Oprah takes 'Australia'

Is Oprah staying beyond the 2011 season or is she going? And if she ditches her Emmy stockpiling afternoon chat show to run her own network (conveniently called OWN), who will fill the void in the Hollywood film promo machine?

Tina Fey's BFF was on hyperdrive today on that score, devoting the hour to "Australia," with Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, her co-star Hugh Jackman, director Baz Luhrmann (by Skype!) and more time than necessary devoted to a Down Under travelogue.

"Australia" has been bandied about by awards prognosticators (you know, the clown-suited variety), but hasn't made our list, though we toyed with, and dismissed, the idea of another Kidman Oscar nomination.

Oprah's minions would probably take issue with that. They got an early look at the period drama, putting them in the loop before film critics, bloggers and various other media types. Guess that shows who's really important here?

So, does that mean the movie's finished after all? Does anybody, um, die at the end?

That didn't come up.

Though Oprah opines about a lot of romance flicks ("Love in the Time of Cholera," remember?) and parades the stars in front of her faithful, she was especially gushy about "Australia," saying, "It's just the film we needed to see!"

What will this mean on its Nov. 26 U.S. release date? Or at Oscar time? Come on back for the inevitable spotty follow-ups.