The Ellen DeGeneres Show

infobox television
show_name = The Ellen DeGeneres Show


caption =
format = Talk show
rating = TV-PG
location = NBC Studios (2003–2008)
Warner Bros. Studios (2008–)
(Burbank, California)
runtime = 1 hour (including commercials)
creator = Ellen DeGeneres
starring = Ellen DeGeneres
country = USA
num_episodes = 871 (as of October 10, 2008)
network = Syndication
first_aired = September 8, 2003
last_aired = current
website = http://ellen.warnerbros.com/
imdb_id = 0379623
tv_com_id = 17071|

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show", often shortened to "Ellen", also called "Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show", is an Emmy Award winning syndicated television talk show hosted by actress/comedian Ellen DeGeneres and distributed by Warner Bros. Television. The show features interviews with celebrities and members of the public, comedic monologues by the host and music performances. It premiered on September 8, 2003.

The show was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. It gained 12 nominations in its second season and won 6 Emmys, including Best Talk Show and Talk Show Host.Ellen DeGeneres Show has been renewed through the 2010-2011 season. [ [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/05/prweb926424.htm "The Ellen Degeneres Show" to be Broadcast in High Definition After Moving to New State-Of-The-Art Production Complex in Warner Bros. Studios Lot ] ] Since the beginning of its run, the show has been taped in Studio 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. The show began filming in high definition on September 8, 2008, the sixth season premiere. This coincided with a move to Stage 1 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California after NBC sold the property where the show was previsouly taped. [ [http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/05/ellens_movin_on_up.php Ellen's Movin' on Up! - The Ellen DeGeneres Show ] ]

Concept

The premise of "Ellen" is similar to other daytime television talk shows, such as "Oprah". The program combines comedy, celebrity and musical guests and human-interest stories. The program is not characterized as a tabloid talk show, nor does it involve experts giving advice in regards to personal relationships. [Catlin, Roger. "Daytime Hosts Take a Fresh, Gentler Path". "The Hartford Courant", September 17, 2003.]

A popular staff member, aspiring stunt man Houston Rose (pronounced "How-Ston"), frequently featured during the first broadcast year. In a segment called "Have Houston Do It For You," he was sent to people's homes to help with tasks like putting up Christmas decorations or remodeling a bathroom. Other staff members included Jeff Cosgrave, who was set up on a variety of blind dates; Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, her executive Producers on the floor; Robert, her crooning prop master; Kevin the game show host; Jim, her PA; and Andy, the prize guy.

As in "The Rosie O'Donnell Show", DeGeneres often has audience participation games where prizes are awarded. During her Twelve Days of Giveaways promotion, she gives about $1,000 worth of prizes to each member of the studio audience (and a handful of home viewers as well) for 12 days in a row leading up to Christmas. Because the show has become so popular, not all who arrive hoping to see a taping can fit into the studio, so an off-shoot space referred to as "The Riff Raff Room" was created. Persons seated here are often referenced and shown briefly on camera but watch the taping from off-stage.

Ellen has also helped many non-famous people attain their 15 minutes of fame by having them as guests on the show. Guests in this role have included intelligent children, the owner of a small shop called "Mostly Moose and More", a flea market owner who raps in his commercials, and a male audience member who refused to dance, named Carl by Ellen based on the way he looks, while his real name is Jim. Most recently there has been Lisa Barnum, who attempted to step on Ellen's coffee table aggravating her back injury; in several later episodes Ellen jokingly blames Lisa for her back injury.

In the show's third season, Ellen began surprising fans by introducing them to their favorite celebrities.

On May 18, 2006, the show celebrated its 500th episode.Fact|date=December 2007

In October 2007, Ellen tearfully pleaded on-air with a private pet adoption agency. The agency took Ellen's dog back from her when it learned Ellen's girlfriend Portia de Rossi had violated a written agreement not to give ownership of the dog to a third party. A distraught Ellen canceled two days of taping her show to compose herself.

