As President George W. Bush wraps up his interview from last week, Oprah tells him, “You honor me with your presence here.” Then, she tells us behind the scenes, “When I look up at the people, I have deep heartfelt appreciation and joy. No sadness…not a bit,” Oprah tells us. This reminds us that our time is limited with Oprah…she is a gift for just a few more months…then…what? Well, Tonight’s episode is taking us behind the scenes of the reunion shows….of the cast from ‘The Color Purple’ and of all of the legendary talk show hosts. So tonight isn’t about goodbyes….it is about reconnecting. Let’s have a reunion everybody.
The Color Purple 25th Anniversary Reunion Show – “Everything changed in my life as a result of “The Color Purple,”” Oprah tells us. “Dream a bigger dream….” she learned from this experience….and as they take the pre-show meeting on the floor of Oprah’s office, we hear of all the prep and requirements to make this show happen. For this, Candi Cater, Senior Producer, is assigned the 25th Anniversary of The Color Purple show…and will be self-producing for the first time and she is just a tab bit excited. Two weeks to turn this show around…can they make this happen? Let’s go…
No one said this was going to be easy… Allison Santana, our Senior Oprah Travel Coordinator and Jakki Taylor Richardson from Booking are figuring out how to get Danny Glover to the show. “The only way I can get Danny Glover is a $70,000 private jet,” Candi tells us. “Are you suuuuure?” she asks Allison. Yep. Talk about an expensive commute…but you know…gas prices are on the rise.
Candi takes this bit of news to Sheri Salatas’ office for an update. Candi and Andrea Wishom, our Senior Supervising Producer that we haven’t seen since the Michael Jackson episode, arrive to give Sheri an update on ‘The Color Purple’ reunion. “There is no reunion without Danny Glover….so, we have to do it,” Sheri tells us and like she waves her magic wand (probably in the form of a pen and over a purchase order) and all the stress is gone. Danny Glover will be at the show…we have Mr. Mister.
Onto Candi Carter’s big day, she reminds us that this is her first show that she is supervising herself and that she’s nervous. Meeting with Oprah, Candi and Sheri spec out who gets their own moment with Oprah and how long each segment will be. It’s show planning up close and personal. “For years, I thought Whoopi was upset at me…didn’t like me,” Oprah tells Candi, Sheri and the rest of us watching. “And as it so happens, over the summer, I was at Tyler Perry’s house when they were filming for color girls and Whoopi came up to me and said, “Did I do something to you?” This started a real conversation….and a clearing of the air. Miscommunication happens in everyone’s life. It’s real.
“Did you see the promo?” Sheri asks Oprah. Oprah reminds us that she lives in her office and then, turns around to her computer and tries to pull up the promo…and OMG, she has a technical moment with her computer that makes us know that really, Oprah really is like all of the rest of us. Sometimes challenged, sometimes stopped by the silliest of things.
On the day of the taping, Candi is making the rounds and welcoming everyone in. Another person for the reunion is in the audience, Reuben Cannon, the Casting Director for The Color Purple. “Reuben Cannon auditioned me for The Color Purple and then I didn’t hear anything for 2 ½ almost 3 months,” Oprah tells us through our behind the scenes access. ‘When I finally called back, Reuben Cannon said to me, “What are you calling me for? You don’t call me. I call you. And I didn’t call you. You know, we have real actresses that are auditioning for this part.” Oprah said she hung up the phone, knowing she wasn’t going to get it. Reuben says it didn’t happen that way. Oprah says it did. You make the call.
As we go into the taping of the show, we feel Candi’s excitement of her first supervising and see Sheri’s calmness. Sheri has it under control…and the show….with Oprah, we just watch the magic happen. “Everybody has been through that….some kind of misunderstanding. So once that’s out, it’s out. And then you don’t have to deal with that anyone. You can move on,” Oprah reminds us. “I talk a lot about The Color Purple,” Oprah tells us, “but the biggest thing it taught me was to surrender to a power and force that is greater than yourself….the most defining thing that has ever happened to me.” Just JOY….and the behind the scenes footage makes the actual show even more JOYFUL. “It was faith. It was hope. It was belief. It was possibility. It was love. It was everything – The Color Purple… looks like a movie…it was everything,” Oprah tells us. Now…go watch The Color Purple. ..but first, keep reading the rest of this recap!