farewell oprah

I was in the live studio audience of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" once. Surprised? Me too.

My sister-in-law, her sister and cousin invited me along when they won two pairs of tickets. Yes, they dialed for weeks on end, a triple threat that hit the jackpot. I got to tag along.

I like Oprah. But being in the Oprah audience wasn't high on my life list. So more than a few times during the whole adventure, I wondered what all the Oprahmania was about. First off, it's true — you have to get up at an ungodly hour to stand on the street outside the Chicago studio.

Heard stories about a fabulous spread for all the guests as they wait to get into the studio? Don't believe it. There were vending machines, though. And lots of time to study them.

This was in my pre-blog days, but even then I had a pathological need to scribble things down. It's a reporter thing. Guess what? Couldn't do it – everyone had to hand over their purses and could not keep anything on their person. Not even ChapStik. I was in withdrawal.

While we waited, we were asked to complete a form. I remember that they asked for my Social Security number. I made one up.

We finally were allowed to enter the studio and seating is general admission. My companions had a theory about where to sit (I don't remember the theory) and we could see Oprah when she made her entrance. It was extremely exciting — honestly, it was thrilling to see her. She was tiny, tiny, tiny in those days. She looked amazing. (Ironically, the thing I like most about her is that she allows cameras to show her when she looks un-amazing.)  The place went absolutely crazy.

She was the consummate professional, and we were rapt with attention. What was today's show going to be? A celebrity interview? An awesome giveaway? Our suspense was short-lived: "Please welcome Dr. Phil!"

The topic of the day was adultery. Long story short, Dr. Phil is against it.

Apparently they got the idea for this show when they had taped a previous program involving couples and interviews went in this direction. They showed us the pre-recorded materials. So there we all were, in a big studio, watching TV with Oprah and Dr. Phil. I believe the final show was about 75% pre-recorded, 25% of Dr. Phil haranguing philandering husbands and Oprah nodding along.

And that is the magic of television, people, and the magic of Oprah. Her show ended today, and I do think it's pretty cool that I was in that audience one time. And I have never committed adultery since.