Ellen: Makin' Whoopie

Betty DeGeneres's back of head on the left side

Ellen: Makin' Whoopie
ABC
January 22, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I was going to go with a C+ for this David Flebotte story where Ellen gets drunk at a wine-tasting party hosted by a doctor Spence is trying to impress, but she does a nice rendition of the title tune.  Meanwhile Joe sells Canadian-themed jokes to Audrey's boyfriend Mike (Dana Gould again), which bomb until they go to a Canadian comedy club with Paige.  Degeneres's mother Betty is an uncredited but easily spottable Woman at the Party.  Director Iris Dugow didn't work on any other of my shows.

This is my 2600th television post.  We will definitely hit 2700, but not necessarily by the end of the '90s.

Tompkins Square: Greg Proops

Tompkins Square: Greg Proops
Comedy Central
August 31, 1996
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
B

This Dana-Gould-hosted series kicked off with a pilot that featured Proops among others.  Having seen Greg live a couple times around then, I can vouch for this being a typical set, with its contrast of cultures, in this case, "Lo Cal" (Southern California), England, and Mexico.  It still holds up well, although it would've been interesting to see some New York humor, considering the setting.

Ellen: The Pregnancy Test

Ellen: The Pregnancy Test
ABC
November 20, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
B

Mark Driscoll wrote this story where Paige thinks she's pregnant, so Audrey suggests that the two of them, and Ellen, take home pregnancy tests.  One of the tests comes out positive, and it's assumed to be Paige's.  Then Paige gets her period, so Audrey seems to be the pregnant one, and so of course blurts this out to Audrey's boyfriend Mike (Dana Gould, who does his most famous joke here, the one about Don Knotts as an obscene phone caller).  In the end, it's just a false positive, but, as Ellen tells her latest therapist (Marilyn Kagan, who was Althea on Mork & Mindy fifteen years earlier), she resents the implication that she couldn't be a mother.  There's a definite subtext that Ellen is avoiding dealing with her sexuality, but even on a surface level, we see that she feels different from her friends, and has all her life.

Chris D'Arienzo plays a nameless Customer again.  ZZ Top appear in this week's title sequence, and, yes, Ellen wears a beard for that.  Alan Myerson previously directed, among many series, The Bob Newhart Show and Welcome Back, Kotter; he'd do two more for Ellen.

Roseanne: Hoi Polloi Meets Hoiti Toiti

'90s Comedy Central viewers would get a kick out of the casting.

Roseanne: Hoi Polloi Meets Hoiti Toiti
ABC
November 12, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Leif Sandaas co-wrote (with someone with almost zero other credits) this not-bad-for-Season-Nine story where Astrid Wentworth (Mo Gaffney again) invites Roseanne and family to stay with the Wentworths at Martha's Vineyard.  The class contrast is a little weak, but stronger than anything we've seen so far this season, even if the ultimate message is that the rich (or at least this rich family anyway) are basically nice people who just need to loosen up.  (And that Roseanne Barr would end up supporting an uninhibited rich man for President is one of history's ironies.) 

Note that the teenage girl of the household thinks D.J. is a "bad boy" and tries to seduce him, but he's a scared virgin.  D.J. is now 15 and this won't be the last we'll hear of his "love life."  Also, since I had to omit Fishman from the overcrowded tags thrice in the past, this is actually his 200th episode.

Stella Butler, who previously was a sassy Jerry Springer Audience Member, here is sassy Nurse Stella.  This time Phil Leeds plays Grandmama Lily.  Iqbal Theba would reprise his role as Dr. Bakshi in the next episode and would be on Ellen the following year.  Stand-up comic Dana Gould, who's Chip here, would also soon appear on Ellen.  Cole Roberts is still baby Jerry, and the Hazen twins are still listed for Andy, but Andy's hair is darker now.