LOS ANGELES (AP) — For nearly two decades, Phil Donahue was virtually the only TV talk show host to roam his audience with microphone and make them an essential part of his show.
His huge cultural influence — especially with the women who tended to watch television during the day in his era — finally led to a flock of cultural imitators in the 1980s, including one who would eventually knock him off his perch.
“For a long time I wondered why it took so long for someone to copy us,” Donahue told the Archive of American Television in 2001. “Then along came Oprah Winfrey. It is not possible
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