Ellen: Vows

Ellen: Vows
ABC
July 22, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B

In this Cohen & Pratt story, helping Ellen's parents prepare to renew their vows causes Ellen and Laurie to get caught up in the romance.  But when Ellen proposes to Laurie, Laurie says no because the ceremony seems empty to her as long as it's not legal.  It would be another fifteen years before California legalized gay marriage, and television and so much else would change by then.  In its own way, this episode creates TV history: the first time the main character on a sitcom proposes a same-sex marriage.

It's nice to see Kathleen Noone and Brian Doyle-Murray finally appear together as Ellen's Aunt Ferne and Uncle Burt, he of course a real scene-stealer.  It does seem odd that their son Spence couldn't make it to the wedding, but whatever.

Ellen in its fifth and final season ranges from C to B+, averaging out to a B-.  Despite the common opinion that the show got "too gay," the missteps of this season are when the writers (and DeGeneres) forgot that the biggest pro-gay statement they could make was showing the humanity of their imperfect but good-hearted lesbian protagonist.  The series was at its most universal when it explored the ways that same-sex relationships are first and foremost relationships.  Oh, and the radio station stuff never worked, but that's only two episodes.

Farewell Ellen, farewell ABC sitcoms, at least for now.

Ellen: When Ellen Talks, People Listen

Ed Begley, Jr. as himself

Ellen: When Ellen Talks, People Listen
ABC
July 15, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C

Mike Larsen wrote this pointless episode in which he plays the Paper Suit Guy.  It's set at the radio station (KPOV), so Kevin McDonald and Susan Norfleet return as Chuck and Julie.  Ellen speaks out on her radio show about how people aren't willing to help each other, so she strikes a chord, transforming L.A. and helping Paige meet a nice guy played by Judge Reinhold.  But the experience sours and we're left with a message of what?  We should reach out to each other even though it'll probably go badly?  Someone else might've made this darkly funny, or at least sharpened the Begley self-parody, but it's understandable why this first aired during the summer.  (It's the penultimate episode.)

Old Woman Amzie Strickland was already playing old on two episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and one episode of Three's Company (as Gladys Moore, "Jack's Other Mother"), and she was on That Girl twice.  Diana Theodore, who had an unknown role on Roseanne in 1995, plays a Young Woman here.  And, yes, that's Jane Brucker being marginally funnier than she was on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, here playing the news reporter Mimi Samuel.

Ellen: A Hollywood Tribute

Ellen: A Hollywood Tribute
ABC
May 13, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Linda Ellerbee hosts this hour-long mockumentary about Ellen's career, going back to the 1920s, with this sitcom starting in 1959.  The writing by Tim Doyle, who wrote a couple Roseanne episodes, is uneven but I like the various pastiches of different eras and styles.  My favorites are the 1950s guess-the-Commie game show and the early '70s cartoon about "Ellen and the Fun Bunch" (in outer space with the Harlem Globetrotters, of course).

Celebrities I didn't tag include Jennifer Aniston, Bea Arthur, Orson Bean, Richard Benjamin, Diahann Carroll, Glenn Close, Tim Conway, Cindy Crawford, Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Christine Lahti, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Mary Steenburgen.

Steven Anderson, who was a Young Man on The Bob Newhart Show in 1976 and Higgins on Three's Company in '81, is a Bookish Man here.  Jim Doughan played Amazing Dave on Who's the Boss? and is a Camera Assistant here.  Phil Leeds, who was on a few Roseanne episodes, is one of the Comedians here.  Man #1 Gene Allan Poe played a Salesman before.  Dan Finnerty, who previously was a Doorman on this show, plays both Crew Member Dan and Tom.

Ellen: It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World

Ellen: It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World
ABC
February 25, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This is a somewhat heavy-handed story where Spence dreams that he's a closeted heterosexual in a world where homosexuals are the majority.  The best jokes here are name-drops of celebrities, but this episode feels like it needed a couple more drafts to make the writing, by David Walpert, sharper and/or subtler.

Bunny Summers, who was a Wardrobe Lady on That Girl and Mrs. Cassio on Who's the Boss?, is "Mom" here.

Ellen: Neighbors

Ellen: Neighbors
ABC
February 18, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C+

The story is by Kit Pongetti, who played a Ticket-Taker on Roseanne, while the teleplay is by two people who didn't write for any other of my shows.  The story behind the story is that all season DeGeneres had been butting heads with ABC over how much they could show of the romance with Laurie, and so she rebelled by making an episode with contrived sitcom devices, like misunderstandings and a chicken suit, as if the episode had been made 40 years earlier.  (Well, plus lots of jokes about what a slut Paige is.)  It doesn't exactly work as entertainment, but it's interesting.

