Considering Tyra Banks has long emulated Oprah Winfrey, it comes as no surprise that a few months after Oprah announced she’ll be ending her long-running talk show, Tyra has followed suit. Banks told People that “The Tyra Banks Show” will wrap in spring 2010, at the end of its fifth season. The former supermodel and current TV personality (in addition to her own show, she also hosts “America’s Next Top Model” and “True Beauty”) wants to concentrate on film production, just like — you guessed it — Oprah, who executive produced the recent film “Precious” and has a new series in the works for HBO through Harpo Films.
Banks has won two daytime Emmy awards for the female-focused “The Tyra Banks Show” — a fact that belies just how loopy and seemingly thrown-together the daytime chat program can often appear, whether she’s interviewing the creator of popthatzit.com or doing a segment on the Top 10 most dangerous foods to eat while driving or literally falling over a chair mid-show.
Ah, Tyra, we’ll miss your “just one of the gals” attempt to be Oprah for the Gen Y set. Below, a few of our favorite Tyra moments.
No matter the topic, whether it was public bathroom hygiene or gaining a better understanding of your lady parts, the “Tyra Banks Show” was ultimately — and always — about Tyra Banks. If you gave her the chance, Banks could find a way to personalize a segment about yak herders of Bhutan. Perhaps no clip illustrates this more than when Banks tackled her fear of dolphins. Dolphins??? What viewer — besides Tyra Banks — could possibly relate to this bizarre phobia? Watch as Banks visits a marine park to confront her Cetacean fears and ends up crying profusely.
Banks truly wanted — and repeatedly attempted — to use her show to tackle weighty social issues. But her well-meaning attempts at serious journalism were usually executed in such a half-baked way they came across as ineffectual, if not completely clueless. In this classic example, Banks, after seeing a private screening of the Will Smith movie “The Pursuit of Happyness,” is so moved by the problem of homelessness in America she goes undercover as a homeless woman. “I just want to immerse myself as much as possible into the homeless culture,” she says. How does she do this? By donning some thick boots and a scarf and walking around downtown L.A. for a few hours with a camera crew. We’ve seen homeless people, and they don’t look like supermodels in ratty clothes.
This interview with rapper Bow Wow is the sort of thing that, at first glance, seems like just another mildly ridiculous “Tyra” segment. But devoted Banks watcher Nineteen80Snore suggested we take a second look and appreciate a) how truly weird it is and b) how unintentionally revealing it is about Banks. The back story here is that Bow Wow had publicly admitted to having a crush on the former supermodel. Yet somehow Banks — 14 years older than the rapper and an internationally famous beauty — is the one who comes off as a tween in full crush mode. First she enlists Bow Wow to go on an awkward “date” with her in front of the studio audience. Then she tries to impress him with a (truly awkward) freestyle rap. Finally, Banks ends by repeatedly saying “Give me a kiss on the lips, Bow Wow.” A confused Bow Wow asks, “Are we for real?” We wondered the same thing.
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