LISA THALHEIMER
Opinions Writer

Some time in 2011 we will say a final goodbye to The Oprah Winfrey Show. And I could not be happier.

I find Oprah to be a rude, snobby, stuck-up self-congratulator. She doesn’t let her guests speak for more than 10 seconds before she tries to change the subject on them and she never looks interested in what she is doing.

This isn’t a recent thing that has sprung up because she’s getting bored of the show. Even when I was eight years old and home sick from school, I was annoyed with how rude she was to everyone on her show.

Okay, she gave everyone in the audience a free car and her “Oprah’s Big Give” episodes get the audience a ridiculous amount of free swag, but that doesn’t make her a good talk show host or a good person. I find it ridiculously annoying how most of the publicity the show gets comes from Oprah being the first to talk to someone (usually a celebrity) after a dramatic incident in their life.

Look at competing daytime talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres. She gets her publicity from being a funny person and focusing on the positives in life. At the same time, Ellen is not afraid to tackle heavy subjects on her show like lesbian and gay rights and animal cruelty. While she discusses and tries to improve upon these heavy subjects, it is not just her sitting on a couch tooting her own horn about how great she is for helping the world. Unlike Oprah, Ellen is able to focus in on problems and make her audience recognize how serious they are, all while keeping it lighthearted.

A staple of The Ellen DeGeneres Show is that after her opening monologue, she dances with the audience. Ellen has fun with audience members and lets them participate in almost every episode.

I think Oprah just likes having the camera on herself rather than on some nobody audience member, which is completely ridiculous. She always looks pissed off. I don’t want to see that.

A few weeks back, it was almost painful to watch The Oprah Winfrey Show when she had Ellen on. While Ellen and her wife Portia De Rossi looked relaxed and happy the entire episode, Oprah’s usual and unappealing “why are you talking so much on my show” glare became very obvious. After a montage of funny things that have happened on Ellen’s show, Oprah could not cut to commercial fast enough. That lady needs to relax.

I’m glad that Oprah will say goodbye to daytime TV. I don’t know where I will find my afternoon dose of anger, but I’m sure I can figure something out.

Besides, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway.

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photo: nayrb7