Saunders: Oprah, Dave make peace

Published November 30, 2005 at midnight

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Oprah is visiting Dave.

This has to be the media meeting of the year.

Offhand, I can think of only two other events that would more fully capture the attention of the print and electronic crowd:

• President Bush inviting Cindy Sheehan to the White House for tea.

• Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie together on Larry King's show.

On Thursday, Oprah Winfrey is a guest on David Letterman's CBS show, ending what many have considered a long-standing feud.

How this alleged feud started and has been nourished remains a bit murky.

Letterman regularly pokes fun at Oprah's queenlike style on her enormously successful weekday syndicated show.

While she appeared on Letterman's former late-late-night NBC series, Oprah hasn't been a guest on his 10:35 p.m. CBS hour.

Oprah told Time two years ago she was "uncomfortable" being the ongoing target of Letterman's jokes.

So the stage is set for this momentous media meeting.

Why is Oprah showing up now?

Could the visit be promotionally oriented?

Perish the thought: Have you ever seen a guest on Letterman's show mention a new book, movie, TV project, musical appearance or Broadway show?

Oprah will be in New York to promote The Color Purple, a new Broadway musical, based on the film, which she is producing.

The best part of Oprah's appearance could be her entrance.

If you've watched Oprah on Denver's 7, you're aware she doesn't stroll quickly onto the studio set.

She stands at the edge of the stage for more than a moment, soaking up audience adulation.

The cameras move around the theater, showing her fans shouting (some almost hysterically), applauding and jumping up and down.

Then, as if she's being transported by some kind of magic noise machine, Oprah moves slowly to the center of the set.

When I first watched this bizarre entry, I assumed Oprah was standing there because her dress was caught on a studio cable.

I presume her entrance to Letterman's show will be more traditional.

Oprah will receive loud applause and squeals of delight. I doubt she'll wait for a magic noise machine to move her toward Letterman's desk.

Her appearance should draw the most viewers Letterman has had in many months.

And he needs a Nielsen boost.

Rival Jay Leno on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently has picked up audience ratings at the expense of Letterman.

Ironically, Oprah's visit comes the night after the end of the November sweeps.

By the way, chances are good Oprah will mention The Color Purple.

BAD MIX: NBC provided a graphic example on Thanksgiving of the obvious dangers of having news stars involved in entertainment coverage.

Today's Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker were in Herald Square, anchoring, in bubbly style, the network's live coverage of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Several blocks away in Times Square a parade balloon crashed, injuring an 11-year-old girl and her disabled older sister.

No mention of the incident was made by the trio. And they had an excuse. Evidently no one in the production crew told them about it.

The telecast producers were from the entertainment side - not news - and evidently didn't believe the incident deserved to be mentioned.

Couric later told New York reporters she didn't learn abut the accident until she was off the air, while Lauer apparently found out when he arrived home.

You'd think, after 65 years in television, NBC would know the pitfalls of putting news stars into a happy-talk entertainment environment.

The network knows better.

It just can't resist a bottom-line temptation, knowing the Today trio would draw viewers.

SPORTS NOTE: HBO's always-watchable Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (7 tonight) provides a relatively short but definitive look at the history of ABC's Monday Night Football.

Yes, you'll see archival video of a patron at Denver' Sweetwater Grill throwing a brick through a black-and-white screen showing Howard Cosell.

In addition to the obvious nostalgia, the segment, reported by Bernard Goldberg, looks at the hard financial facts, explaining why ABC could no longer afford to air the 36-year- old American tradition.

Monday Night Football moves next season to cable's ESPN, which, like ABC, is owned by Walt Disney Co. Comments by Al Michaels and John Madden indicate they're not happy about ending the ABC era.

Next year it will be NBC Sunday Night Football, with John Madden and an unnamed partner. Michaels goes to ESPN, which will have smaller audiences than the NBC telecasts.

TODAY'S NOSTALGIA: On Nov. 29, 1973, Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard starred in Catholics, a widely praised drama on CBS Playhouse.

Saunders@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5137

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