text: As Oprah Winfrey's last show approaches, remembering big moments | NJ.com
  on May 25, 2011 at 9:32 AM, updated May 25, 2011 at 2:48 PM
  The final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" airs today, 25 years after it debuted. In those 25 years, Winfrey has transformed from an actress-turned-talk show host into an empire all her own. (Speaking of OWN, she's ending her talk show to focus on just that -- the Oprah Winfrey Network, her new cable channel.) Her endorsements could send books to the top of best-seller lists and, some might argue, candidates into office. In addition to the arc of Winfrey's business career, viewers bore witness to her ever-changing looks; from her hairdos to her fluctuations in weight, chronicled breathlessly in the tabloids.
  To kick off the premiere of the 19th season in 2004, Winfrey surprised 276 people in the studio audience with a new Pontiac G6. The giveaway prompted joyful hysterics from the studio audience; some of that joy was later tempered when the recipients of the cars realized they'd have to pay up to $7,000 in taxes. 2. Tom Cruise loses his marbles, tests jumpability of couch
  Cruise appeared on the show in 2005 and spent a good deal of time professing his love for new girlfriend Katie Holmes. Words were not enough for the smitten actor, who jumped on the guest couch as an amused and terrified Winfrey looked on. The "couch incident" was voted #1 of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E! 3. The big weight-loss reveal
  The Nov. 15, 1988, "Diet Dreams Come True" episode showed Winfrey wearing size 10 jeans and wheeling out a wagon containing 67 pounds of fat, representing the weight she had lost. Winfrey would go on to gain and lose significant amounts of weight throughout her show's run-time. 4. James Frey takes a lashing
  The then-junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, may or may not have been seriously considering a run for president when he and his wife, Michelle Obama, appeared on Winfrey's show to discuss his book, "The Audacity of Hope," in Oct. 2006. No matter, Winfrey was sold. She urged Obama to run for the big office and later endorsed him on her show and joined him on the campaign trail. We all know how the story ends.
  Winfrey won big when she snagged an appearance by the reclusive King of Pop in 1993. As rumors swirled over Jackson's inappropriate involvement with children and medical conditions, he told Winfrey he suffered from the skin-pigment disorder known as vitiligo. The episode was watched by 62 million viewers and was the single-most viewed episode. 8. Winfrey takes on Big Beef