Oprah, Lance and coming OWN attractions.

Watched the first part of the Lance Armstrong summit meeting with Oprah Winfrey, and my heart hasn't softened as a result; he's still a jerk, but one who now carefully weighs words and parses some of them in the best Bill Clinton how-do-you-define-what-the-word-"is"-is fashion.

I don't intend to endure Part Two--where Lance goes into up-to-a-point detail about how his behavior impacted on family, Livestrong and what seemed to be infinite endorsement deals.

Now, let's proceed to the OWN program commercials.

Oprah's still trying to find the right mixture of high-minded and lowbrow: I saw ads for a Dallas policewomen show (intended to evoke Fox's COPS), an IYANLA promo which features her verbally taking down past-his-prime hip-hop star DMX, a commercial for a LEAN ON ME-esque reality series with a more--youthful-and-telegenic-than-Joe Clark protagonist and--finally--a special on S&M/bondage being packaged as suitably middle-of-the-road for America thanks to the mainstream success of the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY novels.

Not to mention a plug for a future Oprah exclusive with Drew Barrymore on the latter's new child--with the promo having Oprah ask Drew about past bisexuality in a clear context of "wild behavior you later have to explain to your kids."

Considering the alleged more-than-friends relationship between Oprah and Gayle King, this sort of inquiry dives into the deep end of the moral hypocrisy swimming pool.

Some random opinions following today's news about Anderson Cooper.

1. Regardless of timing, it's commendable that CNN's Anderson Cooper decided to join his lesser-known colleague Don Lemon (who came out awhile ago) and declare himself proudly gay in both his public and private lives.
2. The irony remains that Cooper works for an organization (Time Warner) which still is a prime mover in keeping certain gay celebrities tightly closeted--and publishing "he/she is straight with his/her supposedly-straight lover/spouse" fantasies for their print/web readership.
3. No comment about the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes divorce (of which a settlement has now been reached--announced Monday July 9th), except to say that it's interesting that it shares the same news cycle as Anderson Cooper's coming-out e-mail to THE ATLANTIC's Andrew Sullivan.
4. Regarding Number 3, it's safe to say that most closeted thespians will remain that way (as Time Warner's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY recently mentioned in a cover story, male celebs who are out aren't likely to be cast in straight romantic mainstream movies--or, likely, superhero/fantasy/action franchises, reinforcing a decades-old casting prejudice of the motion picture business)--unless they're outed or choose to out themselves late in their careers when their better days as money-earners in the Industry are behind them.

Oprah Winfrey will end THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW after 25 years in 2011.

Read Nikki Finke's blow-by-blow account of Oprah's decisionmaking, plus a comment Oprah allegedly made regarding Southern California vs. Chicago:
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood

THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW started out as an imitation of the interviews-plus-let-audience-ask-some-questions format which made Phil Donahue a success. And, in the early seasons, Oprah exuded an Everywoman appeal (at one point, the show used the song "I'm Every Woman" for its theme) which made it easy for audiences to identify with her.

As the years went on, Oprah became super-rich and the self-important, lording-it-over-everyone aspects of newfound superwealth permeated the show (with a low point being her on-air scolding of the Paris department store Hermes for apparently not knowing who she was). Also there was her tendency to lapse into a sort of vocalese (JUUUUULIIIIIA ROOOBBEEEERRRTTTSSS!)--with her delivery of the line "I'm having a Martha Moment!" (prior to Martha Stewart's jail time and her Mark Burnett-assisted comeback as a rival daytime host) being particularly memorable in the wrong way.

Having said that, the show had its moments of insight/watchable guests-and-experts over its two-plus decades. And, through the Book Club, viewers were exposed to both writers they weren't familiar with plus great novels they may not have read otherwise.

So let's see what the Discovery-affiliated Oprah Winfrey Network will offer longtime fans/newcomers in 2011.