Oprah Winfrey

For years, rumor had it that Bobby Brown had introduced Whitney Houston to drugs - but Michael Houston, one of the singer's two older brothers, has revealed to Oprah Winfrey that the real story was quite different. It's a story that has Michael Houston "living, but not alive" since his younger sister's death almost a year ago. "I feel responsible for what I let go so far," he told Oprah in a Monday interview on OWN that primarily featured mother Cissy Houston, who has a new tell-all memoir out. In that book, Cissy says she didn't understand her children doing drugs then, and she doesn't understand it now. Said Michael Houston, "We were always, you know, being together most of the time, and her following behind me -- I taught her to drive.

Moviegoers well-acquainted with Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels' eyebrow-raising filmic oeuvre may be shocked to learn that his latest movie, “The Butler,” seems, at first blush, rather short on salacious surprises. This from the guy who had Nicole Kidman urinate on Zac Effron's face in last year's lurid drama “The Paperboy” and had Mo'Nique hurl a frying pan at Gabourey Sidibe's head (en route to claiming an Academy Award) in 2009's “Precious.” "The Butler" centers on Cecil Bates (Forrest Whitaker)

OPRAH BY THE NUMBERS Average number of Americans who view her show each week: 40 million Countries in which the show runs: 150 Emails Oprah.com receives a week: 25,000 People who can fit in her studio audience: 315-365 Items given away during her Favorite Things episodes: 283 Books selected as part of Oprah's Book Club: 65 Hours of the show that have been...

The new trailer for Lee Daniels' “The Butler” shows an up-from-his-bootstraps man moving, Zelig-like, through U.S. presidential history, demonstrating how “one man overcame his past.” But for at least one of the actors working on it, the fact-based film offered something else: a history lesson. Liev Schreiber, who can be spotted in the trailer (in surprising old-man makeup) as Lyndon B. Johnson, said he found himself thus enlightened. VIDEO: Upcoming summer films “Before I did this movie I wasn't really aware of the extent to which LBJ had moved forward the Civil Rights movement on Kennedy's behalf,” the actor told The Times.

"The Ricki Lake Show" is a casualty of the daytime talker surplus. Twentieth Television, the show's distributor, will not renew the syndicated gabfest for the 2013-14 season; episodes will continue airing through September. “We would like to thank Ricki Lake as well as Executive Producer Gail Steinberg and the entire staff for their work this season," Stephen Brown, executive vice president of programming and development for Twentieth Television, said in a statement. "While we are proud of the topics the program tackled, including childhood obesity, life after the military, divorce, and addiction, we were simply not able to break through the crowded talk show marketplace.” The show launched in September and marked Lake's return to daytime after a nine-year absence.

Re "Cattlemen Want Oprah to Eat Her Words," Jan. 21: I will be eating only fruits, vegetables, grains, chicken and fish until the Texas cattlemen drop their ludicrous lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey has the best interests of her audience at heart, and her comments are only meant to suggest people educate themselves on a subject. She doesn't force anyone to do anything! The media were full of "mad cow disease" information, so TV viewers, newspaper and magazine readers and radio listeners were all subjected to the dreadful stories about the outbreak of the disease in England.

Gabby Douglas faced a tough road on her way to becoming America's sweetheart and a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's gymnastics team. The fact that she moved away from her family in Virginia to train in Iowa at age 14 became well known during the London Games. But Douglas and her mother, Natalie Hawkins, revealed to Oprah Winfrey on Sunday's episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter" on OWN that there was another reason she wanted to leave her home gym in Virginia Beach.

Moviegoers well-acquainted with Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels' eyebrow-raising filmic oeuvre may be shocked to learn that his latest movie, “The Butler,” seems, at first blush, rather short on salacious surprises. This from the guy who had Nicole Kidman urinate on Zac Effron's face in last year's lurid drama “The Paperboy” and had Mo'Nique hurl a frying pan at Gabourey Sidibe's head (en route to claiming an Academy Award) in 2009's “Precious.” "The Butler" centers on Cecil Bates (Forrest Whitaker)

The consequences stemming from Lance Armstrong's confession to Oprah Winfrey about his use of performance-enhancing drugs heightened Tuesday. Winfrey appeared on "CBS This Morning," telling hosts about the interview she taped with Armstrong on Monday: "We were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. I feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. ... He certainly had prepared himself for this moment. ... He brought it. He really did. " The network reported that senior government officials are recommending that the federal government join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed against Armstrong by his former teammate and another Tour de France champion stripped of his title, Southern California's Floyd Landis.

