Ellen (TV series)

Ellen

Ellen season 2 intertitle
Format Sitcom
Created by Neal Marlens
Carol Black
David Rosenthal
Starring Ellen DeGeneres
David Anthony Higgins
Clea Lewis
Joely Fisher (Seasons 2–5)
Jeremy Piven (Seasons 3–5)
Arye Gross (Seasons 1–3)
Holly Fulger (Season 1)
Maggie Wheeler (Season 1)
Opening theme "So Called Friend" by Texas
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 109 (List of episodes)
Production
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time Approximately 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run March 29, 1994 – July 22, 1998

Ellen (originally titled These Friends of Mine for season one) is a U.S. television sitcom that ran on the ABC network from March 29, 1994 to July 22, 1998, producing 109 episodes.

The theme song, "So Called Friend" is by Scottish band Texas. A running gag was that each episode had a distinct opening credits sequence, resulting from Ellen's ongoing search for the perfect opening credits.

The title role of Ellen Morgan, played by stand-up comedian Ellen DeGeneres, was a neurotic bookstore owner in her thirties. The series centered on Ellen's dealing with her quirky friends, her family and the problems of daily life.

Contents

Episodes

The Puppy Episode

In 1997, Ellen made television history when the title character came out as a lesbian in the famous "Puppy Episode." (DeGeneres herself had come out earlier that year on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in TIME.) To ensure a memorable moment, the coming out scene was made into a gag where, at an airport, Ellen turns and tells Laura Dern "I'm gay!" – only to realize that she had turned right into the intercom microphone, announcing her sexuality to the entire terminal. Ellen DeGeneres's mother Betty can briefly be seen as one of the people in the terminal with a shocked reaction to the announcement.[1]

The episode was ranked #35 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[2]

The revelation ignited a storm of controversy, prompting ABC to place a parental advisory at the beginning of each episode.

Ellen was successful enough in its early seasons to warrant annual renewal, due largely to DeGeneres's perceived appeal and comic ability, but only with Ellen's coming out did the show make its way into the wide public consciousness and hit a critical plateau. However, after the initial coming out frenzy, the show's ratings declined and ABC began feeling the pain of an organized backlash from religious conservative groups regarding the "gay content" being exhibited. The final episodes of Ellen were criticized for focusing too much on gay issues,[3] a criticism begun in anti-gay circles but which spread to the mainstream media. Eventually, even some members of the gay community, including Chaz Bono (who at the time was the media director for GLAAD), began to criticize the show's serious new tone as well.[4] ABC pulled the show from the air in May 1998 after five seasons.

Cast

Main cast

Note – Between seasons one and two, there was not only a title change from These Friends of Mine to Ellen, but several characters disappeared without explanation.

Recurring cast

Broadcast history

Ratings

Season Episodes Season Premiere Season Finale Ranking Viewers
(in millions)
1 1993–94 13[a] March 29, 1994 August 30, 1994 N/A[5] N/A[5]
2 1994–95 24 September 21, 1994 May 17, 1995 #13[6] 14.7[6]
3 1995–96 25 September 13, 1995 May 21, 1996 #39[7] 10.6[7]
4 1996–97 25[a] September 18, 1996 May 25, 1997 #30[8] 10.6[8]
5 1997–98 22 September 24, 1997 July 22, 1998 #42[9] 12.4[9]
[a]Two episodes that aired in Season 3, The Tape and The Mugging, were filmed at the same time as Season 1 and are included in the Season 1 DVD box set as "bonus episodes", and are not included in the Season 3 DVD release.

Reruns

Reruns of the show first started airing on Lifetime in the fall of 1998, and stopped in 2001. Starting October 4, 2003, during DeGeneres's surge in popularity through her role in Finding Nemo and her new daytime talk show, Lifetime began airing reruns again, on 1AM-2AM ET Sunday mornings, starting with the second season. Before long, it went into the 1:30AM-2AM ET time slot Monday-Friday. The reruns stopped two episodes into the controversial final season. Oxygen then picked up the entire series to air starting October 4, 2004, daily at midnight and noon ET. As of June 18, 2007, the show continues to air 8AM-11AM ET Monday mornings in the US. Reruns of the show in the UK were until recently on ABC1 until the channel closed in September 2007. These were shown only on weekend mornings, along with other Touchstone Pictures productions. No other UK channels are currently airing the show.

In Australia episodes air on 111 HITS weekdays in a daytime timeslot. New Zealand is currently airing double episode reruns on TVNZ TV2 every Monday night.

In Canada, it is currently being aired by TVtropolis.

Awards

American Comedy Awards, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication Ellen DeGeneres

1996 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication Ellen DeGeneres

BMI Film & TV Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1995 Won BMI TV Music Award W.G. Snuffy Walden

1994 Won BMI TV Music Award W.G. Snuffy Walden

Casting Society of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Won Artios Best Casting for TV, Comedy Episodic Tammara Billik

1997 Nominated Artios Best Casting for TV, Comedy Episodic Tammara Billik

1995 Nominated Artios Best Casting for TV, Comedy Episodic Tammara Billik Justine Jacoby

Directors Guild of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series' Gil Junger For the Puppy episode.

Emmy Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Won Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emma Thompson (ABC). For playing "Herself". For episode "Emma". Nominated Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres (ABC). Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Lawrence Broch (ABC). For episode "Emma".

1997 Won Emmy Outstanding Editing for a Series - Multi-Camera Production Kris Trexler (editor) (ABC). For "The Puppy Episode". Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres (story) Mark Driscoll (teleplay) Dava Savel (teleplay) Tracy Newman (teleplay) Jonathan Stark (teleplay) (ABC). For "The Puppy Episode". Nominated Emmy Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Gil Junger (director) (ABC). For "The Puppy Episode". Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Laura Dern (ABC). For playing "Susan Richmond". For "The Puppy Episode". Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres (ABC).

1996 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres (ABC).

1995 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres (ABC).

GLAAD Media Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Nominated GLAAD Media Award Outstanding TV Comedy Series

1998 Won GLAAD Media Award Outstanding TV Comedy Series

1997 Nominated GLAAD Media Award Outstanding TV Comedy Series

Golden Globes, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV Joely Fisher Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical Ellen DeGeneres

1996 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical Ellen DeGeneres

1995 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical Ellen DeGeneres

Peabody Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Won Peabody Award (ABC, The Black/Marlens Company and Touchstone Television (associate) ). For episode "The Puppy Episode".

Satellite Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Won Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical Ellen DeGeneres Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical

1998 Nominated Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical Ellen DeGeneres

Screen Actors Guild Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres

1997 Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres

1995 Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres

TV Land Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2007 Nominated TV Land Award TV Moment That Became Headline News Ellen DeGeneres For coming out as a lesbian in "The Puppy Episode".

Viewers for Quality Television Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Nominated Q Award Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Ellen DeGeneres

Writers Guild of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1999 Nominated WGA Award (TV) Episodic Comedy Lawrence Broch For episode "Emma".

1998 Nominated WGA Award (TV) Episodic Comedy Mark Driscoll Dava Savel Tracy Newman Jonathan Stark Ellen DeGeneres (story) For the Puppy episode.

Young Artist Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1998 Nominated Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Guest Starring Young Actress Cara Rose

1996 Nominated Young Artist Award Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten - Television Brittany Ashton Holmes

DVD releases

A&E Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.

DVD Name Ep # Release date
Season One 13 September 28, 2004
Season Two 24 February 22, 2005
Season Three 25 February 28, 2006
Season Four 25 September 26, 2006
Season Five 22 November 28, 2006

References

External links