Over the years, Oprah Winfrey has made a name for herself by surprising her viewers with revelations and awesome gifts, often quite loudly and with great fanfare. Now, it seems to be her turn to receive a shocking surprise. You get a long-lost secret sister, and you get a long-lost secret sister! And a pashmina wrap.

While most people watched the premiere of Piers Morgan Tonight and asked themselves questions like “Will this save CNN?” and “Is Morgan a worthy successor to Larry King?”, Glenn Beck took a different tact. He wanted to know if Oprah Winfrey was secretly a Tea Partier. He laid out the evidence on his radio show this morning.

With so much hype leading up to last night’s debut of Piers Morgan Tonight, it was almost inevitable the first show would prove–to some–a bit of a letdown. And sure enough, critics are finding plenty to talk about. In The New York Times, Alessandra Stanley argues the show’s promos–particularly the way the opening-night interview of Oprah Winfrey was sold–didn’t quite deliver.

After months of buildup, CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight launched tonight with little fanfare, few fireworks, and a focus on one thing: showcasing the host’s ability to inject new life into the hour-long interview.

Piers Morgan had Oprah Winfrey as his first subject, and while Oprah’s been unusually available ahead of her own cable channel launch, Morgan did his best to break new ground.

Right now, the annual Press Tour is going on for the Television Critics Association and this year is the first appearance by OWN (non-coincidentally, it’s also the first year OWN’s existed). That brought Oprah Winfrey and, if your favorite TV critics seem out of sorts this morning, give them a break.

Now that we are just one day removed from the much buzzed about debut of Oprah Winfrey‘s new network OWN, it’s time for the critical reviews to start rolling in. Already one critique is that the network is a “missed opportunity”, but some other early reviews are much more positive: “OWN is a place where [...]

On the CBS broadcast of the 33rd annual Kennedy Center Honors, Oprah Winfrey was one of the honorees to receive recognition from fellow celebrities. Oprah pal John Travolta and Barbara Walters provided some harmless remarks, but luckily comedian Chris Rock arrived on the scene to offer some uncomfortably hilarious jabs at both the “most powerful person in the world” and the guy sitting next to her (Barack Obama).

In a cover story in this Sunday’s PARADE Magazine, Oprah Winfrey talks about leaving her hugely successful daytime talk show Oprah for the risky venture of starting a new cable network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN: “This is a gamble I’m taking.”

Winfrey says the lure to go ahead and take the risk comes in part from a belief that most of cable television is lousy, and that–if things work as she hopes when OWN launches January 1–she can change that:

Bill Maher, host of HBO‘s Real Time, and notorious religious nonbeliever, taped a harsh and hilarious “Christmas message” for his website that served as a damning critique of all Americans and of the one media figure most are too scared to attack: Oprah Winfrey. Calling Oprah’s “Favorite Things” episode “one of the most deeply disturbing things I’ve ever seen on television” was just the beginning of Maher’s memorably “cheerful” message.

HLN’s red-hot morning host Robin Meade will pick up an additional and ultra high profile gig in the New Year: she’s helping launch Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN.

The Oprah Winfrey Network debuts January 1 amid great secrecy–and some reports of last-minute shakeups behind the scenes–and the first big project is a series of “Ask Oprah’s All Stars” specials, beginning January 2 at 8 p.m. The specials, moderated by Meade and Oprah BFF Gayle King, will serve to introduce OWN’s roster of stars:

The New York Times devoted a lengthy Sunday feature today to the upcoming January 1 launch of Oprah Winfrey‘s new cable TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Winfrey is the first ever talk show host to go on to launch her own network, and thus is attracting plenty of skepticism from critics about whether the network can be as successful as her long-running ABC talk show.

So what will Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN–set to launch January first–look like? The Oprah Winfrey Network released a sneak peak video today, and it contains a lot of familiar faces from Oprah’s long-running daytime TV show, including Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.

The details are still mostly under wraps, with only tiny tidbits being hinted at in the 72-second teaser video. Oprah says “this is it,” and Sarah, Duchess of York says “it’s great… it’s exciting to be part of OWN.”

In her recent hour-long interview with Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey revealed that she’s still one of President Obama‘s number one fans. “I think it’s unfortunate when you have a nation of people who don’t want to support the president of the United States,” she said, adding that she doesn’t think Americans realize how much worse the recession could have been if not for Obama’s actions. Oprah was a lot less open, however, when it came to expressing her opinion of another polarizing political figure: Sarah Palin.

It was a packed night for Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor: first he welcomed Rep. Charles Rangel, fresh off several ethics convictions, on the program (more on that later), and later spoke to Barbara Walters, promoting her “10 Most Fascinating people of 2010″ special. Chief among the topics of discussion: Walters’ recent interview with Oprah Winfrey; specifically, Oprah’s emotional discussion of her own sexual orientation.

Oh, man, is this funny. Last night, Conan O’Brien showed a little video highlighting how a special “Favorite Things” episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show could go horribly wrong and it is hilarious. So hilarious that I can’t really write anything else because I don’t want to give away the joke. But I need a full introductory paragraph so… Everyone excited about turkey? That’s good.

It’s like the moon landing of expensive free things: Oprah Winfrey is about to have air her final Favorite Things episode ever.

It is now confirmed the show will air Friday, so set your DVRs and get ready to have your mind blown.

Watching Oprah‘s show tomorrow might make you flash back to your childhood—specifically, the days when you stayed home sick from school and spent the afternoon channel surfing. That’s because the Queen of All Media will be welcoming a very special slate of guest stars: former talk show hosts Phil Donahue, Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake and Montel Williams.

Former President George W. Bush isn’t just talking with Matt Lauer next week – he’s sitting with Oprah Winfrey as well.

Besides the fact that it should be huge for book sales, the former President also talks about the current political climate, his picks for 2012 and more.

Perhaps inspired by all the ‘bitch’-ing that’s been going on network TV these days courtesy of Joy Behar, Oprah Winfrey told the audience at Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference in California yesterday that there will be no “tearing people down” on her new OWN network.

Wow. Just wow. NMA has officially outdone themselves. In creating a video detailing the Rally to Restore Sanity, the Taiwanese darlings of the blogosphere have made something that looks like they just animated the inside of Glenn Beck’s head.

Oprah Winfrey is going to interview former President George W. Bush to coincide with next month’s release of his memoir Decision Points. Bush last appeared on Oprah back in 2000 when he was running for president. According to the New York Times the interview is set to air on November 9.

In 1993, Ellie Nesler shot dead the man who had molested her son in a courtroom. While the molester was now gone, so was Nesler to her children, her son Willie and his younger sister Rebecca. Willie is now in jail for his own murder conviction, seeing little of his sister. On special assignment for Oprah, NBC Chief Legal Analyst and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams accompanied Rebecca to the California jail where her brother is currently incarcerated.

Though Oprah Winfrey is currently filming the final season of her syndicated talk show (she tapes the last episode, which will air on September 9, 2011, next May), the Queen of All Media will not go gentle into any good night. Her new TV network, OWN, is launching on January 1, 2011—and in addition to having complete creative control over the channel, Winfrey has committed to appearing on OWN for 70 hours each year.

Last night during his interview with Jon Stewart — a recent Oprah guest — Letterman revealed the true reason the two had been feuding all those years.

Glenn Beck has landed the cover of the New York Times Magazine. If there is a greater measure of mainstream acceptance in the media I can’t think of what it is, other than perhaps a full hour on Oprah. Here’s the highlights.