So OMG, I know all about being an audience member at the Oprah show now! Me & Ma attended a taping yesterday. Here's the basics:
1. do your homework on public parking west of the loop. IT'S NOT PRETTY! In fact, do yourself a favor and just take the train, cab, etc.
2. get there early. Like stand in line with the "crazy people" for an hour before the appointed "arrival time". You'll have to stand a total of about 3 hours, in line, and then in the "holding cell" before being seated for the show. But the people who stood in line early, got the limited number of chairs available in the holding cell, and were first (among a few hundred) to be seated in the studio.
3. wear comfy shoes, for the reasons listed above.
Oprah is exactly like she looks on TV. Not too fat, not too thin. VERY pretty for her age, and yes, full of make-up but not that she looks any different than on TV. But my favorite part was when she came out and she was like... right...there ...wow! She's real and she's funny and she comes out barefoot and only puts her shoes on when she's in position to start the show, making jokes and telling the camera men to be sure to get a shot of these super cute shoes that hurt so band and stuff. That part was fun.
The studio is actually BIGGER than you think. I went in thinking it would seem small, and there would not be as many people as it seems on TV. But actually, it was rather big and there were like 360 people (they said the number at some point). She was closer to the audience on her sofa than it seems on tv, but we decided, depending on topic, she probably gets closer, or moves back. Being a rather "intimate and dramatic" topic, she was all cozy with the audience.
We were in the "balcony" area, but centered in the studio. Very good seats. (kinda by one of the tunnel-ways she comes out of, we were actually on the end of our section, if she had come out of that particular tunnel thing, we could have hi-fived her! Even though the studio is bigger than I expected, you were still very close to Oprah regardless of your seat.
The staff, all very fun and friendly and attractive, start the show with some direction and "do's", mostly "dont's". Like don't chew gum, dont sit down until your finished speaking (if you called on to speak) stuff like that. Then another rather attractive fun guy come out and starts getting us all psyched and "on-topic" before Oprah comes out. We dont yet meet the main character of the drama we're about to witness, but audience members are chosen to speak about their overwhelmedness (assuming thats a word?). Some were definitely overwhelmed, some just wanted to talk.
So the topic was "Overwhelmed Moms" but should have been called "The Worst Thing That Can Happen To A Busy Mom When She Changed Her Daily Routine" So yea, we cried. It was a terrible story of an accident that killed a 2 yr old girl. I hate ruining the show for you, but she was one of those toddlers, accidentally left in a hot car ALL DAY LONG, by a very GOOD and NORMAL and CUTE mom. It was not an easy thing to hear. Then some chatter about how we (as moms) often feel overwhelmed and not thinking clearly as a result of making our position harder than it needs to be. I could defiantly relate to some of the chatter. Even the how this could even happen to someone. I can see it.
She told her story so we might all slow down a little, and take a breath. Ask for help and always always know where everyone is.
So here's what I took from it: O M G . I wanna hug my babies and pay more attention, and be "checked-in" to THIS second and not the next one and the one after that one, and try to not sweat the small stuff, and who cares if I'm late for something, or if I'm not a "perfect mom", cause theres worse things than pushing yourself to be perfect cause you forget your goal in the first place and if this lady keeps on talking about this, I might puke, cause she's right there and I'm right here and she's a good person and something awful happened, an awful terrible accident and her 2 yr old baby girl died and I have a 2 yr old baby girl and I just cannot even imagine the guilt, the horror, the absolute destruction of oneself that this woman is trying to get across. THEN to make it worse, you hear the 911, you hear descriptions and horrible details, and they show some of the police interrogation, where she's moaning that she just wants to die. It was all because this was a TRAGIC accident, it was a horrible nightmare. I'm not even sure if I really enjoyed myself, given the grief we had to witness.
They could not give us a definite air date, just told us to watch the website for topic air dates.
So besides for the aching feet, sweating in the heat, thirst, hunger and despair, going to the Oprah show was kinda cool I guess.
Frankie was happy to say the least...
Mary enjoys it as well. 
You did not have to tell Molly she was pretty she knew, telling everyone... "is 
