
It’s one of the most memorable moments in the history of Oprah Winfrey’s famed talk show: that one time she gave a car – brand new Pontiac G6, to be exact – to each and every member of her studio audience.
That’s 276 cars in total, valued at a cool AU$9.8 million.
After bringing 11 teachers onto her talk show’s stage and giving them all cars, each audience member was given a perfectly-wrapped box.
“Everybody in the audience is being given a special package… and I do not want you to open it. Do not open until I tell you,” Oprah told the crowd.
“Inside one of these boxes is a key…DO NOT OPEN IT YET.
“Here is the deal, if your box has a key you will be the last person today to get one of those cute little G6’s.”
The catch, of course, was that every single box contained a key, prompting Oprah to scream, “You get a car, you get a car, you get a car… everybody gets a car!”
The moment has become one of the most famous ‘Oprah moments’ of all time, and has even become one of the internet’s favourite memes.
But a three-part podcast – Making Oprah: The inside story of a TV revolution – that looks into the now 64-year-old’s rise to fame has revealed just how much work went into the magical moment.
First, producers had to battle with the car company to increase their offer of 25 free cars to 276 (the company initially offered the cars to the show after Oprah’s best friend, Gayle King, struck up a conversation with an executive from the Pontiac car company on a flight).
Then, Oprah wanted to ensure the cars were going to fans who really, truly deserved to be given a brand new car.
LISTEN: We discuss the likelihood of Oprah running for President in 2020. Post continues below.
Top Comments
I miss this part of the Oprah show, where she did nice things for deserving people. My favourite was for a young girl who had written an essay on the Elie Wiesel book, Night, about her life as a Rwandan refugee. She had ended up in America with her older sister, but the rest of the family were still in refugee camps. Oprah gave her a letter from her family - then said “but you don’t have to read it yet because they’re all here!” Bawled my eyes out at that one!