Ellen: Moving On

The more things change....

Ellen: Moving On
ABC
May 14, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B+

In this Flebotte & Herschlag story, Ellen finally moves into her house, but the title has other meanings.  When Audrey, who is enthusiastically supporting Ellen's sexual identity every chance she gets, creates a "sisterhood" display for books about lesbianism, Ed objects.  Ellen comes out to him and he pretends nothing has changed, but he lies so that she will no longer babysit his daughters, seven-year-old Emily and (probably six- or five-year-old) Willa (Cara Rose and Sara Dampf for the last time).  Meanwhile, Paige is uncomfortable around Ellen now, feeling like their relationship has changed.  Paige comes around but Ellen realizes that Ed won't, and she quits the bookstore.  I like how the episode can go from serious moments to Three's-Company-like farce, as when Ed misunderstands Ellen's relationship to her realtor Margaret (Nancy Lenehan for the last time).  And this time the Bee Gees sing in the title sequence.  All in all, the season ends much better than it starts.

Ellen in its fourth season ranges from C to A-, averaging out to a B-, but then fourteen of the episodes are B-s.  As I recall, the main change for the final season would be that more (but not all) storylines would deal with Ellen's sexuality, despite a skittish ABC.  The supporting cast would fade further into the background, which is not necessarily a bad thing, even for a series originally called These Friends of Mine.

Ellen: Alone Again...Naturally

Ellen: Alone Again...Naturally
ABC
January 8, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Ellen babysits Ed's daughters Willa and Emily (Sarah Dampf and Cristine Rose) for New Year's Eve, but she makes a resolution to "live dangerously," which means going to a romantic French restaurant on her own and taking a pottery class.  The writing in this Mark Wilding story is pretty solid, including the Ghost parody, but I had to mark it down from a B because of the subplot where Spence and Joe accidentally and stupidly burn Paige's kitchen.  Note that Ellen finds a bathroom attendant to be a better therapist than the professionals she's paying $75/hour (which honestly doesn't sound that much for L.A., considering what Bob Hartley charged in the '70s), and even shares a dream about K.D. Lang (another fourth-season hint/tease).

Bob Saget again plays himself, this time filming a Canadian movie for Lifetime, with Paige overseeing the budget.

Ellen: Bowl, Baby, Bowl

Ed/Audrey?  No, he's just being helpful.

Ellen: Bowl, Baby, Bowl
ABC
December 4, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
C+

DeGeneres's brother Vance wrote this story where Ellen and Ed compete at bowling and then pool.  Some scattered funny lines, but it is a sports episode.  The pre-title scene teases us about Ellen going back and forth between men and women, but she's saying this to her latest (male) therapist.  Sara Dampf and Cara Rose again play Ed's daughters Willa and Emily, and we find out that Ed's wife (played by Duet's Mary Page Keller) is very pregnant, although we'll never see her again.  This is the first of three Ellen episodes directed by Lorraine Sevre-Richmond.

Ellen: Kiss My Bum

Ellen: Kiss My Bum
ABC
November 27, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
B-

David Walpert wrote this story where Ellen volunteers at a soup kitchen to prove her charitability to Ed.  She bonds with another helper, Perry (a surprisingly serious Joe Flaherty), and invites him to Thanksgiving dinner.  She doesn't realize that Perry is homeless, so things get very awkward.  Meanwhile, Spence's mother Ferne (Kathleen Noone in the first of two appearances) visits from New York, and Spence assumes she won't like Paige.  (She doesn't but is very nice to Paige to her face.)  This episode is a bit heavy-handed, but I like the playing with stereotypes during the football game, with Peter and Barrett yelling at the TV, while Spence and Joe discuss pies.

Ellen: The Bubble Gum Incident

Ellen: The Bubble Gum Incident
ABC
October 30, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
B-

David Walpert's first of five Ellen stories reveals that Ellen and Paige's friendship is built on a lie.  They met in summer camp 25 years ago, as we've heard in other episodes.  But it turns out that Ellen put gum in Paige's hair while the latter was asleep, and let another girl take the blame for it all this time.  Ellen fears Paige learning the truth when they attend their camp reunion, but Paige is remarkably forgiving when she hears.

Romy Rosemont, who was Margaret D. on Roseanne, is The Woman here.  Wolfgang Puck, who was himself on Who's the Boss? in '87, is himself in the title sequence.  As far as I know, Anne Rice doesn't appear in any other of my shows.  And, yes, that is Kaley Cuoco playing Little Ellen in the flashbacks, at the age of 11, eleven years before she'd become Penny on The Big Bang Theory.

Ellen: Splitsville, Man

Ellen: Splitsville, Man
ABC
October 2, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
C+

While there are definitely things I like about this story, Matt Goldman's first of two for Ellen, from the Captain & Tennille in the title sequence to Ellen teasing the audience with a line about her whole life maybe being a lie and she might actually be left-handed, it's hard for me to get past the scene of her humiliating her parents at her father's retirement party because she's so upset about the separation.  Note that Ellen is 34 and her parents have been together 37 years.  Ed, who last episode said he had a five-year-old, here has a four-year-old, confirming my theory that his daughters are close in age.  Also, this is the second episode where Ellen sits in one of the O's of the Hollywood sign, so they get to reuse that set.

John Petlock, who was a Minister on Who's the Boss? a decade earlier, is Uncle Jim here, while Pat Crawford Brown, who was Mary on WtB in '88, plays Rose.  John David Conti, who was Lou on Roseanne in '91, is Tom here.  Nancy Lenehan is again Margaret the realtor, here getting the last name Reed.

Ellen: A Deer Head for Joe

Ellen: A Deer Head for Joe
ABC
September 25, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Mark Driscoll story introduces Bruce Campbell (yes, that Bruce Campbell) as Ellen's new boss Ed Billik, with whom she literally and figuratively locks horns.  When Ed fires Joe, Ellen steals Ed's deer-head trophy for a trade.  Meanwhile, Spence and Paige decide to go on an actual date, although they have nothing in common.  (Yes, neither did Adam and Audrey, but not that much time was spent on them.)

Chris D'Arienzo makes the first of two appearances as a nameless Customer, while Latte Customer Juliana Morgan would return as a Lesbian's Daughter.  Six-year-old Sara Dampf and Cara Rose (age unknown, but close to that) make their first appearances as Ed's daughters Willa and Emily.