The Early Show Harrison Ford; Marsha Bemko ("Antiques Roadshow"). (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Barbara Corcoran and P. Allen Smith; Lucy Lawless; Curtis Stone. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Chef Emeril Lagasse. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Guest co-host Jerry O'Connell; Harrison Ford; Lucy Lawless. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg; Billy Zane.

NBA player Jason Collins made news this week with his announcement that he was gay. As the first openly gay player in the league, Collins has generated a lot of attention, so it's no surprise that one of his first sit-down interviews to discuss things will be with Oprah Winfrey. The first interview with Collins and his twin brother, Jarron, is set to air Sunday on "Oprah's Next Chapter" on OWN. After playing with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season, Jason is a free agent.

Actor and director Zach Braff's efforts to use Kickstarter to fund a movie about a struggling actor's existential crisis has turned into a minor public relations crisis. Mere hours after launching the campaign to fund production for "Wish I Was Here," the follow-up to his cult hit “Garden State,” the backlash started. Commenters on Twitter and in the trades on Wednesday accused Braff of cynically leveraging free money from fans on behalf of Hollywood producers, who would have funded the film and acceded to his creative demands regardless.

Though Lance Armstrong has been banned from competing in any events sanctioned by U.S. Anti Doping Agency, the disgraced former cyclist has found another avenue to feed his competitive hunger: swimming. Armstrong, 41, is set to race in three events at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas this weekend, according to the Associated Press. He's set to participate in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle in the 40- to 44-year-old age group.

This post has been updated; see below for details. Character actor Lou Myers, who gained his most fame from playing Mr. Gaines in the NBC sitcom "A Different World," has died. A spokesperson from Myers' nonprofit organization Global Business Incubation Inc. confirmed with the Associated Press that the 77-year-old actor died Tuesday at Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia. Though no cause of death was given, he had been in and out of the hospital since Christmas and had recently collapsed.

"The Ricki Lake Show" is a casualty of the daytime talker surplus. Twentieth Television, the show's distributor, will not renew the syndicated gabfest for the 2013-14 season; episodes will continue airing through September. “We would like to thank Ricki Lake as well as Executive Producer Gail Steinberg and the entire staff for their work this season," Stephen Brown, executive vice president of programming and development for Twentieth Television, said in a statement. "While we are proud of the topics the program tackled, including childhood obesity, life after the military, divorce, and addiction, we were simply not able to break through the crowded talk show marketplace.” The show launched in September and marked Lake's return to daytime after a nine-year absence.

Tyler Perry was feeling bad Wednesday - as a person should after hurting a close friend. In this case, the friend was Oprah Winfrey, and the harm was far from intentional. "I FEEL SO BAD," the actor-director-writer-producer-whatever wrote on his Facebook page. "I like to send really large flower arrangements to people for whatever occasion," he explained. "Well, I sent one to Oprah yesterday for her birthday. She strained her back picking it up. No joke!" Tyler Perry broke Oprah!

If Lance Armstrong thought he could begin to repair his tarnished reputation with a lengthy sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, he should stay off Twitter and keep the news channels on mute. Based on people's shared thoughts during and immediately after part one of the two-part interview, he failed to win back many fans with his confessions. ESPN columnist Rick Reilly wrote  in a Twitter post, " Armstrong said he didn't think it was cheating because everybody did it. Then he said he didn't bully teammates who didn't dope.

As the interview with Lance Armstrong progressed Friday night, Oprah Winfrey went back and forth between emotional questions and digging into the fraud Lance Armstrong perpetrated on the sporting public and the costs associated with it. “I've lost all future income,” Armstrong said matter of factly. “You could look at the day or two days when (sponsors) left. I don't like thinking about it, but that was a $75 million day.” Armstrong did show some more emotion when talking about his mother.

For years, rumor had it that Bobby Brown had introduced Whitney Houston to drugs - but Michael Houston, one of the singer's two older brothers, has revealed to Oprah Winfrey that the real story was quite different. It's a story that has Michael Houston "living, but not alive" since his younger sister's death almost a year ago. "I feel responsible for what I let go so far," he told Oprah in a Monday interview on OWN that primarily featured mother Cissy Houston, who has a new tell-all memoir out. In that book, Cissy says she didn't understand her children doing drugs then, and she doesn't understand it now. Said Michael Houston, "We were always, you know, being together most of the time, and her following behind me -- I taught her to drive.

The girlfriend may have been fake, but the interview will be real. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o became a national punch line last week when the girlfriend he claimed had died tragically turned out never to have existed. Now Te'o -- who claims he was the victim of a hoax -- will try to explain the odd case to Katie Couric for the Thursday episode of her syndicated talk show "Katie. " It will be Te'o's first on-camera interview since the story broke. Jeremy Schaap of ESPN conducted a two-and-a-half hour interview with Te'o on Friday night, but there were no video cameras.