MovieChat Forums > Ellen (1994) Discussion > why it was cancelled

why it was cancelled


i wasn't cancelled for political reasons. the ratings plunged, that's all.
and i know Ellen (who i like and admire very much) likes to paint a different picture but the network would have kept the show if it would still have been succesful. and as much as it pains me to say as i really like ellen as a comedian, respect her for her cultural achievements within and for the gay lesbian community but the show was never really good. it has a lot of flaws and was way too conservative in many ways. there was no innovation in this sitcom, the only good thing in it was ellen, a very talented comedian with the best sense of timing. she can deliver the most boring line as the funniest thing on earth. but the show itself, the writing, it was boring, conservative and mainstream hollywood *beep* not really bad, but not good either. the other actors were a joke, the played awful roles and they were terrible in doing it. so it deserved to be cancelled and i'm glad ellen went on to do other things.

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Well, I DISAGREE!! I think that the show "Ellen" was GREAT!!! The Plots,Actors, It's A WONDERFUL show!!

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Need some Ritalin?

"Hill House, not sane, stood by itself for eighty years and might stand for eighty more."

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yes i agree on that I bet if she hadn't come out the show would have gone on for a little longer!!

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I also agree with you. I think it would have lasted longer if she did not come out. If Ellen came on today I know it would be a smash hit.

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If she hadn't come out, then her character probably wouldn't have come out either, and therefore the show wouldn't have degenerated into one gay joke after another, and would have probably continued to be funny, so yes, in a way you could say her coming out of the closet indirectly contributed to the collapse of the show. But I wouldn't say that it was homophobia that did it. What was funny about the show was the very innocent quality of it. It wasn't bogged down with sexual chemistry between the main character and other characters, and politics and heavy issues like that. It was just light and carefree. Once she made her character gay, the whole show changed. It no longer really felt like a comedy. It felt like Ellen's social statement.

Plus, the show had been going on for five years. That's long enough.

This sucks worse than I Heart Huckabees ----Stewie Griffin

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Agreed. I liked it, too, until after she came out but NOT because she came out, but because it became "Lesbian 101" studies. If anyone watches the latter seasons after the puppy episode then they'll see they changed the entire format of the show, including losing the older cast which weren't just stage dressing to the show; they supported her show and made it great (with the exception of saying: "Ooh, Ellen's dating a girl!" and then leaving.) Instead, Ellen felt the need to explore every avenue of being a lesbian and dating... and blah, blah, blah... and it got really old. I remember watching a few episodes, not laughing once and changing the station. Ellen took a good show and turned it around to be a lesson to society. Not good TV viewing. Good until it got preachy.

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I totally agree with these above to posts. If people want to think it want off due to some conspiracy fine but after she came out it was a totally different show. They didn't change just her orientation, I would have been totally fine with that. They changed the WHOLE show and pretty much ditched the entire side cast, most of whom I liked quite a bit. I don't see how anyone can say doing that didn't have a bigger effect on the fate of the show the ratings and quality. I really liked this show before and I tried to stay around but it just lost what it had going for it. It was like watching to different shows altogether.

Still Ellen DeGeneres is awesome and I watch her talk show watch is good stuff. I just wish the sitcom didn't 180 like that, she could have come out in the show without truely making it "The Ellen Only Show" instead of "These friends of Mine."

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i think the coming out season (4) was really good. but season 5 just had the worst scripts ever. i am a lesbian and even for me it was too much, over the top and it didn't feel right. she and her girlfriend had no chemistry at all and everything felt forced, probably because they tried pleasing the gay community without pissing off joe straight. in the end noone was happy and people stopped watching. that said ... noone can deny that this show was important and opened the door for lesbians to be out on screen ... in the us that is. i remember seeing happy lesbian couples on german soaps years before that and noone made a big fuzz ... lol

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I just finished watching the whole five seasons and am therefore wondering, what change of cast you are referring to. The cast was not changed from season 4 to 5. All of the actors - well except the former bookshop manager - reappeared in the 5th season. Season 4 and 5 were overloaded with "gay-hints", as much as most other sit-coms are overloaded with heterosexuality.

