- It's the one and only Oprah Winfrey. (audience applauding) - Hey, hey hey. (audience applauding) (Drew screaming) - This is the loudest we've
been since we started in August, just us in a very big room, kind of starting in an unprecedented time. Welcome to the show. Dare I say, maybe you've seen it? - Yes, I have. May I say, dare I say, seeing
it actually changed my life. You have changed my life. You certainly changed my
work life because I was there for that very first show where you beamed in Cameron and there, you all were. And we were, you know, didn't know that you all weren't in the same space. I watched that and I said, "Hey, why can't we do what Drew did?" (Drew laughing) "Why can't we do what Drew did?" And since that time, for Oprah
conversations, for Apple TV, the first time I did it was with president Barack Obama, talking about his book 'Promised Land'. And there we were sitting
right across from each other in my living room, in
front of the fireplace. And I said, then, this
is because of you, Drew. So thank you.
(audience applauding) Pioneer woman.
(audience applauding) - I have to thank you so much because you didn't need to give
us the credit, but you did. And for those who are not aware,
here's a little taped piece on the technology of which
Oprah and I are talking about. When we launched this show
in the middle of a pandemic, we had to get creative. With the magic of technology,
we came up with a way to transport our guests from our LA studio
right here, to New York. How cool is that? We knew one person who thought so too. It's Oprah! It's Oprah! It's Oprah! Oprah approves! Oprah likey! Yes, the Oprah was inspired to use a similar green screen
technology to interview guests like President Barack Obama. Listen, we may not be able
to be in the same room, but we can sure feel
like it and look like it. (audience applauding) - I thank you so much because
I'm gonna be really honest, I haven't really admitted this out loud, but it was really scary
for me to be, you know, a girl, a woman, I don't
know what I am, a female, asking for people to take this risk and spend this money and ask
ourselves these questions. And I'm so grateful to my bosses that they
allowed us to do this, because this was, you know, a check and a risk away
from not happening. And I want to ask you, is
this where we're going? The water is out of the bottle. People are not gonna travel
the way they used to. People have gotten comfortable
with interview styles. Some are gonna show up, some aren't, you're gonna have access to more people than you ever did in some
ways 'cause the technology. It's all going to be maybe a mixed bag. And if it is, don't we
have to make it the best and most compelling television
in honor of the audience. - Yeah. I, 1000% agree with that. And I think, that's why
I say you really have, you literally have changed my life. And I've had people say that. I said, listen, "After Drew,
I'm not going nowhere." (audience laughing)
And so the truth is, you're able to have better access. And I think there will
certainly be times in both of our lives and in our
careers when being directly in front of the person makes a world of difference and may maybe necessary. But I think that in terms of having access to anybody in the world at
any time, what you all did in that first show lit, the
path for changing it forever. And I'm sure we would have
done it today, but I, you know I'm where there's no studio. So I'm like in the middle
of nowhere out here. You need a studio to be able to do it. - You really do.
- So if there was a studio within 500 miles I would have done it. - I'm so glad. And may we do it again in the future. Because I was so glad to
see you embracing this, you acknowledging us and us
moving forward in this way, because it does become a new normal. And it, for the girl who
felt really, honestly, again this is the part I don't talk about, is when you're fighting
for things in business, it's not comfortable, especially
when they're not done. You feel like the messy one, you feel like the one who might be
spending people's money in a improper way. You don't know if the
risk is gonna pay off but you get into your convictions
and you fight for them. And so when I saw you
embracing the technology, it told that person who
hung up the phone that day. 'Cause I remember saying,
"Listen, you guys, we have got to do this. We have got to find a new way
for our future of television. This is not funny. We are in a really unprecedented time and we can't go on with
the home show forever. We just can't." - You did the thing that I
had to do a thousand times over the years. And when I first started, so let me applaud you for doing
the thing that every person, particularly every woman, needs to learn as soon as possible. Your gut is right for you. So when you feel something
in your gut and you think, "Wow, I need to, I need
to really move on that," that means it is right for you. It doesn't mean that it is
right for everybody else. And I think it takes
women in particularly, a long long time to be
affirmed in their own beliefs. And that is the reason
actually we were the number one talk show for 25 years, is because it always came
back to, what do I feel? What do I feel is my real
intention in doing this? And I cannot do it if it's not true to me. Even if everybody else says,
and many times, you know, Drew, producers would come in with ideas, and I would say, "I can't do that. I don't know how I can sit in that chair and keep a straight face and do that. (audience and Drew laughing) I'm not gonna be able to do that." So I applaud you for going with your gut. 'Cause your gut is always right for you. - Well, I think you've given
so much courage to everyone, especially women, to fight
for what we believe in. And I was gonna ask you
if you had any advice. May I ask when you
ended your first season, and you knew you were rounding
the corner in to season two, what were you telling yourself? - I actually was telling myself, "Self, you was right." Because as, most people
don't know this now, but when we launched in 1986, I had been a local talk show
in Chicago for two years. What I understood was that
there's a common nality, in our human experience and
that people are no different in Chicago than they are in New York, than they are in Idaho than
they are in Rhode Island, when it comes to the core. Now we're in, you know,
everybody's so divided about their politics and
their beliefs and so forth, but I still do believe at the core. We're all the same. If you ask blue States,
red States, purple States, what really matters to you? The answer is the same. People care about their families. They care about being
able to live decent lives. They care about being able
to do that in comfort, and do that with a sense of peace. And I still think in spite
of all the craziness, in spite of all the divisions, which is what everybody
talks about all the time is that we are more alike
than we are different, which is a very famous Maya Angelou line. She used to say that all the time. And in our humanness, we are, we all are just seeking the same things. And that's what this platform,
the Drew Barrymore Show, offers every day, is a
chance for those of us of like-mindedness. Those of us who are seeking the joy, who wants to wear some bows, (audience and Oprah laughing) - I went extra jaunty for you. I was like, bows and
flowers, it's Oprah, like, I'm surprised I don't have
bells on and like a bow. (upbeat music)