On November 19, 2007, the show celebrated its 700th episode, even though the actual 700th show was over a month earlier. [ [http://ellen.4thdimension.info/forum/showthread.php?p=126748 700 shows?? - Page 2 - Ellen-DeGeneres.com Forums ] ]

The show will be moving to Warner Bros. studios for its sixth season due to the NBC lot being sold. The season finale of season five, aired on May 28, 2008, was the last show taped on the NBC lot.

2007 Writers Guild strike

DeGeneres, a member of the Writers Guild of America, supported the 2007 writers' strike. However, on November 9, 2007, DeGeneres crossed the picket line to tape more episodes of her TV show stating: cquote|It was explained to me that no other daytime shows have shut down. I've got 135 employees that rely on me for a paycheck. But it's been the hardest thing in the world driving onto this lot.cite web
last =Justin
first =Neal
title=Television: Tears, strike aside, Ellen shows go on
publisher= Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune
date=November 16, 2007
url =http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/11828236.html
accessdate=2007-12-16]

DeGeneres decided to abstain from doing a monologue on her show (which is typically written by WGA writers) during the strike. [cite web |url=http://defamer.com/hollywood/hollywood-strikewatch/ellen-degeneres-speaks-only-in-exotic-birdcalls-as-a-gesture-of-writer-solidarity-321145.php |title=Ellen DeGeneres Speaks Only In Exotic Birdcalls As A Gesture Of Writer Solidarity |accessdate=2007-12-02 |publisher=Defamer |date=November 9, 2007 ] Her show continues production as normal with the exception of her monologue being omitted. The WGAE issued a statement condemning DeGeneres, stating she was "not welcome in NY." [cite web |url=http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/wga-east-says-ellen-not-welcome-in-ny/ |title=WGAE States Ellen "Not Welcome In NY" |accessdate=2007-12-02 |publisher=Deadline Hollywood Daily |first=Nikki |last=Finke |date=November 9, 2007 |authorlink=Nikki Finke] DeGeneres' representatives asserted that she did not violate the WGA's agreement, arguing that she is competing with other first-run syndicated shows like "Dr. Phil" and "Regis and Kelly" during the competitive November sweeps period, and that DeGeneres must fulfill her duties as host and producers, lest her show lose its time slot or be held in breach of contract. In addition, a statement defending DeGeneres was subsequently issued by AFTRA, pointing out that DeGeneres also works under the AFTRA TV Code, which bars her from striking. The WGAE then issued a response pointing out that DeGeneres is also a Writers Guild member, and that any writing work she does on her show during the strike constitutes struck work. [cite web |url= http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/advisory-i-have-ellens-response/ |title=URGENT! AFTRA Defends Ellen; Rep Says She "Has Done Nothing" To Violate WGA |accessdate=2007-12-02 |publisher=Deadline Hollywood Daily |first=Nikki |last=Finke |date=November 9, 2007 |authorlink=Nikki Finke] [cite web |url=http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/wgae-replies-to-aftra-about-ellen-degeneres/ |title=WGAE Replies To AFTRA About Ellen Mess |accessdate=2007-12-02 |publisher=Deadline Hollywood Daily |first=Nikki |last=Finke |date=November 10, 2007 |authorlink=Nikki Finke]

Dancing

Since the show's debut, DeGeneres has segued from her opening monologue by doing a dance. The dancing proved to be extremely popular with viewers, and has since progressed to a segment where DeGeneres dances into the audience, sometimes borrowing a coat or purse from someone's chair, and taking it with her. She has also featured a segment in which people teach her new dance moves. During the early 2006 season, Ellen shortened her dance routine and did not go through the audience, making more time for segments. Upset fans sent thousands of e-mails to Ellen as a result of this, and the dancing resumed as usual a few days later. One of her most famous dance moves is dancing over the table, and although she does not do it every day, it is a recurring theme.