I am amazed by how funny this sitcom is. Ellen excels in comedic timing. That is something very, very rare. Thumbs up!

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The ratings took a plunge but the Network failed to promote the show. They also kept slapping warnings on the show that "kids should not watch"

The shows final season was groundbreaking. Ellen was also under fire by Elton John who was quoted saying "Ellen should just shut up and be funny" Chasity Bono who said the show was "Too gay".

ABC was also owned by (and still is) by Disney. They were afraid of boycotts. SO promotions for the show were cut down to near zero. That is a death blow. They wanted the show gone. This is when the company was ran by Micheal Eisner.

I am happy however that Ellen went on to huge success with her talk show. She is a pioneer. Also Disney became a bigger force to recon with once Michael Eisner was gone from the company!

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you are a complete idiot if you think this show didnt go off the air b/c of political reasons. The radings fell bc she was a lesbo (political).

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The ratings fell because Ellen went from an interesting, multi-faceted character to a one-dimensional one over the course of one episode. Every subsequent episode after the coming out episode was treated like a theatre in which Ellen was given the chance to stand on the stage and proclaim "I'm a lesbian!" to the masses. It got boring FAST.

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Thank you. The show became far too one-dimensional; the death of any sitcom. In Ellen's case, the one dimension was her being a lesbian but the end result was the same. It became boring, repetitious and tedious.

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If the ratings did indeed fall because she was a lesbian, then that's still not the network's fault. Ratings fall because people stop watching. I know I personally wouldn't watch a show whose sole purpose is to tell the world "I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it!" Even "The L Word", in this day and age, rounds their characters out enough that you enjoy watching them as people with real life problems and joys and fears and successes. Ellen (who I believe is THE funniest woman alive, btw) squandered not only a passable sitcom with likable actors (Joely Fisher and Jeremy Piven, to name a couple), but she also squandered an opportunity to further her cause. Tragic, really.

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As a hige Ellen fan I have to say that it was half and half. The she was great, for a time. I'm sure that other Ellen fans or anyone at that notice how the show was becoming just based on her sexuality. Will and grace isnt even like that. The writers and directors took off a lot og the familar characters and turned (for the most part) turned it into a gay show. I liked it. But I hated the fact that there was so much changed that went on from season to season.

So with that said, it being the mid 90's, people werent ready for a show based on a lesbian character. When I watched the show (as a gay man) I loved the fact that there was an openly gay main character. But the writers played too much into that and got rid of all the other great wackiness other show.

So thats why, in my mind the show went downhill. I dont think it was 100% political but i dont think that it was 100% the writers fault.

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I recall that after the "coming out" show, it seemed like every episode dealt with gay issues. I began feeling like they were preaching to me.

If they had done the "coming out" show and returned to the same formula that had worked so well before, I think "Ellen" would have survived. However, the show changed, and I stopped watching because it wasn't funny anymore.

Having lived in San Francisco for decades, I have many homosexual friends. Gay people don't bother me (except for really angry lesbians), but some of the politics associated with homosexuality do bother me. Often times, it seems that it isn't enough that I tolerate homosexuality. I'm expected to endorse it.

For example, I don't appreciate gay parades and festivals with naked people engaging in public sexual acts and exhibitions. I feel the same way about straight people conducting themselves in that manner. However, many in the gay community consider my revulsion at this kind of behavior as homophobic.

I bring this up because some of those who decided to have Ellen "come out" on the "Ellen" show, as well as many of the show's fans have ridiculed those of us who stopped watching the program because of its new direction.

I don't think it's fair for people to expect me to endorse homosexuality any more than it is for others to expect gay people to turn straight.

