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The big meet-up:
Oprah and Sarah Palin


Will sparks fly when the two women sit down?

Nov 16, 2009

This has the potential of being an extremely awkward edition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Today Winfrey chats up Sarah Palin, the erstwhile Republican vice presidential candidate, on her syndicated show.

The awkward part is that Oprah very publicly and very vocally endorsed Palin's rival for the White House, Barack Obama, who eventually won. Winfrey was even credited with helping him earn that victory, as her followers tend to buy, do or mimic whatever she says.

It will be interesting to see if there's any underlying tension then when Winfrey questions Palin, the former governor of Alaska, on her new autobiography, "Going Rogue: An American Life." In a clip posted last week on YouTube to promote the appearance, both women said cheerfully that things were just dandy between them, but that's hardly a surprising claim. That's what everyone says before a big show.

Palin's appearance is her first major interview since resigning the governorship earlier this year, and it reportedly touches on many of the issues she addresses in the book: her teenage daughter's pregnancy, her relationship with running mate John McCain, and that disastrous interview with Katie Couric, which Palin says she knew was trouble as soon as it finished.

The interview comes just days after reports surfaced that Winfrey will be leaving syndication for her own cable network in 2011. While her ratings have fallen over recent years, hers remains by far the highest-rated talk show on television, drawing an average 7 million viewers per day.

She also gets the best guests.

She began the season with an interview of Whitney Houston, which pulled big ratings, and she even hosted fellow talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who competes with Oprah in some markets, earlier this season.


A look at this week’s top TV draws

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Time

Network

Program

Description

8 p.m.

Fox

“House” (D)

House has his license back, and he wants to form a medical dream team.

8 p.m.

CW

“One Tree Hill” (D)

Brooke tells Julian she’s not comfortable with his relationship with Alex.

8:30 p.m.

ESPN

“Monday Night Football” (S)

The Ravens take on the lowly Browns in Cleveland.

9 p.m.

CBS

“Two and a Half Men” (C)

Charlie might have trouble controlling himself when Chelsea’s college roommate moves in.

9 p.m.

USA

“WWE Monday Night Raw” (S)

Wrestling legend Roddy Piper guests.

10 p.m.

NBC

“The Jay Leno Show” (T)

Taylor Lautner and Heather Locklear guest.

10 p.m.

CBS

“CSI: Miami” (D)

The CSIs look into what caused a mysterious car crash.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Time

Network

Program

Description

7 a.m.

NBC

“Today” (N)

Sandra Bullock and James Patterson both guest.

8 p.m.

CBS

“NCIS” (D)

A blackout forces the crew to used old-fashioned detective work without technology. What will McGee do?

8 p.m.

ABC

“V” (D)

One hundred diplomatic visas are handed out to the American Visitors.

8 p.m.

ESPN

“College Basketball” (S)

Good early-season game between Gonzaga and Michigan State.

9 p.m.

CBS

“NCIS: Los Angeles” (D)

A militia group commits murder and steals a missile.

10 p.m.

FX

“Sons of Anarchy” (D)

Chibs makes a deal with Agent Stahl that could protect his wife and daughter.

10 p.m.

ESPN

“College Basketball” (S)

Another good one, this time between Kansas and Memphis.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18

Time

Network

Program

Description

8 p.m.

CW

America’s Next Top Model” (R)

Season finale. The final two shoot a cosmetics commercial and the winner is selected.

9 p.m.

ABC

“Modern Family” (C)

Edward Norton guests as one of Claire and Phil’s favorite musicians.

9 p.m.

CBS

“Criminal Minds” (D)

The team looks for someone who’s killing entire families.

9 p.m.

Fox

“Glee” (C)

The glee club is split into couples for a ballad.

10 p.m.

ABC

“In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts” (N)

Roberts interviews Janet Jackson.

10 p.m.

CBS

“CSI: NY” (D)

A body is found, and it appears to be the work of the Compass Killer.

10 p.m.

FX

“Nip/Tuck” (D)

Julia’s mother wants custody of Annie and Connor.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19

Time

Network

Program

Description

7 a.m.

ABC

“Good Morning America” (N)

Shakira visits and performs.

7 p.m.

ESPN2

“College Basketball” (S)

California plays Syracuse at Madison Square Garden in New York.

8 p.m.

CW

“Vampire Diaries” (D)

Elena’s relationship with Stefan is affected by something she discovers.

9 p.m.

ABC

“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)

Bailey’s dad visits for the holidays, and he doesn’t like how she lives her life.

9 p.m.

NBC

“The Office” (C)

Michael, Andy, Dwight and Oscar attend a shareholders meeting in New York.

10 p.m.

Lifetime

“Project Runway” (R)

Season finale. The final three showcase their collections at Fashion Week, and a winner is picked.

10 p.m.

ABC

“Private Practice” (D)

Must be daddy issues night on ABC: Addison ’s father makes an appearance, but she isn’t exactly happy about it.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20

Time

Network

Program

Description

8 p.m.

CBS

“Ghost Whisperer” (D)

The ghost of a young girl who died from leukemia becomes friends with Aiden.

8 p.m.

NBC

“Law & Order” (D)

Lupo and Bernard look into an armed robbery at an elderly man’s shop.

8 p.m.

ESPN

“NBA Basketball” (S)

The Magic versus the Celtics in an Eastern Conference battle.

9 p.m.

CBS

“Medium” (D)

Is this episode sponsored by Lenscrafters? Allison is forced to wear sunglasses when her eyes become sensitive to light.

9 p.m.

USA

“Monk” (D)

Monk finds a challenge in trying to track down a serial killer.

10 p.m.

Starz

“Crash” (D)

Seth, Kenny and Bo get trapped during a power outage.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Time

Network

Program

Description

11 a.m.

ABC

“College Football” (S)

Most will likely see the big rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio State, which isn't quite as big now that Michigan isn't quite as good.

7:30 p.m.

Versus

“College Football” (S)

And the band is on the field! Cal takes on Stanford.

8 p.m.

Fox

“Cops” (R)

Cops in Oklahoma chase a carjacker, but on foot.

8 p.m.

ABC

“College Football” (S)

Teams TBD, but most could end up seeing a good one between Oregon and Arizona.

8:30 p.m.

Nickelodeon

“True Jackson, VP” (K)

True asks out a boy she likes but gets rejected.

11:30 p.m.

NBC

“Saturday Night Live” (C)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosts and Dave Matthews Band performs.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22

Time

Network

Program

Description

3:15 p.m.

ABC

“NASCAR Racing” (S)

The final race of the season, the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

8 p.m.

Fox

“The Simpsons” (C)

Jonah Hill plays one of Springfield Elementary’s all-time pranksters.

8 p.m.

ABC

“American Music Awards” (A)

Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson and Eminem are all slated to perform at the 37th annual event.

8:15 p.m.

NBC

“NFL Football” (S)

The Eagles take on the suddenly reeling Bears in Chicago.

8:30 p.m.

ESPN

“MLS Soccer” (S)

The MLS Cup championship game from Seattle.

9 p.m.

HBO

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (C)

Season finale. Larry returns a favor but then doesn’t get to spend time with Cheryl.

9 p.m.

Fox

“Family Guy” (C)

Peter and the guys try to replace Cleveland with a guy named Jerome.

A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.



Louisa Ada Seltzer is a staff writer for Media Life.




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