This is the 600th show I've reviewed for the '90s.  It's unlikely that we'll hit 700.

Ellen: Ellen in Focus

Ellen: Ellen in Focus
ABC
February 11, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is the only Ellen story by Leif Sandaas, who did four for Roseanne, and it has some mild satire of television, modern and older.  Paige comes up with a cop show where one cop is short and then she pressures Ellen to become part of the focus group of ordinary people evaluating the pilot.  Ellen is very persuasive, but then Paige's short boss wants her to replace the short cop with his busty blonde starlet girlfriend.

Roger Eschbacher, who's Derek here, was a Cop on the show in '95.  This is the 100th Ellen episode.

Ellen: Womyn Fest

Ellen: Womyn Fest
ABC
January 7, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B

In this Jane Espenson story, Ellen, Paige, and Audrey go to an all-woman musical festival where they hear the Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan (as themselves).  Ellen meets an attractive waitress but she realizes she misses Laurie, so she returns to her ex and they reconcile.  Meanwhile, Paige realizes that her relationship with Spence, which is based on sex, isn't going anywhere, so she breaks up with him, but they still have sex.

Ellen: All Ellen, All the Time

Ellen: All Ellen, All the Time
ABC
December 3, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
C

Ric Swartzlander wrote this episode that doesn't really work.  Ellen gets a job at a radio station, where she meets Julie and Chuck (Susan Norfleet and Kevin McDonald, both of whom would return).  Julie is the boss but doesn't like dealing with people, while Chuck sexually harasses Ellen in what's meant to be a comical way.  (I'll admit I do like the Gene-Shalit mustache, which is also on his T-shirt caricature.)  When she bluntly tells him no, he runs off and she has to do the show for the next four hours.  I can see that they were trying to set things up so that Ellen could sort of do a one-woman performance piece, but it's clumsily handled and I don't buy that someone that for three and a half years we've seen as being too nice would choose to be obnoxious to draw in listeners.  The Ellen established on the series would've rambled about her childhood or sung a capella.  Nonetheless, she's a hit with the radio listeners and keeps this job.  (And Chuck comes back, not having learned his lesson, as the tag proves.)

DeGeneres's then girlfriend, Anne Heche, plays the Woman at Next Table who refuses to give her a napkin, and Heche would return in a different role.

Ellen: Like a Virgin

Ellen: Like a Virgin
ABC
November 26, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B

This first of two Ellen stories by Jane Espenson sweetly and gently explores Ellen's nervousness about a possible "first time" with Laurie while Holly (Kayla Murphy) is away.  She gets advice from her friends (minus absent Joe) but mostly importantly she talks things out with Laurie.  What's interesting here, and I think not noticed with all of the hullaboo over "controversial content" (some of the episodes that season were given TV-14 ratings), is that the real taboo being shattered here is that an ABC sitcom couple talks things out and works on communication.  If only Tony and Angela had done this!  The real mature content is not what happens (offscreen) in the bedroom but what happens on the couch as Ellen and Laurie discuss "sleeping together" and end up literally sleeping together.

Ellen: Emma

Ellen: Emma
ABC
November 19, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B

The title character is Emma Thompson, sort of.  Well, she plays herself if she were a lesbian from Ohio.  Ellen is her personal assistant and encourages her to come out, but then Sean Penn makes a surprise announcement.  I might've gone with a B-, but Emma throws herself into the role (of her sort of self) as if she's having a blast.

Seth Jaffe, who was Eddie on Who's the Boss?, is the Manager.  Small Hollywood legend Army Archerd, then 75, plays himself, as he did on That Girl.  This is the only Ellen script from Lawrence Broch, who did eight for Roseanne.

Ellen: Public Display of Affection

Getting their money's worth out of that movie theater set

Ellen: Public Display of Affection
ABC
November 12, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B

Laurie meets Ellen's parents and things go pretty well, but Ellen, after initially hitting it off with Holly (Kayla Murphy in the first of five appearances), finds that Laurie's daughter doesn't like her.  It turns out that Laurie doesn't like how self-conscious Ellen is about PDA.  The two have a good talk and become friends.  This is probably David Walpert's best Ellen script, funny and believable.

