Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s works. Iyanla: Fix My Life was also a turning point. Having programming that was in alignment with the vision but also left the space to widen the lane for the vision”
Incorporating Tyler Perry’s shows to her weekly mix hasn’t been bad for “O” either. Ratings went through the roof this summer with The Have and Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor. However, there are some things that you will never ever hear or see on the network. Ever!
“I’m interested in doing no harm. Before, it was always, I’ve got to uplift as well as entertain. And now I can look at a thing and say, “What harm does it do?” And harm is not just violence and calling people bitches. It’s the tone of things. The role that I see myself serving is to put a mirror up to people’s lives by allowing them to see, through the storytelling that we do, their lives through other people….Not a lot of people are thinking about that, but I feel a responsibility to it. To whom much is given, much is expected.”
Check out her newest reality series that is centered on a Houston, Texas cosmetology school called Houston’s Beauty…
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Photo Credit: Oprah.com