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The show was cancelled because after the coming out episode, "Ellen" basically became a gay dating show. As I remember it, they sacrificed the comedy and storylines in favor of "what woman will Ellen's friends try and hook her up with this week" plots. In all fairness, a gay lead was a new thing in network television. You should remember the controversy. I think the show failed because the networks honchos and the show's producers got scared. They wanted to support Ellen and show they were "OK" with her newfound gayness and pushed the fact that she was gay every episode. Because of this, Ellen lost creative control over her own show. Nowadays (and it doesn't seem like that much time has passed) a gay character is no big thing. Ellen was just the first, and was unfortunately sacrificed because of it. But, she did pave the way.

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Cubby: I have a few things to say about your post.

First of all, When you say "Gay people don't bother me (except really angry lesbians)," not only are you not only qualifying this statement to make it not true about yourself anymore, but you are also categorizing people. I don't think that "really angry lesbians" is actually a sexual orientation identity. Why would only be bothered by really angry lesbians? Why not also have these same feeling toward really angry gay men or really angry straight people?

Secondly, no, it isn't enough that you "tolerate homosexuality." And, you have missed an entire step between "tolerate" and "endorse." You could try by accepting it as a reality of this world. To tolerate something means that you are not OK with it, but you aren't going to do anything to stop it. For example, I tolerate the people who come into my office with chewing tobacco in their mouth and spit into a bottle while they are talking to me. I'm not OK with it, but I don't ask them to stop. If I were to accept this, I would know that it's going on in my office, but not be annoyed by it. I would notice that the person in my office is spitting into a bottle but think it's a perfectly normal activity. Were I to endorse it, I would be passing out chewing tobacco and bottle, or participating in the activity myself, or asking the people in my office if they would like to chew or spit. So going back to the beginning of this paragraph, no, it's not enough that you tolerate it. There are people in this world with sexual orientations other than straight, so if you want to keep your "homosexual friends" (as you phrased it), you should learn to accept them for who they are rather than tolerate them in spite of it.

FInally, you say that you felt that "Ellen" dealt with gay issues on every episode. Don't most shows with no gay characters deal with straight issues? Take the show "Friends," for example (a show that I LOVE). Joey's main focus is finding a girl to sleep with. Chandler and Ross also spend a lot of time thinking about this. Phoebe exploits sexual politics by being aggressive with men (and sometimes making passes at women, but even still, ends up with a man). Rachel and Monica struggle to find ways to win men over. At the point when a gay person is first coming out, like Ellen's character was in this show, learning what that means can consume the gay person's life. There is a whole new freedom where dating is something gay people want to do because they can finally feel comfortable. Right after coming out, a gay person must learn to balance society's expectations of how they are to be with who they want to be. It's entirely logical that it will consume that person's entire life, like it did for Ellen on the show.

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I agree that in the fifth season, many of the episodes were too political and message-driven (plotlines mainly concerning Ellen's sexuality). However, the episodes that did NOT concern her sexuality at all were even worse, utter crap - such as the boot camp one, aka the Civil War Reenactment one with Angie Dickinson ; and the focus show one, with Ellen and Paige trying to get a TV show about a short cop on the network, and the radio one - weak episodes practically stolen from "Frasier". I enjoyed some of the early gay episodes such as "Gay Yellow Pages" as it felt appropriate Ellen venturing into that world - but I agree it got too much too soon, and I think Laurie was added too soon as well. The season had some great episodes (some gay-themed, some not) though such as "It's A Gay, Gay, Gay World" (alternative universe/"Twilight Zone" episode) and the first episode, which brought back Dan from Season 2. Overall, I think it was a good season - a bit rough about the edges, a bit too political, but getting rid of the bookshop hurt the show even more - suddenly not only was the character gay but everything had changed, it was too much. I firmly believe had they brought back the bookshop and toned back some of the "gay, gay, gay" episodes and streamlined Ellen dating into season 6 it could have been successful. It deserved one more chance.

