TVSquad

If you need more proof that the economic collapse is the real thing -- you know, other than your shrinking salary, skyrocketing medical insurance premiums, inability to pay off your credit cards -- here's a major sign. Oprah Winfrey's decided not to do her annual Favorite Things show for the holiday season. That's right, after seven years of largesse, The Oprah Winfrey Show has canceled the funfest of goodies.

Huffington Post has learned exclusively that Favorite Things was scrapped. It used to be a Thanksgiving week staple. The reasons are unclear, but it would seem incongruous to celebrate expensive robes, top of the line chocolates, camcorders and the like when so many people are out of work and in financial straits.

Last year, the show consciously did a more modest edition of Favorite Things with homemade stuff and crafts. It was a thrifty variation, but it didn't hit the all-American need for greed button and wasn't a hit.

This is all about appearances, and even if Oprah filled the audience with worthy people, as she has in the past with Katrina survivors and teachers, it still wouldn't look good. Getting stuff when people need jobs and medical coverage isn't right. Not even the all powerful Oprah can figure a way to hand out full-time employment and medical coverage for life. And LCD TVs or body lotions aren't a replacement.

It's too bad, really, because even though those shows were pretty over the top -- with people in the audience screaming and crying with joy -- I always watched them. They were entertaining, even in their excess.