"Oprah's Big Give" Reviews: Reality Show Slammed As "Phony"

Oprah may be the queen of television and have the ability to move a mountain of books, but her new reality show is being panned in the reviews. "Oprah's Big Give" debuts Sunday March 2 and not every reviewer loves it. Some elaborately dislike it.
The Hollywood Reporter was scathing:

The first irony (but certainly not the last) that strikes one about the eight-week Oprah Winfrey infomercial "Oprah's Big Give" is that there is nary a single genuine giving moment to be found during the opening hour.

It is instead a profoundly hyperkinetic and unwieldy adventure in product placement, in Oprah-as-Messiah hype and, ultimately, in what's so utterly fake and insidious about "reality" television itself.

Because the ABC series operates under the high-minded guise of bringing life rescue and joy to people in need, it's actually even more disturbing than those shows claiming no similarly socially redeeming purpose.

Variety was not as mean, but still wasn't convinced:

On the plus side for ABC, Winfrey's fingerprints are all over the "Big Give," providing the series an enormous leg up. The concept, however -- hatched with "Amazing Race's" Bertram van Munster -- lurches forward like a reality-TV Frankenstein, birthed from parts of other programs.

Even a more positive review in the Boston Herald still couldn't ignore the overt product placement:

With Target and Ford among the major sponsors, "Big Give" is weighted with product placement. In that, it's no worse than "Survivor" or "Big Brother."

More reviews are coming out the next few days.

Comments

[JamesKlichII]

10:37 PM on 03/03/2008

I do some volunteer work myself and donate also. I found this show to be a slap in the face to the people who do real volunteer work. The people giving the money away are so phony. It is very easy to see they are in the show for all the wrong reasons. If you wanted to have a real show have people that do real volunteer work and are not self centered. I give this show a zero.

[AceInTheHole]

09:13 PM on 03/03/2008

Oprah's.....solipsism?

With all due respect! How does someone who is so well known by millions of peo[le and admired and loved all around the world for her generosity and caring, be accused of solipsism. Oprah is no neurotic, self obsorbed, shameful shrinking violet , who hides away from public exposure, to pursue some niferious and insidious acts of miscreant self anggrandizing interprise, aimed at hogging the world's resources, nor does she engage in some other form of pernacious chacanery aimed at power usurpation from the so called little people of the world. That's what the word "solipsism", evokes in me. But I'm just an old codger, who is somewhat jaded after seeing so much of this world's reprobate behavior being exhibited by those who have solipsism characteristics, that I have yet to see in Oprah. Contrarily, Oprah exibits traites that are just the opposite of solipsism, traites of inclusiveness ,empathy, and compassion for others., these traites have never been nor will they ever be attibuted to solipsism.