TVSquad

There had been lots of speculation that Oprah Winfrey was going to be giving up on her juggernaut of a syndicated talk show soon, but many of those rumors had been dismissed as negotiating ploys or some other silly rumor. Now, however, it seems like Oprah's departure from daytime is official: Tim Bennett, president of Harpo, confirmed that Oprah will announce on her show tomorrow that she will be ending the program on September 9, 2011.

Not coincidentally, that date is the day after the 25th anniversary of her first nationally-syndicated episode, and she'll mark the anniversary on her last show. Bennett told WCCO that this decision was under discussion for months, but the decision ultimately came down to the big O herself.

Oprah Winfrey is all over the news these days as she fires up her new network and considers moving her talk show from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Now, we get to listen to her narrate the epic BBC nature series, Life. Subtitled by the BBC with, "The Definitive Exploration of the Adaptability and Diversity of Life on Earth," the eleven-part series examines evolution and the behaviors that animals devised to live, thrive and survive. Discovery Channel is bringing it your way in March after Oprah vocalizes a bit.

I know the BBC has done this sort of thing before. In fact, no one does it better. But this time around, they're using state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques.

But why is Oprah necessary? I have nothing particularly against the woman. Despite her massive media pull, I manage to more or less steer clear of her estrogen fest. But, the BBC production comes pre-narrated with world-famous naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. Is over-dubbing necessary?

Apparently, Jennifer Aniston has been hanging out with Chelsea Handler a lot. She's so impressed with Chelsea Lately and the format of her show, that she's found a reason to come back to the small screen. Aniston mentioned it to Oprah Winfrey, who took the idea and ran with it.

See, Oprah is launching The Oprah Winfrey Network in 2010. Now, suddenly, she could have a very high-profile project to help promote the new channel: a weekly talk show fronted by both Winfrey and Aniston. I've always found Aniston to be very friendly, funny and personable, so this could work out very well.

It's an interesting pairing, Oprah and Jen. I'm curious to see if the new venture will be formatted like a traditional late-night talk show, or more like the daytime staple Winfrey has mastered. I have a feeling Oprah will want to differentiate the two a bit more. Perhaps with Aniston's influence, there'll be a much more playful and comedic atmosphere. What do you think? Nothing's been signed yet, but would you watch Oprah and Jen helm a talk show?

Kirstie Alley is coming back to the small screen and Oprah's got her. Harpo Productions has signed Alley for future TV projects. It could be a sitcom like Fat Actress, it could be a talk show, like the one she shopped around last year, but in whatever format, Harpo will be behind it. One definite possibility would be for Kirstie to appear in a show on OWN, the new Oprah Winfrey Network, which used to be Discovery Health Channel.