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you all make it sound like she's some sort of lesbo martyr. "Oh ellen was the first gay lead character on tv" "she was sacrificed for the greater good or the cause"

GIVE ME A FRIGGIN' BREAK

Personally i never found the show funny even before she "came out". Then when she did it became nothing but a vehicle of ideology for gays and lesbians. The whole aspect of the show changed. Other main characters were sacrificed to make way for "hollywood guest stars" as some sort of actors guild support of her lesbianism. So what it ended up being was a huge ego trip for Ms deGeneres and the viewing public whether fans or not being preached to

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the last season had many changes and wasn't at all funny. i watched the last seasona while ago when it was on tv and it seemed like Ellen and the writers were trying to make it funny and that seemed forced and rather tedious. I feel that it was pulled off at the right time so ellen could go on to her GREAT Talk show. i know that was a few years later but still.

Bring Dynasty Season 2 out on DVD PLEASE
DON'T STAY AT THE WESTMARK IN DAWSON CITY YUKON!!!

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It seemed that every episode in season 2 was focusing on Ellen being primarily gay , which was and still is a great thing seeing a gay person being broadcast but for viewing purpose it wasnt so great as although GLBT issues had made a stand in the 90's , it was still a big culture shock to have gay people in normal comunities . I dont think America was ready . But i still watch it now, and ilove it ! Ellens so funny !

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I think she came out near the end of season 4 not 2

Its a matter of life after death, now that he's dead I have a life.
-Mrs. White

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I guess I am the only one that thought the show got funnier once she came out?

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sorry...yes. :-)

Actually, I want to add to somethings people said. I, too, felt that the show was seriously less funny after Ellen came out. And it did get very very preachy.

But one HUGE thing for me was that they started IGNORING their SUPERIOR cast! Ellen used to play off her fellow cast members in hysterical ways. Once she came out, it was the ELLEN-ONLY show. Everyone else got about 2 minutes of airtime every episode.

Wasn't her show the first to feature Jeremy Piven? And look how far his considerable talent has taken him! They had "Putty" before Seinfeld did! And who can argue with ANY show that brings back "Ron Palillo, TV's Horseshack"??

I think of all the episodes that still make me smile:
Ellen and Paige going to the health spa. "Are you a MOD-el??"
Ellen throws Paige a bachelorette party
Ellen and her mother find William Ragsdale's box of white powder. "Flush, Ellen! Flush like you've never flushed before!!!!"

Every line above says "Ellen AND" The others complemented her. Plus, they gave her more plotlines and more opportunities to give her clever one-liners. Also, you could tell they ad-libbed a lot and enjoyed playing back and forth with each other.

And when I think about the few and far-between moments AFTER she came out...there were other people involved too (her dad and mom, Ragsdale again "oh, you're gay now, too?")

It's all about the "supporting" cast.



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I agree that Ellen went downhill after the coming out episode. It was my absolute favorite show prior to that. I loved that it was clean and I loved the cast as a whole (especially one Jeremy Piven came on board). I have Ellen's old stand-up and her first book. It definitely seemed that the show became burdened with the fact that the lead was gay. It didn't open up new opportunities, it seemed to limit the show. The post about the superior cast is right on. Ellen knew how to let the rest of the cast be funnier than her sometimes. This is what made Seinfeld so remarkable. Jerry was the 2nd or 3rd funniest one most shows. He was ok letting the others be funnier. That's what made Ellen great. She didn't have to be THE funny one. Once the show focused only on her it took away her greatest asset. I will say the episode where Piven is knocked unconscious and comes out as "straight" in a mostly gay world was hilarious. But then again the focus was on Piven and the rest of the cast not just Ellen.

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I agree. In fact, I would question if Ellen really did the gay community any good by the way this was handled. One of the biggest issues about how gay people are treated by shows is that they're not seen as being normal people with a different orientation, and DeGeneres was in a position to change that. She had a popular show with a character who could have come out and continued the show in that fashion, showing how being gay isn't a big deal and that she was still the same character as before and who cares who she sleeps with? The world continues spinning and nothing has really changed as the character you know is still the character you know, gay or not.

