TVSquad

... one great TV moment.

2008 was filled with great TV moments, more than most years. So when I asked the TV Squad crew what they thought the greatest moment this year was, I got a lot of responses: the Fey / Palin "summit" on SNL, Letterman going off an an absent John McCain, any of Michael Phelps' Olympic victories, the spectacular opening ceremonies in Beijing, the finale of The Shield, any of the Presidential / VP debates, the Giants' upset of the Pats in the Super Bowl, and probably more that I can't even think of right now.

But they all seemed small in comparison to what happened in the late-night hours of Election Day, when Barack Obama got up in front of a crowd in Chicago's Grant Park and gave his acceptance speech. No matter what you think of Obama or his politics, it was a historic moment, and not just because Obama had just been elected the first African-American president. But the reason why it's the best TV moment of 2008 is because... well, moments like this don't happen that much anymore, do they?

We've all seen the picture of Oprah Winfrey leaning on the shoulder of a man while watching Barack Obama's speech in Grant Park after being elected President on Tuesday night.

If you're like me, you just assumed that he was a friend of hers and she was leaning on him for support, but Oprah said on her show the day after the election that he was actually a stranger. They were just standing next to each other, and she decided to lean on him (as Jon Stewart noted the other night, couldn't Oprah get a better place to stand, considering that she's, you know, Oprah?).

Now the guy has been invited on her show. His name is Sam Perry, and he's a consultant. Oprah is going to have him as a guest on her show later today (in some markets, the show has already aired).

I think he is now officially one of Oprah's Favorite Things.