During this period, she made her first television appearance as a talk-show personality in May 1968 on "Virginia Graham's Girl Talk", a weekday series syndicated by ABC Films. An opera fan who was Talent Coordinator for the series persuaded the producer to put her on the air and she was a huge hit. Throughout the rest of her career she shone as a talk show guest, sometimes also functioning as a guest host. Sills underwent successful surgery for ovarian cancer in late October 1974 (sometimes misreported as breast cancer). Her recovery was so rapid and complete that she opened in "The Daughter of the Regiment" at the San Francisco Opera a month later.