DJ

Unlike most talk shows, the show uses a disc jockey to supply music rather than a band. Originally, the DJ was Tony Okungbowa, who DJed from Season 1 to 3. Due to his incentive to expand his acting career, Okungbowa left the show in Season 4, and was replaced by actor/DJ Jon Abrahams for the fourth season premiere. [http://ellen.warnerbros.com/newsletter/library.html] Abrahams stayed on the show for one season, and left also due to his interest in furthering his acting career. He was replaced by Ted Stryker of KROQ, who is also co-host of Loveline with Dr. Drew, for the fifth season. Stryker stayed for one season, and was replaced by Okungbowa.

Crew

Executive Producers: Ellen DeGeneres, Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Jim Paratore

Writers: Karen Kilgariff (Head Writer), Karen Anderson, Margaret Smith, Ellen DeGeneres

Recurring elements

"Ellen" is known for its use of recurring elements, sarcastic jokes and gags, some of which have eventually petered out.
*"Emmy Nominated." - Ellen says this when she makes a bad joke, saying that even though she makes all these bad jokes, the show still got nominated for an Emmy.
*"Whuut?" - Ellen uses this word as a joke, usually when she is talking about somebody being surprised, either by her or somebody else. In the episodes filmed in February, she often mentions it being "Whuut? the February!".
*"KAAA!" - Ellen frequently uses this made-up word as an enthusiastic response to the audience's applause. Often she will say the word in a high-pitched voice and drag it out for several seconds, or add unique hand gestures. This is often accompanied by the appreciative phrase, "Back at ya!" On one of the first episodes she was imitating a bird that flew over her head, and it stuck.
*"I appreciate it" - Ellen often uses the phrase "I appreciate it" in response to the audience's applause. Also, Ellen frequently thanks the audience by telling them to "take it (the applause) and..."; filling in the end with a phrase such as "mix it up in a Margarita."
*Mama chair - DeGeneres's mother Betty DeGeneres regularly attends the show and was frequently featured on camera, but she stopped appearing regularly early in 2006 because she moved. Her chair was designated the Mama chair and special privileges are given to the audience member who sits in it.
*Shaking of the head - During the opening monologue, Ellen will frequently make sarcastic comments about her or other people but then shake her head and smile at the audience, making it clear she meant it as a joke.
*Breaking news - Sometimes Ellen will be interrupted by "breaking news," which is always reported from in front of one of the rear projection screens. The gag is, however, that the reporter and Ellen seem to be in different locations at the beginning, but are then shown to be only feet from each other in the studio. The reporter also always holds her ear piece and experiences a delay in hearing Ellen. Usually Ellen will end up walking over to the reporter and attempt to talk to her face-to-face, while the reporter ignores her and carries on the charade of a satellite interview. The role of the reporter is played by Karen Kilgariff, the show's head writer.
*Fireplace - During the third season, Ellen featured a small electric fireplace on the table between her and the guest.
*Telephone - Ellen uses an old-fashioned, beige telephone to conduct interviews. Sometimes the phone seems to be dialed without Ellen pressing numbers or Ellen will put the phone down and walk around the studio while still talking to the person on the line.
*Gladys Hardy - Ellen has called Gladys Hardy, a grandmother from Texas, who originally left Ellen a voicemail message. Gladys offers amusing advice and observations that often send Ellen into a fit of laughter. Gladys became so popular that the show now offers a Gladys T-shirt and Gladys has often replaced the show's professional announcers who introduce Ellen at the start of each episode. However, some have begun to question the authenticity of Gladys, leading some to believe she is a prank. [ [http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/tvblog/entries/2007/01/23/has_ellen_been_duped_by_austin_woman.html austin360.com ] ]
**"Keep On Keepin' On!" - Gladys says this when speaking to Ellen.
*Drawings - Despite her lack of drawing skills, Ellen will sometimes draw a person or other image on the set using a large easel. At the end of the show, each audience member received a large copy of the drawing.
*Am I right, ladies? - Ellen usually says this when talking about men but has also said it on other occasions.
*"Kitty" - "Kitty" is an elderly woman who attended an episode taping of "Ellen". Before the crew begins to tape, Ellen's DJ will play music for the audience, and they are free to dance. Ellen, on a later episode, displayed video footage of "Kitty" dancing, showing her face changing abruptly and covering her ears when the DJ changed songs. Ellen nicknamed the woman "Kitty" and the clip became a fan favorite. The woman was later identified as Charlotte Pope of Riverside, California and was invited back on the show as a guest.

