It’s official, folks. On today’s broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the mighty O will announce that after 25 seasons, no doubt more than 276 free carloads-worth of statues and accolades, and more fainting women and Favorite Things than you can shake a Stedman at, Winfrey will announce that her eponymous talk show is calling it a wrap on September 9, 2011. Tim Bennett, president of Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, proclaimed:

“Oprah’s personal comments about this on [today's] live show will mark a historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come.”

The Oprah.com site reports that the program has been the highest-rated talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, is seen by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the United States and is broadcast to 145 countries. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal says that Winfrey will turn her attentions to a new cable-television channel she plans to launch with Discovery Communications Inc.

Way to go, Ms. O, for beating those 2012-espousing doomsday sayers by over a year.

You’ve got a couple more years to prepare, people. Deep breaths.