Should Andy Cohen consult on OWN?
The Bravo programming exec and host of its late-night show Watch What Happens has some thoughts on Oprah Winfrey‘s network, which is struggling to gain momentum amid low ratings and series cancellations (see ya, Rosie).
“Here’s the first thing that I would do and it’s the first thing I would have done two years ago: put on re-reruns of the freaking Oprah Winfrey Show,” Cohen said Tuesday on Howard Stern‘s Sirius radio show while promoting his new memoir, Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture.
“They are sitting on a 25-year archive of The Oprah Winfrey Show. You have all this time to fill? Guess what I want to watch? The greatest talk show in the history of talk shows. The Oprah Winfrey Show,” he said.
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At Bravo, Cohen has overseen such successful cable reality franchises as Project Runway, Top Chef and the multi-city Real Housewives editions.
Two of Winfrey’s programs on OWN include Oprah’s Next Chapter, an interview show that’s attracted the biggest audience with high-profile guests, and Oprah’s Lifeclass, a televised self-help session that has included appearances from Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins.
“First of all, I don’t want to watch a show that has class in the title,” said Cohen. “I don’t want to go to school. … I just want to see the old The Oprah Winfrey Show.” He added: “I know they probaby have rights issues … (but) it’s the greatest show.”
Cohen said he would decline an offer to jump fron Bravo to OWN because he’s “like a pig in s–t right now,” multi-tasking on projects including the Talkative book, which was released Tuesday.
