Ellen: Ballet Class

Ellen: Ballet Class
ABC
February 8, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B

Richard Day wrote this episode that turned out better than I expected.  Ellen decides to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina.  And Adam, who trained in ballet for six years, agrees to coach her.  She's taking a class from Peter (Patrick Bristow) from Helping Hands and hopes to get the lead.  Meanwhile, Joe sarcastically lets Ellen know when he's being sarcastic, her mother continues to pressure her about finding a man, and Paige's new boyfriend wears bad '70s fashions.  This all comes to a head in two scenes, one where Ellen's parents are delighted she's brought a man home, even though Peter is very, very obviously gay.  (Bristow is adorable in the role and I'm glad he became semi-recurring.)  The finale has Adam and Ellen dancing the leads (after the bitchy prima donna does herself an injury), and everyone cheers them, including Paige in a "vinyl cow dress" as Joe puts it.  I like that for once Ellen is allowed to triumph, without it being undercut.  (She's clumsy in the tag, but that's OK.)

Ballet Dancer Courtney Pakiz had previously been the Yoga Instructor.