It was twenty years ago today....This doesn't mean I have twenty years' worth of television still to go through.  Things are really going to trickle off after the '90s and we'll get through the twenty-first century PDQ.  But it is worth noting that this episode shows how far we've come on acceptance of LGBTetc. issues, including, in this case, self-acceptance.

Ellen: Just Coffee

Ellen: Just Coffee
ABC
October 29, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B

We know it's the '90s because a "riot girl" asks Ellen to dance, and because the marquee at the movie theater includes Pulp Fiction.  (The exterior was presumably shot in '94; the other movies are of similar vintage.)  And because Ellen meets a woman she's interested in, who seems to be interested in her.  Lisa Darr makes her first of eight appearances as Laurie Manning, but at first there's a great deal of miscommunication, not in a farcical way but more in the sense that Ellen is new at dating women (and Laurie is rusty at it) and neither is sure if they're meeting for just coffee or if it's a date.  The coffee venue is Cup of Joe, run by Ellen's former employee.  Ellen gets dating advice from fellow "skirt-chaser" Spence, while Paige has the priceless line, "Call me old-fashioned but I don't think the woman should do the calling."  This funny and intelligent story was written by Maxine Lapiduss who did eight for Roseanne in the good old days of 1991-92, and Mancuso of course also directed Roseanne.  Note that Laurie's twelve-year-old daughter Holly is mentioned and we'd soon meet her.

Ellen: Gay Yellow Pages

Ellen: Gay Yellow Pages
ABC
October 15, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Tod Himmel and Lisa K. Nelson's first of two Ellen stories has Peter encouraging Ellen to use the object in the episode title, but the plumber Ellen hires from it is incompetent.  Then she finds out that the good plumber her dad recommended is gay.  It feels quaint to have a character explain the meaning of the rainbow flag, but I think they were still trying to get the mainstream audience used to all this.

Ironically, Meagen Fay, who plays "rigid" (Peter's word) Amy, was stick-up-her-ass neighbor Kathy Bowman on Roseanne 

Ellen: Roommates

Ellen: Roommates
ABC
October 8, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B

Dan Cohen and F.J. Pratt's first of two Ellen stories is so full of Three's-Company-like farce and misunderstandings that Mr. Roper shows up in the tag!  (Fell would die in December of the following year.)  Ellen thinks that the "roommates" across the street are lovers who are trying to set her up with a "roommate" of their own, and this makes Paige uncomfortable.  Then after Ellen of course embarrasses herself, Paige comes in and claims to be Ellen's "friend," not just her friend.  There are several funny lines here, and it's nice to see Audrey again.

Gail Mancuso, who directed 51 Roseanne episodes, here does her first of seven for Ellen.

Ellen: Social Climber

Ellen: Social Climber
ABC
October 1, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
C

In Mike Larsen's first of three Ellen stories, Ellen tries to impress her lesbian fitness instructor by pretending to be an experienced rock-climber.  Jack Tripper could sometimes get away with this sort of deception, comedicly I mean, but as Paige, of all people, says, Ellen came out so that she could be more honest.  This would've been a C- but I like the twist at the mountaintop.

Ellen: Guys or Dolls

Ellen wonders, "Why must my dreams be so cryptic?"

Ellen: Guys or Dolls
ABC
September 24, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Spence and Paige double-date with Ellen and a sort of stupid but pretty woman, but when Ellen finds out that the restaurant owner is her ex-boyfriend Dan, she makes a connection that surprises her and everyone.  William Ragsdale is just as adorable as ever and here Dan proves to be an even greater guy than before, accepting Ellen for who she is and respecting her boundaries even when she's not sure of them herself.  At the time, this very funny yet insightful season-opener, the first of three Ellen stories written by Ric Swartzlander, made me wish Ellen were bi, but at least the possibility was put out there.

Both Joe and Audrey are absent, and indeed it's unclear at this point if they're still working at the bookstore.

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: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah

Ellen: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah
ABC
May 7, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B+

While this is less famous than the previous episode, it's still a very good and very important one.  Ellen comes out to her parents and surprisingly it's her father who has more of a problem with it.  Not that her mother is ready to give up on the hope of Ellen meeting Mr. Right, but her father doesn't even want to talk about her orientation.  They both come around in the end again of course, but along the way there is more pain and sadness than is typical for this series.  The scene with her father's "Morganville" train set is funny but also makes some points.  And of course her mother wants to fix her up with a single female doctor.

