Oprah's Book Club (TV series)

Last updated
Oprah's Book Club
Genre Talk show
Based on Oprah's Book Club
segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show
Presented by Oprah Winfrey
Opening theme"Good As Hell" by Lizzo
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer Tara Montgomery
Producer Lindsay Flader
Editor Jay Eckensberger
Running time8–66 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Apple TV+
ReleaseNovember 1, 2019 (2019-11-01) –
October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22) [1]
Related
Oprah's Book Club
segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show

Oprah's Book Club is a television talk show produced for Apple TV+ and hosted by Oprah Winfrey.

Contents

Development and announcement

On June 15, 2018, Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Winfrey, saying she would work on projects to be "released as part of a lineup of original content from Apple.". [2] [3]

On March 25, 2019 Apple hosted keynote event at its California campus to announce the new Apple TV+ subscription service. [4] Winfrey appeared onstage to conclude the event, announcing that she would be producing two documentary series, as well launching a "book club" in partnership with Apple. During her announcement, Winfrey indicated the book club project may include a simulcast element at Apple's retail locations "where Apple Stores stream a conversation with the author and me live across all devices, across all borders". [5]

On September 23, 2019 in a press release, Apple announced the series would be titled Oprah's Book Club, would stream exclusively on Apple TV+, and would premiere with the streaming service's launch on November 1, 2019. [6]

Premise

The series is a standalone spinoff of the popular Oprah's Book Club segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show , begun in 1996 and marks its first return to the television medium since the 2011 conclusion of Winfrey's television show. It is also a successor to Oprah's Book Club 2.0 , a non-televised and irregularly-released online iteration of the reading series launched in 2012. [7]

Episodes are released every two months, with each episode focused on a single book and featuring an interview between Winfrey and the book's author. Episodes are filmed at various locations. [6] Each episode's book pick is announced at the end of the previous episode, as well as a dedicated section [ permanent dead link ‍] on Apple Books and on Oprah's website. [8] Episodes are typically filmed in front of a live audience and feature an interview between Winfrey and the selected book's author.

Merchandising and tie-ins

Along with the announcement of the show, Apple announced that Oprah's Book Club would integrate with Apple Books by allowing users of the e-reading application to be alerted of new picks, and that Apple would make an unspecified contribution to the American Library Association for each Oprah Book Club selection sold via Apple Books. [6]

As with the two previous iterations of the Club, the selection of a book by Winfrey typically results in the publication of an "Oprah edition", often with a branded "Oprah's Book Club" seal on the book's cover. [9]

Winfrey's September 2019 pick of The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates marked the first time in the Oprah Book Club's three iterations a book had been selected as a pick prior to its publication (in this case, one day prior).[ citation needed ] Thus, all published editions of The Water Dancer currently in circulation feature an "Oprah's Book Club 2019" seal.

Episodes

No. in
season		Book  [10] AuthorOriginal release date  [10]
1 The Water Dancer Ta-Nehisi Coates November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
2 Olive, Again Elizabeth Strout January 17, 2020 (2020-01-17)
3 American Dirt Part 1 Jeanine Cummins March 6, 2020 (2020-03-06)
4 American Dirt Part 2 Jeanine Cummins March 6, 2020 (2020-03-06)
5 Hidden Valley Road Robert Kolker June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
6 Deacon King Kong James McBride July 31, 2020 (2020-07-31)
7 Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents Isabel Wilkerson October 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
8 Gilead Marilynne Robinson April 23, 2021 (2021-04-23)
9 Home Marilynne RobinsonApril 30, 2021 (2021-04-30)
10 Lila Marilynne RobinsonMay 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
11 Jack Marilynne RobinsonMay 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)
12 The Sweetness of Water Nathan Harris July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23)
13 The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois Honorée Fanonne Jeffers September 23, 2021 (2021-09-23)
14 Bewilderment Richard Powers October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22)

References

  1. ↑ Italie, Hillel (February 8, 2022). "Winfrey's new book club pick is by lifestyle coach Beck". AP News. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Apple announces multi-year partnership with Oprah Winfrey". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  3. ↑ Deb, Sopan (2018-06-15). "Apple and Oprah Winfrey Sign a Content Deal". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  4. ↑ "Highlights from Apple's keynote event". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  5. ↑ Apple Special Event: March 25, 2019 (Live recording). Apple, Inc. 104 minutes in.
  6. 1 2 3 "Oprah's Book Club starts a new chapter with Apple". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  7. ↑ Ifeanyi, K. C. (2019-09-23). "Oprah's Book Club is coming to Apple TV+, kicking off with Ta-Nehisi Coates's 'The Water Dancer'". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  8. ↑ Spangler, Todd (2019-09-23). "Oprah Sets First Book-Club Pick for New Apple TV Plus Series". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  9. ↑ "Oprah's logo is a no go for novelist". the Guardian. 2001-10-28. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  10. 1 2 "Oprah's Book Club - Episode Info". Apple TV+ Press. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.