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.Joan Pringleand Ron Canada also recurred as Flex s parents who believed Flexshould exercise more control over his daughter.Duane (Kelly Perine)was Flex s buddy.Spirit (Sicily) was Breanna s best friend.ON OUR OWN (ABC, 1994 1995).This sitcom was unique in that sixmembers of one family played characters in it.The story line was thatseven children in one family had been orphaned when their parentswere killed in an auto accident.The oldest of the siblings, Josh (RalphLouis Harris), took care of the others, and when social workersshowed up, he donned a disguise as Aunt Jelcinda.The other brothersand sisters were played by the Smolletts: Jurnee Smollett (as Jordee),Jojo (as Jimi), Jazz (as Jai), Jussie (as Jesse), Jake (as Joc), and Jocqui(as Jarreau).T Keyah Crystal Keymah played Scotti, a boarder(1995).Roger Aaron Brown played the social worker.ON PROMISED LAND (DIS, April 17, 1994).This children s showwas the story of a young African-American boy and an elderly white OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD " 317woman who developed a friendship that impacted the lives of boththeir families.Norman D.Golden II was the boy; Joan Plowrightplayed the woman.ON STAGE WITH BARBARA MCNAIR (SYN, January 1970).Singer Barbara McNair headlined her own special with guestsDuke Ellington and Carlton Johnson.OPRAH AFTER THE SHOW (OXY, 2002 ).Oprah Winfrey con-versed with the studio audience, after her syndicated show was taped,in an unscripted, unrehearsed hour.She was said to be less guardedand more candid than she was on the big show, though the conver-sation might or might not be about the same subjects.OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: BEFORE WOMEN HADWINGS (ABC, November 3, 1997).This was the first of six TVfilms produced by Oprah Winfrey s Harpo Films under the bannerOprah Winfrey Presents.This film depicted a dysfunctional whitefamily in 1960s rural Florida.Ellen Barkin was the boozing mother;John Savage, the boozing father; Julia Stiles, the troubled teenagedaughter; and Tina Majorino, the spirited but innocent daughternamed Bird.Winfrey played Miss Zora, a nice lady who bonded withBird.The performances were widely praised by critics.Variety (No-vember 3, 1997) said, Clearly, this is a quality piece of work guidedby caring hands. OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: DAVID AND LISA (ABC, No-vember 1, 1998).Sidney Poitier starred in this TV film, a remake ofa 1962 film, about two emotionally disturbed youth aided by a com-passionate psychiatrist who runs a school for such teenagers.OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: THEIR EYES WERE WATCH-ING GOD (ABC, March 6, 2005).Halle Berry starred in this film,based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.The film centered onJanie Crawford, a beautiful black woman in the 1920s, and her searchfor love while experiencing both great success and heartbreak.Michael Ealy, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Ruby Dee also star. 318 " OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: THE WEDDINGOPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: THE WEDDING (ABC, Febru-ary 22 23, 1998).Halle Berry, Eric Thai, Lynn Whitfield, CarlLumbly, and Michael Warren starred in this two-part miniseries,which explored race and class in black society on Martha s Vine-yard in the 1950s.Berry was Shelby Coles, a debutante from anelite family who wanted to marry a poor white musician (Thai).Her socially significant parents (Whitfield and Warren) are ap-palled when they learned the groom s family refused to attend thewedding.Lumbly played the single father of mixed-race daugh-ters.Charles Burnett was director.Marianne Jean-Baptiste andCharlayne Woodard had key roles.See also INTERRACIALROMANCES/RELATIONSHIPS.OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE(ABC, December 5, 1999).Winfrey s company produced this dramastarring Jack Lemmon; it did not have a black theme but is significantin that it was an Oprah Winfrey production.OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, THE (SYN, 1986 ).The talk show(later titled Oprah!) starring Oprah Winfrey was launched nation-ally in 1986 and became the highest-rated daytime talk show in tele-vision history.In 1994, after talk shows began to concentrate on sen-sational subjects, Winfrey pledged to focus her show on uplifting,meaningful subjects.In 1996, she began Oprah s Book Club, a seg-ment of her show designed to get viewers excited about reading.Thesegment was successful, and each book selected as reading by thebook club became an instant best-seller.In 1997, the show launchedOprah s Angel Network, a campaign to encourage donations thatwere used for scholarships, Habitat for Humanity homes, and thebuilding of schools in 10 countries.In 1999, Winfrey won the Na-tional Book Foundation s 50th Anniversary Gold Medal for her in-fluence on reading and books.In 2003, she took gifts to thousands ofSouth African children orphaned by AIDS.She also began building12 schools in Africa, two in Afghanistan, and one in Mississippi fordisadvantaged girls.One of the most memorable shows was the first show of the1988 1989 season, when Winfrey, who had been on the Optifast dietduring the hiatus, wheeled out 67 pounds of fat in a wagon showing OSUNSAMI, STEVE " 319how much weight she had lost to get down to a size 10.It was afterthis weight loss that TV Guide s cover girl had Oprah s face and AnnMargaret s body.It was obvious to TV Guide readers that this was notOprah s body, thin as she was, and TV Guide admitted so later.Oprah s Pop Star Challenge, a singing competition, in the 2003 2004season, was designed to propel aspiring talented singers possiblyolder than the America Idol contestants into stardom.The winnerwas LaShell Griffin, who landed a contract with Epic Records.Forthe opening show of the 2004 2005 season, Oprah gave away new$28,000 Pontiacs to each of 276 members of the studio audience.Theseries and Winfrey have won numerous Emmy Awards.ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR, THE (CBS, ABC, NBC,1948 1960).This talent show hosted by Ted Mack is recognized inblack history primarily because it discovered a seven-year-old At-lanta girl with a big voice who grew up to be recording artist GladysKnight.A foreparent to shows like American Idol and Star Search,the winner was selected by viewers votes.In those days, votes wereentered by telephone calls and postcards.The show was done in whatis now the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, where, in lateryears, Late Night with David Letterman would be taped.Gladys hadto travel back and forth with her mother from Atlanta to New York bytrain because it took time for the votes to be counted.Singing Brahm s Lullaby and Because of You, she won three consecutiverounds and $2,000.ORIGINAL ROMPIN STOMPIN HOT AND HEAVY, COOLAND GROOVY ALL-STAR JAZZ SHOW, THE (CBS, April 13,1976).Dionne Warwick hosted this variety special.It was an hour-long history of jazz and featured the following musicians and singers:Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock,Max Roach, Joe Williams, Stan Getz, and Gerry Mulligan.ORMAN, ROSCOE.Orman was Gordon, one of the early cast mem-bers on Sesame Street.OSUNSAMI, STEVE.Osunsami joined ABC News in 1997.As a cor-respondent, his credits include reports on World News Tonight with 320 " OUT ALL NIGHTPeter Jennings and contributions to Nightline and Good MorningAmerica, ABC News radio, and other ABC broadcasts.OUT ALL NIGHT (NBC, 1992).Singer Patti LaBelle starred in this sit-com as Chelsea Page, a former singer who owned a hip nightclub, ClubChelsea
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