Juliana Morgan, here the Lesbian's Daughter, earlier was a Latte Customer.  Waiter James Hong looks much the same as he did as a nameless Man on The Bob Newhart Show a quarter century earlier; he was also Peking Tom on Soap (the character name typical of the lame humor of that series' last season) and Thomas Ping on Who's the Boss?  (But he must've been the only Asian-American actor of that era not on M*A*S*H.)  Laraine Newman is instantly recognizable as the Over-Supportive Parent, but I didn't realize till the credits that the moderator was a still female-identified Chastity (later Chaz) Bono.  Joan Jett rocks out in the title sequence.  Jan Nash, the writer of this episode, didn't work on any other of my shows.

Ellen: The Puppy Episode

Ellen: The Puppy Episode
ABC
April 30, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
A-

Ellen DeGeneres's story was turned into a teleplay by staff writers Driscoll, Newman, Savel, and Stark.  It would win an Emmy and change television forever.  Forty-two million people tuned in.  For a couple weeks I decided I was a lesbian.  (Then I became deeply infatuated with a man and went back to identifying as bisexual, like I had since I was a preschooler.)

But is it still entertaining?  Heck yeah!  It is sharp, hilarious, joyous, and a little bit heartbreaking.  Even things like Ellen's awkwardness and babbling fit remarkably well, as she struggles through her sexual identity and her feelings for a woman named Susan (Laura Dern, just right).  Here it was, twenty years after Jodie on Soap, and it was a struggle to even get the story on the air, and that comes through even now, in the performances of the cast, including Oprah Winfrey as the wise and dry-humored therapist, and in the obviously thrilled studio audience.  OK, the celebrity cameos aren't all as obvious as they were then, although it's still a delight to hear Melissa Etheridge serenade a blushing Ellen for her bravery, or to watch K. D. Lang play a waitress.

The episode is of course mostly about Ellen, and those friends of hers are featured less, but they all have their moments (yes, even Spence), like Audrey's enthusiastic literal and figurative embrace of Ellen, and of course Peter's joy at Ellen telling him first (not counting Susan, the therapist, and the people at the airport).  It's an hour-long episode so I could go on and on, but I just want to mention three things, two of them related to the photos I've chosen.  The other is a moment where the therapist compares the prejudice that Ellen fears to what blacks underwent before the Civil Rights Movement.  In the hands of lesser writers, or lesser performers, this could be awkward and/or heavy-handed, but the moment makes its point with a light touch.  (One shudders to imagine how this would've gone on Roseanne in the last couple seasons.)

When Ellen finds the courage to first speak the words, "I'm gay," it's accidentally into the airport p.a. system.  This is another moment that might not have worked, but it does, helped partly by the visible relief of Ellen (Morgan and DeGeneres) afterwards, and the hug Susan gives her.  Note that this scene, just as much as some of the airport scenes on Who's the Boss? five or more years earlier, looks surreal after 9/11.  You simply can't go up and hug someone about to board a plane, as Ellen does.  (I haven't mentioned Ellen's date with her old friend Richard, but there are some laughs from that in the first half of the episode.)

Susan has a seemingly throwaway line about failing to "recruit" Ellen and thus losing a chance at a toaster oven.  Then we get the tag scene that pays off from that, with Etheridge enthusiastically stamping Ellen's application (and the clipboard).  "Toaster oven" would become (if it wasn't already) an LGBT (not yet Q or A) semi-in-joke for the next few years, and the scene is funny in of itself.  Just an all around wonderful episode.  (But, no, not an A or A+.  I don't think TV can achieve that like books or movies can.)

Waiter Patrick Harrigan had previously been Customer No. 1.  Kathy Najimy makes her third and last appearance on the show, in the very small role of a Woman in Gay Bar (technically a coffeehouse).  This time DeGeneres's mother Betty is a Woman at Airport.

Ellen: The Clip Show Patient

Ellen: The Clip Show Patient
ABC
April 8, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
C

Ellen volunteers at the hospital and meets the title character (Michael Des Barres in his second Ellen role), who's English.  (Get it?  Ha ha.)  She babbles and reminisces, sometimes merely on things like getting water.  The only entertaining things here are the disco music and outfits at the beginning and end of the episode.  Still, it's our last glimpse of pre-coming-out Ellen Morgan.  (Well, unless you count the first part of the next episode.)

Everett Greenbaum, who wrote 24 M*A*S*H episodes, plays the Older Man.  Various people appear in the clips, but most of them don't have lines.  DeGeneres's brother Vance wrote this story with David Walpert, whose middle of five this is.