''The Ellen Show'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by and starring

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

that was broadcast during the 2001–02 season on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, aired from September 24, 2001, to January 11, 2002. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, following ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

(1994–98), but it was unable to attract strong ratings and was quickly cancelled after 13 episodes, leaving 5 episodes unaired. DeGeneres

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

in ''Ellen'', and her character on ''The Ellen Show'', Ellen Richmond, was also a lesbian, although the show did not focus as heavily on the character's

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

unlike the final season of her first sitcom. ''The Ellen Show'' also starred

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...

Kerri Kenney Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series '' Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MT ...

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

, and

Emily Rutherfurd Emily Kernan Rutherfurd (born September 18, 1974) is an American actress. She played Christine "New Christine" Hunter in the CBS sitcom, ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' (2006–10). Personal life Rutherfurd was born and raised in New Yo ...

Plot

After her internet company Homelearn.com goes bankrupt, Ellen Richmond decides to move back to her hometown to live with her eccentric mother, Dot, and scatter-brained sister, Catherine. At home, Ellen becomes reacquainted with her senior prom date, Rusty, who thinks they can pick up where they left off (which, since she is a

, seems unlikely), and her befuddled high school teacher, Mr. Munn. Though worlds apart from the people who love her, Ellen begins to adjust to a very different way of life and takes a job as a guidance counselor at her former high school.

Cast

Main

as Ellen Richmond *

as Rusty Carnouk *

as Catherine Richmond *

as Ed Munn *

as Pam *

as Dot Richmond *

Diane Delano Diane Delano (born January 29, 1957) is an American character actress. She is known for her numerous roles in films and television, such as Sergeant Barbara Semanski on the CBS television series ''Northern Exposure'' and Roberta "Bobbi" Glass ...

as Bunny Hoppstetter

Guest stars

Jennifer Irwin Jennifer Irwin is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Dolly Durkins on iZombie and as Laurie Neustadt in the comedy '' Superstore''. Irwin is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She worked with The Second City in th ...

as Meg (episode: "Pilot") *

Regan Burns Regan Burns (born June 14, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Bennett James on ''Dog with a Blog,'' as well as being the host of the hidden camera game show '' Oblivious.'' Burns is also known for various ...

as Officer "B" Arthur (episodes: "Walden Pond", "Joe"") *

John Francis Daley John Francis Daley (born July 20, 1985) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and musician. He is known for playing high school freshman Sam Weir on the NBC comedy-drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' and FBI criminal profiler Dr. ...

as Erik (episode: "Walden Pond") *

Susan Yeagley Susan Melinda Yeagley is an American actress. Early life and education Yeagley was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Career She portrayed Jessica Wicks in nine epis ...

as Waitress (episode: "Chain Reaction") *

Marissa Jaret Winokur Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973), sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress and singer known for her Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical '' Hairspray,'' an adaptation of John Wate ...

as Tina (episode: "Vanity Hair") *

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

as Joe (episode: "Joe") *

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...

as Mrs. Gibson (episode: "Missing the Bus") *

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomin ...

as Young Ellen (episode: "Missing the Bus") *

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

as Aunt Mary (episode: "Ellen's First Christmess") *

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

as Santa Claus (episode: "Ellen's First Christmess") *

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

as Percy Moss (episode: "Gathering Moss") *

Maureen McCormick Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress. She portrayed Marcia Brady on the ABC television sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'', which ran from 1969 to 1974, and reprised the role in several of the numerous ''Brady Bunch'' ...

as Rita Carter (episode: "Shallow Gal") *

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (2002 ...

as Vanessa Carter (episode: "Shallow Gal")

Production

The show was created by

Carol Leifer Carol Leifer ( ; born July 27, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actress whose career as a stand-up comedian started in the 1970s when she was in college. She has written many television scripts including ''The Larry Sanders ...

and Mitchell Hurwitz, who co-wrote the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

. The original title was ''Ellen Again''.

Episodes

''The Ellen Show'' produced 18 episodes, but was canceled mid-way through its season. The final 5 episodes were never broadcast, but are available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Home media and Streaming

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 in a 2-disc box set on July 11, 2006. In 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series and subsequently re-released the complete series on February 4, 2014.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Home Entertainment, in partnership with

CBS Home Entertainment CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

, owns the international rights. The complete series was released in Region 4 (Australia) as a 2 DVD set on February 1, 2017 by Umbrella Entertainment. All episodes can be seen for free on

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snac ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellen Show 2001 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings 2000s American sitcoms CBS original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Sony Pictures Television 2000s American LGBT-related comedy television series English-language television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz Television series created by Ellen DeGeneres American LGBT-related sitcoms