Oprah Winfrey wants to give someone else a chance to follow in her footsteps on her new cable network.

The talk show host is teaming up with reality TV producer Mark Burnett — the man behind such shows as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” — on a show searching for the next big TV personality. “Your Own Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star” will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Aspiring hosts can upload audition videos to Oprah.com. In-person casting calls are happening this month in Atlanta, Dallas and Orange County, Calif.

“Your Own Show” is scheduled to premiere in January. The show’s host has yet to be announced.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Talk show host Oprah Winfrey must defend a defamation suit over remarks she made about a headmistress at her girls’ school in South Africa after a sex-abuse scandal erupted there, a U.S. judge ruled.

The case is now set for trial on March 29 in Philadelphia.

Judge Eduardo Robreno refused to dismiss the suit in a decision Monday, ruling that former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane has enough evidence to pursue her defamation claims against the media mogul. Winfrey made the remarks in 2007 after the complaints surfaced at the $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, near Johannesburg. Read the full story

NEW YORK (AP) — Super Bowl viewers were rubbing their eyes at the sight of a TV spot pairing CBS late-night host David Letterman with longtime NBC archrival Jay Leno, plus media magnate Oprah Winfrey.

Appearing early in the CBS-aired game Sunday, the ad depicted Letterman and Leno glumly sharing a couch watching the Super Bowl, with Winfrey seated between them trying to make peace. Read the full story

Sarah Palin’s 19-year old daughter appeared on Friday’s Oprah show and confirmed her pledge of abstinence.

In a recent In Touch magazine interview Bristol said, “I’m not going to have sex until I’m married. I can guarantee it.”

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Oprah Winfrey began her show in 1984 as 'A.M. Chicago', before it was changed to 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' a year later. (AP)

Oprah Winfrey was set to announce Friday that her powerhouse daytime television show, the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire with legions of fans, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air.

Winfrey planned to announce the final date for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” during a live broadcast, according to her production company, Harpo Productions Inc.

Once a local Chicago morning program, the production evolved into television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.

“Oprah Winfrey is in a category of her own,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. “This is a great American story and like any great American story it’s supersized.”
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You might be surprised by who made the top list of the 2009 top celebrity givers.

The late Paul Newman tops the list with an astounding $21 million.

His charity reportedly gave to causes like health, education and environmental initiatives. Read the full story

TORONTO (AP) — Lee Daniels has an Oscar-winning movie to his credit, but he still needed some big-time help to draw attention to his latest film about a girl who overcomes crushing abuse.

He got it from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry: The two are executive producers of “Precious,” which had a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Winfrey said she was happy to help bring more attention to the film.

“Everyone needs someone to help them navigate,” the TV talk show host explained. “I had Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier and Maya Angelou who I look to. You can’t do that on your own. Someone has to show it to you.”

Daniels produced “Monster’s Ball,” which won Halle Berry an Oscar for best actress in 2002. She adapted “Precious” from Sapphire’s novel “Push.” It tells the story of an illiterate black girl who manages to rise above poverty, sexual and mental abuse. The film, which stars Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton and others, won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and has been generating Oscar buzz.

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NEW YORK — After a long absence from music, Whitney Houston is staging a much-hyped career comeback with an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Houston will be Winfrey’s first guest as the talk-show queen launches her 24th season on Sept. 14. According to her Web site, Oprah.com, Winfrey calls Houston’s appearance “the most anticipated music interview of the decade.”

The 46-year-old superstar hasn’t done a major TV interview since 2002, when she addressed questions about her drug use from ABC’s Diane Sawyer.

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Kathy Griffin has won two Emmys for “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” now in its fifth season on Bravo. Her standup shows often sell out. Her 2008 comedy album, “For Your Consideration,” was nominated for a Grammy (George Carlin won the award posthumously). And her memoir comes out in September.

But the 48-year-old actress-comedian insists she’s on the outside looking in.

Griffin talks about how she’s still a wannabe celebrity, Hollywood headlines and her upcoming book.

AP: It’s hard to believe you’re still on the D-list.
Griffin: I have proof although I’m flattered at the suggestion that I could even be a C-minus. Recently, I was on tour and they delivered me a sandwich and it said Taffy Griffin. Now, I’d like to think that’s maybe what they thought my stripper name was, but no. My name was on the marquee. Sold-out show. Taffy Griffin. I’m on the D-list where I belong.

AP: You’ve joked about many celebrities. Who are you most afraid of running into?
Griffin: Whitney Houston, because she’ll just cut you. … I’m afraid of many, many celebrities. Most of them really.

AP: What do you think of Angelina Jolie edging out Oprah Winfrey to top Forbes’ Celebrity 100 power list?
Griffin: It’s clearly something that Oprah just had Gayle (King, Winfrey’s longtime friend) write because she must be having security issues or something. There’s no one more powerful than Oprah male or female in any country. Or on any planet.

AP: What do you think of Jon and Kate Gosselin (of the TLC show “Jon & Kate Plus 8″)?
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Oprah Winfrey’s in-house medical and health expert is leaving his spot as a regular on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for his own syndicated program.

Winfrey will bid Dr. Mehmet Oz farewell on Tuesday’s episode of her talk show. His program, “The Dr. Oz Show,” is to debut Sept. 14.

Oz has been featured on Winfrey’s show for five years and 55 episodes. He would often offer diet tips or discuss life-threatening diseases.

Tuesday’s show ends with Oz and Winfrey raising a champagne toast.

According to Oz’s biography on Oprah.com, the best-selling author and heart surgeon is a surgery professor at Columbia University and directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.