1. Oprah Winfrey
Initially The Oprah Winfrey Show was just another talk show when it debuted in 1986. But what made it stand out and rise above the rest was the show’s host. Now The Oprah Winfrey Show is only a small part of Oprah’s empire, and in 2011, will cease to exist in its current format. But not because the show is cancelled, Oprah is moving onto something bigger than her own show. She’s starting her own network, appropriately called OWN.

2. Arsenio Hall
The Arsenio Hall Show revolutionized late night television. Just ask Bill Clinton who many say would have never won the 1992 presidential election had it not been for his surprise appearance on that show.

3. Mo’Nique
Unlike Arsenio, The Mo’Nique Show has a lot more competition in that late night slot. But the Oscar-winning comedienne has been able to hold her own against, pulling in her own unique audience on BET. While the rest of America was tuning into the drama of the late night talk show wars between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno, plenty others tuned them out and tuned into Mo’Nique.

4. Tyra Banks
A show about service as much as it was celebrity, through The Tyra Show, Tyra used her beauty and brains for good. What Oprah is to the stay-at-home moms of America, Tyra was to the teenagers of America who came home after school and needed a big sister to understand them.

5. Wendy Williams
The popular radio DJ has successfully taken her format and gift of gossip to the small screen. Though Vh1 would air her radio show, The Wendy Williams Show has shown the queen of talk radio can also sit down on a couple of comfortable couch chairs and ask questions with the best of them.

6. Whoopi Goldberg

The moderator of The View is fearless and isn’t afraid to call it like she sees it. And if someone else is calling it like she sees it on the show, she’s not afraid to retort or even walk away.

7. Montell Williams
As a former Marine, and a victim to multiple scoliosis, Williams — an Emmy Award winning talk show host — used his show as a platform to bring awareness to various social issues in an aggressive style.

8. Star Jones
The controversial panel member on The View during it’s early years was one of the sharpest and most entertaining women on the panel.

9. Tavis Smiley
Many people were shocked when BET let Tavis Smiley’s contract as host of BET Tonight expire, but the charming media personality has landed on his feet. Now the host of his very own PBS show, Tavis Smiley, Smiley is doing what he does best, interviewing the people we’ve always wanted to talk to ourselves, asking them the questions we’ve always wanted to ask.

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Princeton professor Cornel West and broadcaster Tavis Smiley are joining forces this fall to co-host a new radio show. Both are provocative and well-known public figures and leveraging the current popularity of the Tavis Smiley Show and integrating their professional and personal relationship, they will “explore contemporary, cutting-edge issues.” The announcement came during the 23rd annual Public Radio Programming Conference in Denver, Colorado, Sunday, September 26.

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DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley Are Working Together

Tavis Smiley Calls On Black Leaders To Discuss Black Agenda Under Obama

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Among the outspoken African-American political and social figures that have criticized President Obama for not doing more for black Americans in these tough economic times, Al Sharpton has emerged as the voice of support for Obama’s presidential initiatives designed to help all Americans.

According to an article written for The Wall Street Journal, “President Barack Obama has turned to Mr. Sharpton in recent weeks to answer increasingly public criticism in the black community over his economic policy. Some black leaders are charging that the nation’s first African-American president has failed to help black communities hit hard by the downturn, leaving party strategists worried that black Democrats will become dispirited and skip November’s congressional elections.”

Sharpton used the platform of his national radio show to fire back stating that “The president does not need to get out there and do what we should be doing,” adding that if the President did just that, it would create just the right climate for conservatives and other Obama critics to defeat legislation that would actually assist blacks, rather than hurt them.

On one particular show, Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley, prominent black talk show host, butted heads over this issue where Mr. Sharpton stated that “…it was a ‘double standard’ for Mr. Smiley and other critics to expect more from a black president than they would demand of a white Democratic president.”

Although during most of his campaign, President Obama steered clear of historically radical black civil rights leaders, Al Sharpton is now an unlikely ally in addressing the concerns of some black leaders and establishing solidarity for the president.

To read the entire article “Obama’s New Partner: Al Sharpton,” visit The Wall Street Journal online.

Listen to the big debate between Tavis Smiley and Al Sharpton: