Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios in Chicago, Illinois

Harpo Studios is owned by Oprah Winfrey. The Oprah Winfrey show is taped there three days a week. Tickets must be obtained at least one month in advance. Harpo Studios is located on West Washington Boulevard on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. The studio is built in an 88,000 square foot renovated armory which was purchased by Oprah Winfrey in 1988. The armory had cold storage and was once used as a morgue for victims of the shipwrecked steamer ship SS Eastland. The name Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards. Oprah Winfrey is the only African American woman in the world that owns a production studio. She is also the only African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show. The Oprah show won 40 Emmys before Oprah removed it from Emmy consideration.

A lot of television shows are taped at Harpo Studios including, Gloria Naylor-The Women of Brewster Place, The Rachel Ray Show and the Dr. Phil Show. Oprah Winfrey met Dr. Phil McGraw when she was being sued and hired him as a consultant for the trial. He was on the Oprah show for years before having his own show produced by Harpo Studios. Harpo also produces a radio show called Oprah and Friends and a music company named Harpo Records.

The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington was produced by Harpo. The movie Beloved starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover was produced by Harpo. Halle Berry starred in The Wedding, a 1998 miniseries, that was also produced by Harpo.