Twenty Questions for Oprah
PAGE 4
Q: Have you ever turned on a guest?
A: In the course of a segment, a man mentioned his book 26 times. The 27th time, I stopped the interview and said, "Do you think we don't know the name of the book? Audience, what's the name of the book?" They all said it simultaneously, and I said, "Now, can we continue without your mentioning the book, sir?"
Q: Have you ever been so taken with an audience member that they became a guest?
A: In the early days, audience members were guests—that's how we booked the shows. We would go out beforehand and ask for stories. If someone sounded good enough, we'd put that person onstage or build the show around them. You could never trust that method today.
A: In the course of a segment, a man mentioned his book 26 times. The 27th time, I stopped the interview and said, "Do you think we don't know the name of the book? Audience, what's the name of the book?" They all said it simultaneously, and I said, "Now, can we continue without your mentioning the book, sir?"
Q: Have you ever been so taken with an audience member that they became a guest?
A: In the early days, audience members were guests—that's how we booked the shows. We would go out beforehand and ask for stories. If someone sounded good enough, we'd put that person onstage or build the show around them. You could never trust that method today.