In the segment, which airs during Thanksgiving week and was inspired by the holiday song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music, Oprah Winfrey shared products with her audience that she felt were noteworthy or that would make a great gift.
After being featured on the Oprah's Favorite Things segment, businesses typically experience a large boost in their website traffic and in visits to their stores.
The items presented in the 2002 episode were included in one of four categories: food favorites; beauty and body care; books, music and home; and high-tech discoveries.
Items included on the list were: In 2005, the audience for the taping of the Oprah's Favorite Things episode consisted of volunteers from Hurricane Katrina.
The listed items were: In 2006, the Oprah's Favorite Things episode took on a different slant as the audience members each received a credit card valued at one thousand dollars.
Winfrey, in addition to the regular show, held an "Oprah's Favorite Things for Summer" episode in May 2008, apparently against her wishes and at the behest of the production staff.
Club made fun of the uselessness and blandness of Oprah's 2007 list by posting a feature called 'Oprah's Favorite Thing or Symptom of Clinical Depression?
"[19] The 2008 decision to use inexpensive gifts drew jokes from Jimmy Kimmel Live!, including a mash-up that featured Winfrey supposedly giving away thumb tacks, to a much-dismayed audience.
Further criticism and satire have been directed at the reactions from the people in the audience, which typically ranged from cheering and screaming to hysterical crying from men and women alike.
A memorable parody of this was featured on a Saturday Night Live skit, where the audience tore the studio apart in their frenzied anticipation of the freebies they would get.