Oprah Winfrey gave a fond farewell to her 25-year-running talk show Wednesday, telling her audience she had always wanted to be a teacher and "ended up in the world's biggest classroom."
Standing in front of a large screen that played highlights from "The Oprah Winfrey Show," she said her far-reaching success could only have been possible with her fans' support.
"It has been a privilege for me to talk to you in this studio, this country, and 150 countries around the world," she told her Chicago audience.
Winfrey arrived in the city in 1984, to join the local morning talk show, "A.M. Chicago." A month later the show had gone from third to first in the ratings, and a year later it was revamped under the banner "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
The rest, as they say, is syndicated history -- each chapter of which has been written in hour-long installments broadcast to audiences eager to spend their afternoons with Winfrey.
It's hard to pin down the secret of her appeal, but fans eagerly point to Winfrey's frank discussion of her own troubles -- from her childhood experience of sexual abuse, her rags-to-riches career trajectory, and even her struggles with weight -- as helping endear her to audiences.
Whatever the secret of her broad appeal, Winfrey's warm, informal style has endured the changes that have swept network television since her debut a quarter century ago.
In fact, Winfrey's popularity flourished to the point where her promotion of anything or anyone in line with her live-your-best-life philosophy was akin to receiving a "Midas touch."
From entertainers to entrepreneurs, authors to advisers and even presidential candidate Barack Obama in the run-up to the 2008 Democratic primary, anyone lucky enough to garner an Oprah endorsement found themselves catapulted to the top of their game.
And Winfrey enjoyed the fruits of her popularity too, as her earnings and influence consistently ranked the now-billionaire among the most powerful figures in the U.S. entertainment industry and even the most influential woman in the world.
So it was a rare treat for approximately 400 fans who descended on Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios in Chicago to attend the taping of her highly anticipated finale on Tuesday.
Unlike the star-studded lineups of the shows leading up to her final episode, the last edition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" featured a stage starkly adorned with a single chair.
Winfrey spent little time in the seat, however, as she regaled her audience with intimate, heartfelt recollections of her years as host of her award-winning, genre-defining show.
"When she came out, her appearance, the way she stepped on stage and the message she brought about finding yourself, your purpose, it was all about Oprah," audience member Wanda Nash told The Associated Press.
Another of the happy few who attended the final taping said Winfrey left with tears in her eyes.
"She said, 'This isn't goodbye. This is until we meet again," Amy Korin told AP, describing the show as filled with, "A lot of crying and hugs, crying and hugs."
Last week, 13,000 of the 154,000 fans who requested tickets were treated to a veritable A-list of Hollywood stars in a double-episode taping at Chicago's United Center.
Billed as "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular," the episodes broadcast on Monday and Tuesday featured such musical superstars as Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Madonna and Stevie Wonder, Hollywood legends Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith and fellow Chicago icon Michael Jordan.
In contrast to the celebrity extravaganza of her penultimate episodes, Winfrey's finale was a much lower-key affair, if no less heart-wrenching for her legions of loyal fans.
Oprah, who had a difficult upbringing in Mississippi and was sexually abused by a relative, said her audience had given her "safe harbour" in her troubled life.
"It is no coincidence that a lonely little girl who felt not a lot of love, even though my parents and grandparents did the best they could, it is no coincidence that I grew up to feel a genuine kindness, affection, trust and validation from millions of you all over the world," he said.
But the finale was not a farewell. Oprah is leaving Chicago for Santa Barbara, California, where she plans to run her eponymous cable channel OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.
While she won't be the face of every show on that network, she has promised to vet every one of its programs to ensure they fit with her wildly popular credo.
And fans disappointed that Oprah will no longer be coming into their living rooms with her unique brand of afternoon conversation won't have to suffer cold turkey. Reruns of the wildly successful 60-minute afternoon talk show are scheduled to air through the summer months.
With files from The Associated Press
