(CNN) — There will be no more car giveaways, no more tearful interviews and Tom Cruise will have to find someone else’s couch to jump on.
Friends and fans alike are mourning the impending loss of Oprah Winfrey’s syndicated talk show in 2011, sharing the sentiment that it will be very difficult to fill the Queen of Media’s high heels.
Fellow talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who appeared on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine’s December issue with Winfrey, broke the news to her in-studio audience at the taping of Thursday’s show that she had received a personal phone call from Winfrey about the announcement. DeGeneres told her audience that she could not have achieved her own personal success if Winfrey hadn’t been such a trailblazer before her.
“I don’t think I could be here without her. I think she has blazed a trail. … She is an amazing woman. She will always be the queen of daytime television,” DeGeneres said. “She is an amazing woman. I love her and we’ve gotten very close over this ridiculous idea that I had of getting on the cover of O.”
“Oprah” contributor Lisa Ling said she was surprised to find out about the talk show host’s decision to end the show. The show’s staff called her before the announcement broke in order to give her a heads up. Ling, who has worked on segments for Winfrey about bride-burning and child trafficking, said there isn’t a television personality out there who will be able to take her place.
“I don’t think anyone can fill Oprah’s shoes,” Ling said. “Really, she’s someone who has maintained such incredible integrity throughout her career and that’s the thing that I admire the most of her. I mean, she hasn’t allowed herself to deviate and I’m really proud of her for that.”
Actress Elizabeth Reaser concurred at the New York premiere of “New Moon,” saying, “no one could fill her shoes.”
The “Oprah Winfrey Effect” extended far beyond her interviewing prowess and camaraderie with fans. The Oprah Book Club she founded in 1996 has become a powerhouse in publishing, able to turn even the most obscure new titles and forgotten classics into instant bestsellers.
“The show totally changed the way people viewed books over my decades in publishing. A book that may have sold 11,000 copies would sell 511,000 copies after Oprah talked about it,” Friedman said. “Oprah gave people permission to read. These were people who didn’t read before. I don’t know what is going to happen in traditional publishing with Oprah not being there.”
The millions of mourners worldwide will just have to remember that the “Oprah” legacy will live on in a different format. Winfrey will premiere the Oprah Winfrey Network, a partnership with Discovery Communications, in January 2011.
Editor’s note: Good Heavens! She’s not dead, she just got a better contract.
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