OK, I admit it. Ever since I started teaching 10 years ago and found myself home some days at 4pm, I have been watching Oprah. When I could no longer stand Judge Judy shouting “Shut up!” or “You’re not too bright!”, I turned to Oprah for after-work wind-down. We teachers go to the local watering-hole after school on Fridays, so on the other days I took my test-papers and lesson-plans home with Oprah as my background noise. And now that I am home on disability, I tend to put her show on every afternoon. When she’s not tooting her own horn about her philanthropic activities, or touting her “favorite things” that most of us can’t afford, her show can be enjoyable and educational.

Oprah tapes in Chicago, but for her first few season-openers in the Big Apple. Don’t try to get tickets, though. They’re all gone. 6,000 tickets were gone in 6 hours and her website crashed from all the Oprah-maniacs requesting tickets online. Because, after all, she may never tape in New York again, even if her best friend and Oh! Magazine editor Gayle King is based here.

So, The Great Oprah will conquer New York City for a few days. And thousands of viewers will walk away with those coveted goodie-bags. And although I wish were one of them, alas, I didn’t have enough persistence (and no connections) to get a ticket.