Sunday, April 15, 2012

Oprah Winfrey's Slick and 'Spensive Traveling Salvation Show

Oprah's network is tanking big time, so there's only one thing for a fading TV icon to do: head north and try to separate some gullible Canucks from their dollars. Unlike OWN, that seems to be an immense success:
TORONTO - Oprah Winfrey's travelling roadshow of dreamboards, mantras and spiritual reflection lands north of the border Monday as the embattled media maven rallies her hardcore Canuck fans.
The arrival of "Oprah's Lifeclass: The Tour" promises to share inspiring life lessons that have guided Winfrey herself, even as the daytime doyenne wrestles with ongoing questions over whether she can rescue her struggling specialty channel, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, from dismal ratings.
The fate of Winfrey's faltering channel is an ongoing question after a slew of upheavals rattled OWN to the core. In recent weeks, staff was slashed, back offices were restructured and Rosie O'Donnell's talk show was cancelled.
Since then, its beleaguered CEO has come out fighting. Winfrey announced a batch of new prime time series meant to invigorate viewership and has hit the road to do what she does best — talk.
And her Canuck following is listening.
Tickets for "Lifeclass" — also a TV series that will broadcast a Toronto show Monday on OWN — sold out in minutes, spurring organizers to add an early morning show that also sold out quickly.
Last week, online resellers offered tickets ranging in price from $100 to $1,599 each, depending on proximity to the spiritual guru known for encouraging viewers to "live your best life."...
Here's a tip--free of charge--for how to "live your best life": Don't waste your cash on travelling snake oil salesmen and other charlatans peddling elixirs, potions and "Lifeclasses."

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