NEW YORK (AP) – Oprah Winfrey wants to give an undiscovered talent a chance to follow in her footsteps on her new cable network. The talk show host is teaming up with reality TV producer Mark Burnett on a show searching for the next big TV personality.
"Your Own Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star" will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network beginning in January, the same month of OWN's launch. Winfrey is ending "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in September 2011 after 25 seasons.
"The landscape and acceptance of ordinary people on television is widely accepted... Much in the way 'American Idol' finds unknown people (to be recording stars) there's no reason we can't find someone who deserves their own show," he said.
Aspiring hosts can upload videos to Oprah.com under categories like traditional talk show, cooking, health and wellness, and interior design. It's possible to also watch and vote on submitted videos. In-person casting calls are happening this month in Atlanta, Dallas, and Orange County, California. More>>
"The Big Buddha show." Have a large woman, preferably someone domineering and ruled by ego, listen to public relations consultants and entertainment executives about telling people how to get rich, lose weight, gain weight, and anything else that sells ad time. She'll drop weight and pack it back on according to the rating charts. If worse comes to worse, she might even mention the Dharma. Yes, and you guessed it, we aren't crazy about Oprah. But we are crazy about you getting your own show instead of watching her. So submit a video.