Set

"Ellen" premiered its fourth season on September 4, 2006 with a new set and on-screen graphics. The new set features two large rear projection screens that initially displayed a cityscape of Los Angeles. As the season progressed, producers replaced the screens with seasonal photographs contributed by viewers and DeGeneres. The screens are also designed to display video clips to the studio audience. In addition, the screens are also used during some of the show's gags, such as "breaking news" segments.

In front of the screens is the main area of the set, situated on a raised platform. Normally, this area features two red arm chairs with a plasma screen between them. Ellen typically sits in the chair on the right, while guests take the left side. On occasions when more than one guest is interviewed at one time, an additional chair is added to the left side or a large matching sofa replaces the chair. Throughout the show, the plasma screen is used to display graphics relating to the current segment, guest or other content.

To the left of the main area is a large wall with unique lighted segments that slides open for DeGeneres' entrance at the beginning of each show. The entrance is also used for crew members to wheel out audience gifts. The lighted segments often change colors to match the episode's theme and are also sometimes used as a game board for audience games. The area in front of this wall is often used for games as well as demonstration segments such as cooking or exercise features.

The area behind the lighted wall is most frequently used for live music performances. Often this area is decorated with special scenery and lighting to match the mood of the singer and the song.

Between this area and the rear projection screens is a small set of stairs that serve as an entryway for guests. The stairs are bordered by decorative niches with plants and other objects displayed in them. A similar area is situated on the other side of the rear projection screens, but it is unclear if this is designed to be functional or simply decorative.

The far right area of the set features several openings that reveal the Los Angeles skyline, which matches the original rear projection screen images. This area of the set is typically not used for any segments and serves mainly as a background behind DeGeneres during guest interviews.

Other features of the set include light blue columns that are internally-lit, as well as plasma screens on high stands which are mainly designed to display images and video to the studio audience.

The audience area of the set is decorated in similar tones as the main area. Audience members sit on folding chairs set up in rows on risers. One of these rows, near the center of the audience area, is slightly wider, and is almost always the one Ellen dances through at the beginning of the show.

Season 5 saw some minor tweaks to the set, including new textured glass covering in the audience area "windows" and a new monologue location in front of the lighted wall. The new season also saw the introduction of new on-screen graphics and a shorter opening clip. In addition, the show has reverted to using a professional announcer.

Season 6 is also seeing some changes to Ellen's set, mainly due to the fact that the show moved to the Warner Brothers Lot. The stage itself is the same, but what Ellen sees is different. There are more seats in the audience, with a whole new Riff-Raff Room, and new seats. The new seats are blue and feature cup holders. Behind the audience is different as well, featuring colored blocks on the walls that flash different colors. The aisles where Ellen dances are now made of wood.

In popular culture

The show was featured in an episode on the NBC sitcom "Joey", with the main character (Joey Tribbiani) as a guest. It was also featured on an episode of the series "Six Feet Under" and "The Bernie Mac Show", with Bernie Mac appearing as a guest. Still later, it was featured on an episode of the ABC show ""; while the Holmes family of Altamonte Springs, Florida was receiving a new home, they were in the audience during an episode of the show, and saw the unveiling of a secondary project of Ty Pennington's team, a turtle habitat, while there. Also, on The CW show "Reaper", the Devil, played by Ray Wise, asked Sam Oliver, played by Bret Harrison, "What time does Ellen come on?" The clip of the show was later featured on "Ellen". In a second season episode of "Veronica Mars", Logan Echolls, played by Jason Dohring, after spending two days in jail, remarked that he had accumulated "Two days of "Ellen" on my TiVo."

