This image was lost some time after publication.

Whether lending out her couch for love-trumpeting acrobatics, her ear to the plight of African orphan-snatching pop icons, or simply launching a new generation of grating and ubiquitous talk show hosts groomed in her own branded image, America's spiritual shepherd Oprah Winfrey has always made it a point of giving something back. Now the Winfrey charity bonanza is coming to prime time, with two weepy, feel-good reality TV specials that promise to give audiences that magical, "I just gave everyone I know a Pontiac!" feeling:

First project, dubbed "Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give," has an eight-episode order from ABC. Skein follows a group of 10 people who will be handed money and resources — and then challenged to find dramatic and emotional ways to use the coin to help others.

Contestant field will be winnowed down each week, with the winner getting his or her wildest wish granted.

With reality TV showing recent signs of sliding back towards its sordid roots, it's a relief to know an Oprah Winfrey has joined the fray—someone from whom we can expect nothing but excellent production values and positive, life-affirming messages. Of course, making a compelling reality competition like The Apprentice isn't as easy as it looks, and viewers could well be turned off when the Katrina relief guy starts trash talking the African AIDS worker in the boardroom, moments before an exasperated Winfrey ejects both with her dismissal catchphrase, "Your funding's been cut off."