Oprah's Book Club is a television talk show produced for

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

and hosted by

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Development and announcement

On June 15, 2018, Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Winfrey, saying she would work on projects to be "released as part of a lineup of original content from Apple.". On March 25, 2019 Apple hosted keynote event at its California campus to announce the new

subscription service. Winfrey appeared onstage to conclude the event, announcing that she would be producing two documentary series, as well launching a "book club" in partnership with Apple. During her announcement, Winfrey indicated the book club project may include a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

element at Apple's retail locations "where Apple Stores stream a conversation with the author and me live across all devices, across all borders". On September 23, 2019 in a press release, Apple announced the series would be titled ''Oprah's Book Club'', would stream exclusively on Apple TV+, and would premiere with the streaming service's launch on November 1, 2019.

Premise

The series is a standalone spinoff of the popular

Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for view ...

segment of ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', begun in 1996 and marks its first return to the television medium since the 2011 conclusion of Winfrey's television show. It is also a successor to '' Oprah's Book Club 2.0'', a non-televised and irregularly-released online iteration of the reading series launched in 2012. Episodes are released every two months, with each episode focused on a single book and featuring an interview between Winfrey and the book's author. Episodes are filmed at various locations. Each episode's book pick is announced at the end of the previous episode, as well as
dedicated section
on

Apple Books Apple Books (known as iBooks prior to iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave) is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS, iPadOS and macOS operating systems and devices. It was announced, under the name iBooks, in conjunction ...

an
on Oprah's website
Episodes are typically filmed in front of a live audience and feature an interview between Winfrey and the selected book's author.

Merchandising and tie-ins

Along with the announcement of the show, Apple announced that Oprah's Book Club would integrate with

by allowing users of the e-reading application to be alerted of new picks, and that Apple would make an unspecified contribution to the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

for each Oprah Book Club selection sold via Apple Books. As with the two previous iterations of the Club, the selection of a book by Winfrey typically results in the publication of an "Oprah edition", often with a branded "Oprah's Book Club" seal on the book's cover. Winfrey's September 2019 pick of ''

The Water Dancer ''The Water Dancer'' is the debut novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, published on September 24, 2019, by Random House under its One World imprint. It is a surrealist story set in the pre-Civil War South, concerning a superhuman protagonist named Hiram ...

'' by

Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political is ...

marked the first time in the Oprah Book Club's three iterations a book had been selected as a pick ''prior'' to its publication (in this case, one day prior). Thus, all published editions of ''The Water Dancer'' currently in circulation feature an "Oprah's Book Club 2019" seal.

Episodes

References

External links

* – official site * {{Oprah Winfrey 2010s American television talk shows 2020s American television talk shows 2019 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings Apple TV+ original programming American non-fiction web series Web talk shows Oprah Winfrey Television series by Harpo Productions Television shows about books and literature American television spinoffs