Ratings

The show averages about three million viewers per episode, according to daytime television ratings, which makes it one of the highest-viewed daytime shows. [ [http://rachaelrayblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/rachael-rays-talk-show-ratings-update.html ] ]

tarring

*Ellen DeGeneres — host
*Scotty K — show DJ (September 8–September 29, 2003)
*Tony Okungbowa — show DJ (2003–2006; 2007 substitute)
*Jon Abrahams (Jonny) — show DJ (2006–2007)
*Stryker — show DJ & announcer(2007–2008)
*Tony Okungbowa — show DJ (2008-present)

egments

Ellen's show features a wide variety of regular segments. Some of these segments appear very frequently, while others are less popular. Most segments have a theme song, usually taken from popular music, that is played along with a full-screen graphic with the segment's title. After the segment is introduced, Ellen will usually clap or dance to the music before abruptly cutting it off.
*Audience Dancing - Ellen displays video clips of some of her audience members dancing comedically before the taping of the show, and during commercial breaks.
*Best Photos Ever - Ellen shows the best viewer photos, sometimes with a theme based on the episode or season. Sometimes, Ellen's favorite is used as the set's background.
*Call Me - Ellen plays messages left on her answering machine for her toll-free number (866-ELK-DOUG). The show originally advertised a standard number to the staff offices, but calls overloaded the phone system, forcing the toll free number to be introduced. It is not clear what the status of the number is, however, because in some repeat episodes the number is not displayed on-screen and Ellen reading the number out loud is edited out.
*Celebrity Look-a-Like - Ellen shows photos of viewers who think they look like celebrities. This is also modified to dogs and babies. There is also a different but similar segment where dancing audience members are shown to look like celebrities.
*Clip From The Future - Ellen shows us possible future happenings in this segment.
*Clip From The Past - Ellen shows us the past happenings in this segment.
*Ellen Is That You? - Ellen shows viewer-contributed photos of people they believe resemble her.
*If You New York Like I Know York - Ellen quizzes audience members with "New York" questions. Sometimes the game is turned into different titles, like If You Knew Cinco De Mayo Like I Know Cinco De Mayo
*Look At You! - Ellen invites a few audience members to display their talents.
*Look What I Found at the Drug Store - Ellen shares items found at a drug store. These includes unusual beauty products, household items and toys. During Ellen's "Show on a Plane," the segment became "Look What I Found in the SkyMall," where Ellen shared amusing items from the SkyMall catalog.
*My Crazy Dreams - Ellen makes viewer's requests and dreams come true in this segment. In previous years, this segment was called Oh, Yes You Can.
*Picture Juxtaposition - Used in "Ellen: The Musical!" where random pictures are superimposed atop one another, timed to music.
*Real or No Real - Ellen invites the audience to guess whether an item or a quality of someone is the real deal or fake.
*Spanish with Señora Peña - Ellen learns Spanish with a local school Spanish teacher.
*The Men of Ellen/Telemundo/heroes (the latter Season 5 on)- Ellen introduces a single man on her show's staff during this segment, usually a man who someone has written to her about and Ellen has read during Write On/Express Yourself. The segment has even featured a gay member of the staff with the words "Ladies Need Not Apply" flashing on the screen.
*Viewer Art - Ellen shares artistic work that viewers have sent to the show. Often these include depictions of Ellen in a variety of media.
*Wednesday's Wunnerful World of Web Videos - Ellen shows a selection of funny videos from the Internet, usually on Wednesday. However, Ellen frequently runs the segment on other days and uses this fact as a joke.
*What Are You Doing While You're Watching - Throughout the first two seasons, viewers sent in photos on what they were doing while watching the program, such as knitting or exercising.
*What the Heck Are Those Kids Talking About? - Ellen explains common slang words, such as grillz
*Write On/Express Yourself - Ellen reads and responds to viewer e-mail. In Season 5, the name is changed to "Express Yourself".

