Oprah_ A Biography - Kitty Kelley [125]
While changing some of the male characters in the book, she left intact the lesbian relationship, honoring the novelist’s intent to represent the diversity of black women, from their skin color to their religious, political, and sexual preferences.
Oprah worked eighteen-hour days for six weeks to complete the film. As executive producer, she was the first one on the set every morning. “I made sure I knew everybody’s name, so there was no one thinking I was Miss Mightier-Than-Thou.”
The Women of Brewster Place was scheduled to air on Sunday and Monday evenings, March 19 and 20, 1989, and Oprah agreed to do national promotion for ABC beforehand, including a press conference for television critics. Jeff Jacobs stressed to reporters the importance of Oprah doing good work, whether or not it was commercially viable. “The Women of Brewster Place hasn’t aired yet,” he said. “When it does, we’ll find out if people respond to it and give it a good number. But whether they do or they don’t, it was an important book, an important film. It needed to get made. If we make money, great. And if we don’t, well, there are other reasons to do projects besides making money.”
Oprah turned to the reporters. “You want to know where I’ll be Sunday night? You’ll find me on my knees in front of the TV—praying for the Nielsens.” While Jacobs indicated a commitment to the worth of the project, Oprah’s commitment was to the ratings, and she was not disappointed. The Women of Brewster Place was the most watched two-part movie since NBC’s Fatal Vision in 1984. Oprah’s triumph averaged a 24.0 rating and a 37 share, according to A. C. Nielsen Co. figures, with one ratings point representing 904,000 households. On Sunday her miniseries beat both The Wizard of Oz on CBS and NBC’s airing of Return of the Jedi.
The reviews were mixed, but none surprised Oprah more than the one in the Chicago Sun-Times by Daniel Ruth, who had criticized her in the past but now praised her as “a woman of considerable talent—especially as a dramatic actress. Throughout … she exerts an energy that carries this production from beginning to end. It’s a first-rate characterization.”
Oprah wrote him a note, saying that she never thought she’d get a positive review out of him. He replied that he never thought she’d do anything to deserve one. “So,” he said many years later, “we were even.”
Now with her star power greatly enhanced, Oprah persuaded ABC to give her a weekly series in prime time based on the film. Her only caveat was that the show could not air on Thursday nights. “I will not be put in a situation where I’m up against Cosby,” she said, referring to The Cosby Show, one of the most popular shows on television then. To appease critics who felt The Women of Brewster Place bashed black men, Oprah agreed to add some sympathetic male characters and simply call the series Brewster Place. The network threw its full support behind her and her new show. “We are delighted to have Oprah Winfrey join our prime-time schedule in this series,” said Robert Iger, the new president of ABC entertainment. “The success of the mini-series last season and the ongoing popularity of her daily program are testament to Oprah’s universal appeal.”
Brewster Place began airing in May 1990, but drew such poor ratings that ABC canceled it after eleven episodes. The failed venture cost Oprah $10 million and left Harpo’s facilities largely unused and unprofitable. Having once again lost a shot at prime-time television, she retreated to her farm in Indiana. She later told Essence magazine that she had failed because the noise of her ambition had drowned out “the voice of God.”
“I thought I could make [the series] all right because I wanted it to be all right.… But I wasn’t ready for it. My mistake was that I didn’t listen to the voice. Me! The one who always preaches ‘Listen to the voice,’ ‘Be guided by the voice,