Let's get it out of the way up front: I absolutely cried. Twice.
Of all its potential uses, television's ability to emotionally manipulate is one of its most underused. It has frequently entertained, sometimes shocked, and maybe not-quite-often-enough educated. But for the medium to blatantly abuse the goodwill of its viewers, to demand full-throated feeling above and beyond intellectual engagement, is a recent innovation.
Thanks to her daily talk show, Oprah Winfrey was key to this development. When celebrities need to unload, they choose Oprah. But she has also long given equal footing to the struggles of everyday folks. By broadcasting everyday concerns -- in fact, by building an empire upon them -- she has become somehow both relatable and aspirational. Be a little more like Oprah, or at least watch her a little more often, and you might become a little better yourself.
"Oprah's Big Give," which premieres at 9 tonight on ABC, is a logical extension of Winfrey's brand and her first sustained excursion into prime time -- other ventures, such as her book club, or the one-off "Oprah's Pop Star Challenge," were incorporated into her daily show.
The truly elegant stroke of "Oprah's Big Give" is that charity becomes viral -- each contestant, effectively a representative of Oprah, is required to activate several other people in the course of their mission. And presumably, if the show is successful, it will further mainstream charitable values, much in the same way "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" did when it launched in 2003.
The show also renders visible the various sorts of need that Americans experience: helping the homeless mother of two who fled domestic abuse is as worthy as helping a recent widow pay off her mortgage as is helping a soon-to-be doctor repay his loans so that he might offer free medical care to underprivileged children. All beneficence is created equal.
Executive produced by Bertram van Munster, who is also responsible for "The Amazing Race," this is a dense affair, with contestants going up against one another in challenges of charity that involve complete strangers. They are then required to seek the aid of others in accomplishing their mission.
The participants are diverse in background, if uniformly warm-hearted. There's a pageant queen, baby-faced dot-com millionaire, an Army captain who served in Iraq, a TV producer who is confined to a wheelchair.
