Today marks the end of a television era. After 25 years of daytime dominance, Oprah Winfrey's CBS show is signing off. While we wait to see our 2008 Person of the Year again on her OWN network, we wanted to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of our favorite Oprah episodes:  
 

• Oprah's week-long move from Chicago to Amarillo was the move followed 'round the world. She captivated millions with her court appearance to defend her 1995 episode that revealed the horrors of a beef industry rampant with mad cow disease.
• Inspired by guest Kathy Freston's book Quantum Wellness, Oprah went vegan for three weeks and marveled, "I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying."
• Oprah dedicated an entire episode to exposing the stifling, crippling conditions of chickens, cows, and pigs on factory farms as Californians prepared to vote on Proposition 2. The measure passed by a large majority—in part thanks to her revealing show.
• After Oprah saw a billboard off the Kennedy Expressway that read, "Oprah: Do a show on puppy mills. The dogs need you," she immediately jumped at the opportunity to save lives. Just a few minutes of her horrifying exposé were enough to convince viewers that adopting from an animal shelter is the only way to go.
• Our food envy was raging when Chef Tal Ronnen cooked his "Chicken" Scallopini and other delectable vegan meals on one episode of the show.
• When captive-chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash decided to show her face to the public for the first time, it's no surprise that she chose to do it on Oprah's show.
• When Kathy Freston released her new book Veganist, Oprah did another vegan show, and one-upped herself by having 378 staffers go vegan for a week.

We're sure that in true Oprah fashion, she will continue to be a voice for animals on her new network.

athensboy / CC

It's official: Oprah will end her show in 2011. Feel that collective surge of sadness? We sure do. Oprah's groundbreaking program has transcended the talk-show format and has paved the way for social and political change. In honor of PETA's 2008 Person of the Year and her show's long run, we're revisiting Oprah's best animal-friendly episodes:

• Oprah's week-long move from Chicago to Amarillo was the move followed 'round the world. She captivated millions with her court appearance to defend her 1995 episode that revealed the horrors of a beef industry rampant with mad cow disease.
• Inspired by guest Kathy Freston's book Quantum Wellness, Oprah went vegan for three weeks and marveled, "I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying."
• Oprah dedicated an entire episode to exposing the stifling, crippling conditions of chickens, cows, and pigs on factory farms as Californians prepared to vote on Proposition 2. The measure passed by a large majority—in part thanks to her revealing show.
• After Oprah saw a billboard off the Kennedy Expressway that read, "Oprah: Do a show on puppy mills. The dogs need you," she immediately jumped at the opportunity to save lives. Just a few minutes of her horrifying exposé were enough to convince viewers that adopting from an animal shelter is the only way to go.
• My food envy was raging when Chef Tal Ronnen cooked his "Chicken" Scallopini and other delectable vegan meals on a recent episode of the show.
• When Charla Nash decided to show her face to the public for the first time earlier this month, it's no surprise that she chose to do it on Oprah's show.

The media mogul may be bidding farewell to her legendary talk show, but with the upcoming launch of her new cable network, we're sure that we'll be seeing a lot more of her for a long time to come.

Written by Logan Scherer

ecorazzi / CC

We already loved Kathy Freston for her wonderful books, Quantum Wellness and The Quantum Wellness Cleanse, which promote a vegan diet as part of a healthy lifestyle. (Even Oprah tried the cleanse!) Now we have yet another reason to love Kathy: Her animal-friendly fashions have earned her a spot in Vanity Fair's 2009 International Best-Dressed List.

And that's not all. Kathy also defines her personal style as "cruelty-free" and her cause as "animal protection." Favorite shoes? Why, Stella McCartney, of course!

"Best-dressed" Kathy Freston is yet more proof that nobody has to die for fashion. Just wait—I'm sure we'll see a whole slew of cruelty-free fashion mavens on 2010's list.

Written by Amanda Schinke

Update: Some more Oprah-related news for you – if you didn’t get a chance to see Oprah’s puppy mill exposé last month, she’s running it again tonight. More on that here.

Author Kathy Freston's fantastic new book, Quantum Wellness, has been getting a ton of buzz lately, not least because it inspired Oprah Winfrey herself to try veganism for three weeks. Kathy also appeared on Ellen yesterday, and a lot of people have been asking about the book, so by way of an introduction, here's PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk with a quick review:

And in other important news, here's Oprah on Week 2 of the new diet.

-Jack

Photo Credit: Star Max

Which is, quite possibly, the best news in the history of news. It’s close, anyway. Inspired by the book Quantum Wellness, by Kathy Freston, Oprah’s going to be cutting all the meat, dairy, and eggs out of her diet in an effort to live a healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle. If you didn’t catch tonight’s show, be sure to look out for the reruns, but in the meantime, if you want to follow in Oprah’s footsteps, you can take a pledge to be vegan for 7 days. Oprah’s going to be giving up alcohol, wheat, and sugar as well – which, well, more power to her – but our pledge (for obvious reasons) is focusing on the veganism part. So you don’t need to worry about giving up your stiff gin and tonic after a hard day of work. Or is that just me who does that?

Anyway, according to Oprah’s website, the first day’s gone really well! Here’s what she says about her reasons for trying it out:

Thank you, Oprah! I can’t wait to hear how it goes.