Throughout the first season, Oprah interviews Aerosmith's Steven Tyler at his New Hampshire home; journeys to Haiti with Sean Penn nearly two years after a devastating earthquake took the lives of more than 300,000 people; tours Skywalker Ranch with George Lucas as her personal guide; has a slumber party at Southern chef Paula Deen's Georgia estate; and travels to a small town in Iowa devoted to the practice of Transcendental Meditation.

[2][4][5] On January 24, 2012, it was announced that as a result of its high ratings, Oprah's Next Chapter would be airing two nights per week in February, as two-part episodes that run one hour each.

These episodes "will feature Winfrey visiting How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris in his Los Angeles home, where she'll meet his husband-to-be and his fraternal twin babies.

Upcoming episodes were scheduled to feature Kelsey Grammer Jennifer Hudson, Bette Midler, Stephen Colbert.

Sara Vilkomerson of Entertainment Weekly stated that the premiere with Steven Tyler showcased Winfrey's trademark skills as "a master interviewer.

[14] Further, Steve Johnson of Chicago Tribune declared that Winfrey "knows how to steer a celebrity chat" and that her discussion with Tyler in the premiere was "fascinating".

To put these numbers in context, the Oprah's Next Chapter premiere represented a 463 percent increase in the demo over the network's December 2011 average in that time period.

"[16] According to affiliate ratings, the second week, featuring Winfrey's interview with pastor Joel Osteen, "brought in an audience of 1.6 million during its Sunday night broadcast.