But instead, it became the biggest deal in the world. It stopped being a show and started being a bizarre mirror reality where Ellen the actress was dealing with coming out. And to be frank, being gay isn't a big deal. it's a sexual orientation that is one facet of life. But to the show, it was bigger than the 9/11 Attacks: every single episode had to deal with it and soon it just became boring to deal with. Yeah, Ellen was gay, but wasn't there a show in this mess somewhere? And everything slowly puttered out, ending only with one of the saddest Primetime Live segments ever where ABC pretty much came out and had Diane Sawyer show just how the show's cancellation wasn't related to the coming out episode as much as it was just a half-hour fixated on Ellen being gay. In one of the filmed bits of that segment, Ellen is on set with her crew and cast and tearfully giving a 'we changed the world' speech while everybody looks uncomfortable. Because nobody really gave a *beep* about her being gay, but about the show being all about her and *beep* everybody else, that's why. At least that's how it feels.

Twenty years on, Ellen really isn't know for much besides being gay. She has a talk show, she may have gotten attention for making a poor joke about riding a black Olympian track runner like a horse. But as a pioneer she's a poor one. But as it stands, she just looks like someone who didn't get that maybe people want their show back and just wish she would stop putting herself on a pedestal.

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Actually, I loved the Radio one. I never watched Frasier.

This sucks worse than I Heart Huckabees ----Stewie Griffin

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[deleted]

The show was not cancelled because Ellen was a lesbian. The show was cancelled because after Ellen came out, the show became all about her being a lesbian, people stopped watching, and the ratings began to tank.

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The show was not cancelled because Ellen was a lesbian. The show was cancelled because after Ellen came out, the show became all about her being a lesbian, people stopped watching, and the ratings began to tank.


that'd be the reason why i stopped watching it. i'm really just not that interested in lesbian story lines... guess i'm an insensitive jerk that way..

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the 5th season wasn't funny...compared to the first 4 seasons it was just BAAAD in terms of humor writing.

G.I. Ellen...not gay..but it has to be one of her worst
same with the radio episodes...that dorky guy ruins EVERYTHING.

and those horrible hollywood tributes!! omg! they were BAD.

where did the rambling go????

i mean even though they weren't funny..they were still good..

of course season 4 had bad ones as well..the one where she reinacts the "GHost" scene with the guy from madtv and also that BAD one with bonnie rait and those other singers.

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Ellen is one of my favourite sitcoms of all time. I loved it. I loved it when she came out too. But I admit the show was very hit-and-miss, not as witty as "Frasier" or always very polished. I guessed that's why I liked it though. The characters weren't all amazing looking, and they were more believabe financially than most other sitcom characters.

What I missed the most in Season 5 when a lot changed was Buy the Book. Think that was the only big mistake they made - getting rid of it. I understand why Ellen felt she couldn't work with Ed anymore but she should've gone back and kicked his ass or contacted Tom and Larry about the problem.

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It was a fairly middle of the road sitcom that wasn't bad like most of the seemingly infinite amount of cookie cutter sitcoms about middle class people leading obnoxiously normal lives but are that little bit quirky. But it was almost one of those. Ellen is what that crap wished it was.

Then it suddenly had this gay issue shoved right into it's heart and most of the core conservative middle of the road obnoxiously normal audience found it too distasteful to bother turning on any more. For it to survive it would have had to have been a much sharper witter show to start with.

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"I guess I am the only one that thought the show got funnier once she came out?" - Ummm, Yeah!

This show was so freakin' funny, and then Ellen blew it by having her character 'come out the closet'. Why couldn't she just be a gay actress playing a straight character? Ellen's show was sooo funny, but that last season was preachy and corny.

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I actually thought the last season was really funny also. I did notice after her coming out, a lot of shows with homosexual characters did come out after that. will and grace, queer eye for the straight guy, queer as folk..etc.

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