The Oprah Winfrey Show’s Most Memorable Moments

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Make Me Laugh

Winfrey nabbed Michael Jackson's first live TV interview in 14 years for a 1993 special at Neverland Ranch. She grilled him about his skin color and even asked if he was a virgin! (He didn't answer). Says Winfrey: "I thought I could be his friend."

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Let's Get Reading

Winfrey began her eponymous book club in 1996, inspiring readers to pick up a copy of The Deep End of the Ocean. Other book picks included Sidney Portier's autobiography The Measure of a Man and Toni Morrison's 1977 classic The Song of Solomon.

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Wildest Dreams

A huge Tina Turner fan, Winfrey fulfilled her wildest dream dancing with Turner in 1997.

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Time for the Ugly Tears

The host recreated the opening credits scene from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to open 1997's "Favorite Celebrity Women" episode. When Moore herself walked onstage, Winfrey squealed like a teenager, calling the visit "the surprise of a lifetime."

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Free Speech Wins

In 1998, an Amarillo, Texas, jury decided Winfrey did not harm the U.S. beef industry when broadcasting a 1996 show about mad cow disease.

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My Pal Mattie

Winfrey credits late poet and peacemaker Mattie Stepanek with keeping her show on the air. "When he spoke, I listened," Winfrey tells the June issue of O mag. "In May 2003, as I was in the throes of deciding to bring the show to an end, he was a singular force in changing my mind."

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Everybody Gets a Car!

Whether Winfrey was gifting popcorn or plane tickets (with EMTs on hand!), the audience exploded during giveaways such as Oprah's Favorite Things. Handing out 276 Pontiacs each worth $28,000 in 2004 "[was] the most fun I've ever had," Winfrey said.

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The Big 5-0

Stevie Wonder, John Travolta, Gayle King and Tina Turner feted Winfrey for her 50th birthday in 2004.

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Couch Jumping Good Time

"I'm in love! I'm in love!" Tom Cruise exclaimed in 2005 about then-girlfriend Katie Holmes while jumping wildly on his host's sofa. A surprised Winfrey remarked, "We've never seen you behave this way before." She later questioned his sincerity, telling Diane Sawyer, "I wasn't buying into it."

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TMI, Doc!

Thanks for sharing? Dr. Mehmet Oz gave the scoop on poop for a 2005 stool-themed show: "If it sounds like‚ "plop, plop, plop, you're constipated." "More people stop me about poop than Brad Pitt," Winfrey later said of the popular episode.

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To Tell the Truth

Thou shalt not lie to Oprah! In 2006, Winfrey put author James Frey in the hot seat after it was revealed that his memoir (and Oprah's Book Club pick) A Million Little Pieces was fiction. "You conned us!" she seethed. Winfrey offered a follow-up interview with Frey in May 2011.

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Road Trippin'

Over five episodes in 2006, Winfrey and King drove cross country in a red Chevrolet. Winfrey has called King, "the friend who everybody deserves."

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Meet the Osmonds

100 members of the extended showbiz Osmond family -- including Donny and Marie! -- reunited on The Oprah Show in 2007.

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Bust a Move

To kick off her 24th season in 2009, Winfrey joined a flash mob of 21,000 who danced to the Black Eyed Peas on Chicago's Michigan Avenue.

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The End of an Era

In November 2009, Winfrey revealed that her 25th season would be her last. "I'm not going away, I'm just changing," she told The New York Times of her thoughts on ending her run. "I'm just creating another platform for myself, which eventually will be wider and broader than what I have now."

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Live, From New York...

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of O Magazine in 2010, Winfrey welcomed experts Nate Berkus, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil and Suze Orman to appear on an episode filmed live at Radio City Music Hall.

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In a Land Down Under

Winfrey (here with BFF Gayle King) took 302 ultimate viewers on an 8-day Australian getaway in 2010.

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All in the Family

Revealing the bombshell secret that she had a half-sister named Patricia, Winfrey welcomed her sibling on the show in 2011. "I thought I'd seen it all," Winfrey teased about the discovery. "But this, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles."

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Star-Studded Send Off

Will Smith, Usher, Tom Hanks and Stevie Wonder were some of the dozens of stars who turned up at Chicago's United Center May 17, 2011 to fete Winfrey as part of Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular, which aired as her second and third-to-last shows.