Games

The show frequently features audience games. These games can be played with Ellen, guests or between members of the audience. Most games involved a prize for all participants, with a larger one being given to the winner.
*Audience Humdinger - Audience members hum a song that Ellen or a guest has to guess; this is done two or three times.
*Audience Charades - the production crew randomly chooses two or three members of the audience to take part in this segment.
*Celebrity - Ellen and/or a guest holds up names of celebrities that he or she has to guess with clues from the other participant.
*If You Had To Choose - After the audience is polled on different questions before the show, Ellen asks an audience member what she thinks the most popular response is.
*The Marshmallow Game* - Contestants try to eat marshmallows suspended by strings with their mouths, while tied to a board by a rubber band.
*Stranded on a Topical Island - a short game show with pop culture questions.
*Musical Chairs - Selected audience members play for a prize. A one-time variation on this substituted bean bag chairs and Hawaii Chairs (one episode when she showed infomercial products) for regular chairs.
*Which Came First* - Throughout the second season, audience members guessed what people, places, objects, etc. were discovered first out of two choices. (Ex. When given Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Aguilera (born in 1980) comes before Spears (born in 1981).
*Thru The Wall or Take A Fall - audience members watch a video clip and decide whether they will fit through a piece of foam, or take fall into a pit of balls. Other times, they have the audience play the game instead of watching the video clips. Similar to the Brain Wall game in Japan.
*Aw Snap- audience members are tied back to back and have to pull each other to reach apples on their end.

Special episodes

*"Backwards Show" - Events and segments unfold in reverse. The "end" of the show now takes place at the beginning and the "beginning" of the show takes place at the end. DeGeneres performs her opening monologue and dance at the end of the actual hour.

*"Two Shows In One" - DeGeneres gives us "two" shows in one episode. She wears two different outfits, gives two different monologues, and dances twice.

*"Ellen: The Musical" - Similar to a Broadway musical, DeGeneres conducts her usual interviews but the guests eventually break out into song. Guests included Jack Black, teenaged singer-actress Olivia Olson, and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. At the end of the hour, Ellen and company sing "Breathe From Your Hoo-Hoo" as their finale.

*"Ellen Thanksgiving Special" - From Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

*"I Like It!" - A show (originated in 2007) where, as the title suggests, Ellen has things she likes on the show. On this episode, Ellen first was shown with her back injury.

*"Ellen's Show on a Plane" - This show was taped in a Los Angeles airport terminal and on a plane from Los Angeles to New York City. According to Ellen, this is the first time a show has been filmed on an airplane.

*"Ellen's After Oscar Special" - Ellen did the show live the day after she hosted the 2007 Academy Awards. Throughout the hour, she presented footage of the event and what happened backstage, during rehearsal, etc. and interviewed the winners via telephone.

International broadcasts

"Ellen" can be seen on television internationally in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela. The show is no longer aired in the United Kingdom, because, in a backward step, the channel which airs the show, "FIVER" moved the show from 1.00pm to a 6.00am slot, and now claim that the viewing figures were low. They no longer have the rights to the new season 6 episodes.

In June 23, 2008, Warner Channel premiered the show in Latin America at 5:00 p.m.

References

External links

* [http://www.ellentv.com/ The Ellen DeGeneres Show] Official site
*imdb title|0379623
*Tv.com show|id=17071
* [http://www.ellen-degeneres.com Ellen DeGeneres Forums and guides] at Ellen-DeGeneres.com
* [http://talkshows.about.com/od/ellendegeneres/Ellen.htm The Ellen DeGeneres Show at About.com]