OK, there was Dr. Phil. One bad choice. Oh, and once I read an Oprah's Book Club selection that sucked. Two bad choices.
But if Oprah wants to have her own reality show, I have to assume that it'll be worthwhile, since everything Oprah does is worthwhile. The thousands of people who showed up to be cast on "Oprah's Big Give" (premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, March 2, on ABC) obviously felt the same way. Hell, most people would eat a plate of live maggots just for a chance to see Oprah face to face and tell her, as most mortals do when they meet Oprah, that they love her with the blinding heat of a thousand suns.
Yes, this is a reality show, but instead of casting deluded, drunken youngsters who want their 15 minutes of fame, Oprah cast likable, sensitive, caring individuals who honestly hope to change the world. They're also, not surprisingly, the kinds of people who weep openly or scream at the top of their lungs when they find out that it's Oprah on the phone, telling them that they've been chosen. (And by the way, I love the look on Oprah's face when yet another mortal confesses his or her undying love. Yes, yes, you love me, of course, can we get on with this? That's Oprah: Omnipotent, yet so human.)
Naturally Oprah leaves the shiny yuppies for The Donald's three-ring circus, choosing instead earnest, kind human beings -- you know, the sorts of people you don't typically see on TV (unless you're watching "Oprah"). Thus do we meet Kim, who explains, "I've lived most of my life for me ... What I haven't achieved is what it feels like to really give instead of take." You want to know what it feels to be Oprah, in other words. We understand.
After the dot-com millionaire and the train attendant and the singer and all the rest tell us how they're striving to be more Oprah-like, we learn that each week, contestants will be given a charity-related task, and their success will be evaluated by three judges: "Naked Chef" Jamie Oliver; Chris Rock's wife, Malaak Compton-Rock; and pro-football player Tony Gonzalez. We also learn that the winner will receive $1 million (the contestants don't know this). Finally, we learn that the show will be hosted by Oprah's sexy-but-non-threatening, multipurpose pool boy, Nate Berkus. The ladies in the group scream like the roof is coming off, and their eyes pop out of their heads when Berkus strides in the door. My God, he's actually here? Why, his initials are on a whole set of towels at Linens 'N Things!
Back to business. In the first episode, contestants are placed in teams of two and given a photograph and $2,500. Each team is asked to track down the person in the photo, find out what that person needs, and try to change that person's life in a few short days. Basically, it's sort of like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" if you took out the team of producers and the huge corporate sponsors, and replaced them with two individuals. This actually makes it a lot more fun and interesting. Instead of free refrigerators and sofas falling out of the sky, "Queer Eye"-style, you have two people trying to figure out how to make a difference in someone's life.
Now, granted, you have to wonder how often contestants repeat the magic word (Oprah) when they're looking for charitable contributions. (My guess is five to six times per sentence.) Even so, although a few of the contestants are obviously stumped by how to handle the first challenge, some of them pull off some pretty spectacular events. Eric, a disaster relief worker, and Stephen, a contractor, manage to raise a big sum to help partially pay off the mortgage of a woman whose husband was shot and killed at his job at Home Depot. Another team finds a homeless woman with two kids a place to live, rent paid, for six months, plus a good savings fund and a financial planner to help her manage it.
Of course it's easy enough to snicker and roll your eyes at the big Oprah reality show, particularly if you don't love Oprah like I do. But trust me, if you let down your guard and just watch this show without judgment, it will make you cry. Sure, it's sappy and sentimental and it's just another polished product to complement Oprah's multi-platform brand. But look past your prejudices, because "Oprah's Big Give" is really more than that. This show, more than any other I've seen, demonstrates very clearly just how often people fall through the cracks in this country and have serious trouble picking themselves up and starting over. The more we meet these ordinary people who need help, the more inspired we all might be to lend a hand and do something, big or small, to make a difference to someone out there.
A heartfelt, inspiring, uplifting TV show that brings out the best in people? Who could possibly resist that?
Next page: Courteney Cox, no Meryl Streep