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Chicago - Oprah Winfrey has given the world 25 years of poets and politicians, A-list actors and musicians and talk show topics that defined and reflected American culture.
As The Oprah Winfrey Show ends, with 16 episodes left as of May 4, her millions of fans around the globe are waiting to see how she will close out a show that engineered a media empire.
Winfrey's producers plan a star-studded, double taping on May 17 at Chicago's United Centre. The shows will air May 23 and 24, as Winfrey's second and third-to-last episodes.
The show is dubbed Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular. Winfrey hates surprises, producers say, but she has agreed to this event.
Farewell messages
But for fans, questions remain.
Who will be at the United Centre that Tuesday night? Who will be beamed in by satellite or deliver a taped farewell message?
Winfrey has a stable of celebrity friends who have appeared repeatedly on her talk show. John Travolta. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Jennifer Aniston. Chris Rock.
Could the Black Eyed Peas perform, as they did when Winfrey shut down Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 2009?
Then there are the presidents and world leaders: Bill Clinton; George W Bush; Nelson Mandela. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have already appeared on a special show that aired on Monday.
And Winfrey has other well-respected friends who could be possibilities: Maya Angelou; Sidney Poitier; Barbara Walters. Not to mention Winfrey's protégés, who she fostered to their own television stardom, such as Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and Nate Berkus.
Lottery
It has the makings for a major cultural event, said Bill Carroll, expert on the daytime television market for Katz Television in New York.
"It's going to be the top-of-the-top of anybody who is available to go to Chicago on that day," Carroll said. "It's going to be talked about and talked about and watched and talked about."
Harpo Productions received more than 154 000 ticket requests for seats to the event - the United Centre's capacity is about 20 000. There was a lottery for seats.
"For a national, international audience that's a small number," said Marianne Jennings, an Arizona State University professor who has researched the ticket industry for decades.
Johnny Carson
Tickets for the Chicago taping could be even more coveted than seats for the Super Bowl or World Series, she said.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event," Jennings said. "There's something that grips us about that. It's something about being there with the crowd, being there for history."
And Winfrey's talk show history is anything but small: 30 000 guests, 4 500 episodes and 283 items named her "favourite things" in the famous annual giveaway.
A model to look to would be Johnny Carson's final episode as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, Carroll said: There were no guests and after his traditional monologue Carson showed a montage of past shows.
"For the better part of the end of the show he sat there on a stool and just talked directly to people at home," Carroll said. "That had so much class to it."
As The Oprah Winfrey Show ends, with 16 episodes left as of May 4, her millions of fans around the globe are waiting to see how she will close out a show that engineered a media empire.
Winfrey's producers plan a star-studded, double taping on May 17 at Chicago's United Centre. The shows will air May 23 and 24, as Winfrey's second and third-to-last episodes.
The show is dubbed Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular. Winfrey hates surprises, producers say, but she has agreed to this event.
Farewell messages
But for fans, questions remain.
Who will be at the United Centre that Tuesday night? Who will be beamed in by satellite or deliver a taped farewell message?
Winfrey has a stable of celebrity friends who have appeared repeatedly on her talk show. John Travolta. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Jennifer Aniston. Chris Rock.
Could the Black Eyed Peas perform, as they did when Winfrey shut down Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 2009?
Then there are the presidents and world leaders: Bill Clinton; George W Bush; Nelson Mandela. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have already appeared on a special show that aired on Monday.
And Winfrey has other well-respected friends who could be possibilities: Maya Angelou; Sidney Poitier; Barbara Walters. Not to mention Winfrey's protégés, who she fostered to their own television stardom, such as Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and Nate Berkus.
Lottery
It has the makings for a major cultural event, said Bill Carroll, expert on the daytime television market for Katz Television in New York.
"It's going to be the top-of-the-top of anybody who is available to go to Chicago on that day," Carroll said. "It's going to be talked about and talked about and watched and talked about."
Harpo Productions received more than 154 000 ticket requests for seats to the event - the United Centre's capacity is about 20 000. There was a lottery for seats.
"For a national, international audience that's a small number," said Marianne Jennings, an Arizona State University professor who has researched the ticket industry for decades.
Johnny Carson
Tickets for the Chicago taping could be even more coveted than seats for the Super Bowl or World Series, she said.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event," Jennings said. "There's something that grips us about that. It's something about being there with the crowd, being there for history."
And Winfrey's talk show history is anything but small: 30 000 guests, 4 500 episodes and 283 items named her "favourite things" in the famous annual giveaway.
A model to look to would be Johnny Carson's final episode as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, Carroll said: There were no guests and after his traditional monologue Carson showed a montage of past shows.
"For the better part of the end of the show he sat there on a stool and just talked directly to people at home," Carroll said. "That had so much class to it."
