It’s hard to dislike Ellen Rakieten. She learned from the best, working for the legendary Minnesota talk show Good Company before landing a dream job as head producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she spent the next 23 years with the most likable woman on the planet. I gave not liking her a shot after reading her new book, Undateable: 311 Things That Guys Do That Guarantee They Won’t Be Dating or Having Sex (which became a reality show on VH1) and realized I do 179 of the things, but she won me over in the first two minutes of the interview. Yes, she’s really good.
How long did you work at Good Company?
I started when I was 19, worked for a couple years, then went right on to Oprah.
So you were running Oprah when you were 25?
We’re not giving ages here, Steve! But when I started at Oprah I was younger than that.
Did Oprah interview you?
Oh yeah, just the two of us.
How was that?
It’s funny, because I’ve never been a big drinker, but we went out for drinks for my first interview. The waitress asked me, “What would you like?” and the only cocktail I could think of was a seabreeze. So non-sophisticated. And Oprah’s like, “Oh, I love that drink too!” And then we just bonded and hit it off.
Seabreezes got you the gig.
A seabreeze and a cute outfit.
What were you wearing?
Actually, I remember, which is funny, isn’t it? I was wearing a skirt and a sweater. Oh, but who cares, Steve?
Evidently you do.
Well nobody cares for your article!
That’s the kind of thing that makes articles interesting to read.
I was wearing a blue-and-white striped sweater and a navy skirt.
With the seabreeze you were ready to go sailing.
Oh shush. If you write that, I’m hanging up on you.
Did you read Kitty Kelley’s book about Oprah?
No.
C’mon, you can tell me. Oprah’s not omniscient like Prince.
I would tell you! Even if I had time to read it, I wouldn’t have. Reading about it seems like a waste of time when you lived it.
I don’t have time to read Kitty Kelley either, so what’s Oprah really like?
Besides being everything we all know—she’ll go down in history as one of the world’s best communicators on the planet—she’s really truly a . . . I’m not saying this to be a—what’s the word?
Kiss ass?
No, she’s really a living legend superhero.
What are her superpowers?
One of Oprah’s greatest gifts is authenticity. She’s never been afraid to share her own life. She was the pioneer of that. Prior to that, we had Phil Donahue, who certainly paved the way, but Oprah was an African American woman who struggled with her weight and came from nothing. We had never seen somebody like that on TV before who was willing to not play the PM Magazine perky blonde role.
Was Oprah a prototype for reality TV?
Almost every reality show is derived off an Oprah segment. For years we had production companies calling us and saying, “Hey, can you send us a tape of that show?” And at the time we were like, “Sure! Why not?”
Now you work with another superstar, Jerry Seinfeld, on The Marriage Ref.
Who I love. There’s nobody like him.
I have some friends who are comedians, and I learned you can try riffing with them, which is usually a disaster, or you can sit back and laugh, which always works.
The thing that Jerry says about me, which is one of my favorite compliments, is that I was an easy laugh. I told him recently, if it didn’t feel creepy, I would write down everything he said because I laugh all day long.
You signed a deal with Relativity Media to produce reality TV and film. Are you better with big concepts or details of great stories?
Well here’s the truth about working on a show like Oprah: One day you’re doing “What’s the best bra?” and the next day you’re covering death row. It’s the ultimate training, so I don’t consider myself having a niche.
Do you consider yourself a journalist?
Nope, I’m a TV producer at heart. Some of my favorite shows on Oprah were going to New Orleans after Katrina or the series on death row. But no, I love TV. I guess my mission statement is to enlighten, uplift, inform, and entertain.
A good journalist does those things.
But would I have produced Jersey Shore? Sure.
I read Undateable. If I wrote a book about all the girls I wouldn’t date, I’d be called a pig.
You should help me with my next book, then. We’ve been interviewing guys and the distinction is funny: For men it’s not about a woman being undateable, it’s about them being unmarriable. We had guys say, “Would I have sex with her? Sure, I can overlook that. Would I marry her? No.”
You don’t like Speedos, stupid T-shirts, or sports metaphors. Do you like men at all?
I love them. In general, some guys just don’t talk too much in depth. It’s not like guys are talking about what they did to go from a maybe to a no way. Are you single?
Yes.
So the last date you went on—that you thought went really well—you don’t want to know what went wrong?
OK. Busted. I love wearing a Speedo.
5 Things You Didn't Know About Ellen Rakieten
1. Her Chicago home was on the cover of Elle Décor.
2. She’s been married for 17 years and has two kids, but she’s never cooked a meal.
3. Her favorite TV show is Gossip Girl.
4. She doesn’t wears colored nail polish on her fingers, only on her toes.
5. She used to have a crush on Kevin McHale.
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