The Ellen Show

I thought I was hopelessly stuck in the past, unable to enjoy anything made in recent years. In fact, the cause lay outside myself. This show is very good indeed. I have seen only two episodes, both written by Ric Swartzlander. So, my endorsement of The Ellen Show may be nothing more than an endorsement of this particular writer (though acting is excellent too). I always base my evaluations on the writing. I did not get a chance to see Ellen's first show. I'm looking forward to many more delightful episodes. The humor is gentle/wise, the plot skillfully designed. I don't think another writer could do any better. This is a great contrast with shows based on insult. There is a bit of it there, as condiment, but it doesn't overwhelm the concoction.

I had not laughed as hard at each episode since MASH and CHEERS. After I saw this taken off the air, and previously the US version of Men Behaving Badly, I realized that network upper management was seriously clueless about what the people want, and in some cases, are really only looking at the numbers. It's a precedent in business now that alleviates risk, but has been done so many times that risk is not even considered and everyone is now looking at ratings and in correlation, the final line item. It's a hem-and-haw America now. The Edisons and Graham Bells are gone. I'm in the electronic engineering industry and I see the same thing here. I believe it's why the internet bubble popped and now why it will take us FOREVER to move ahead. Just like this show, we have no vision. And even if we do, we're not willing to take the risk.

...Although from seeing some of the posts here, those unfamiliar with it might end up thinking otherwise. After reading the other comments, I felt compelled to add one of my own. Apparently there is a heterosexist double-standard going on here. When a hetero actor portrays consecutive roles in which hetero dating or intimate relations are involved, (which is most of the time,) whether in movies or on TV, people don't roll their eyes and say "oh brother, they're playing a straight person again." And the comparison between Ellen's character also being gay in this show (after all, she's gay in real life) and Bill Cosby playing another character who is the "upper middle class father of two or three kids" is a specious one. Now if Bill Cosby had another show where his new character was heterosexual (which he is in real life), people..... wouldn't bat an eyelash! Every time something gay related is involved, some people seem to take it as though Ellen is throwing her big gay ways in their faces. She mentions an ex girlfriend. "Oh, please spare us!" She has female/(lesbian!)-oriented posters in her bedroom--and an abstract painting which, one reviewer speculates, "appears" to be a vagina. That's the funny thing about abstract paintings. They "appear" to be different things to different individuals.

Apparently, because Ellen's character is gay, then in some people's minds the show must have a "cause," that because her character is gay, she must be trying to cram lesbianism down Americans' throats. Like an abstract painting, I think that attitude reveals more about the individual who holds it than it does about the subject. The "argument" in favor of this show is that it's funny. But the argument against it shouldn't be that her character is gay.

Aside from the gay issue, I think the quality of the show is improving. The writing seems to be getting better. As for the comment about the laugh track, I hadn't found it distracting, myself. For the record, though, the show is filmed before a live studio audience.

"The Ellen Show" was hilarious, with a fun cast, good chemistry amongst the regulars, and situations that could only happen to Ellen.

CBS, as you've already read in the other comments, made little effort to promote this show, just sticking it in different spots thinking that it would magically find an audience. I'm a huge Ellen fan but could never find this show to watch! Fortunately I've now seen nearly every episode thanks to a mate in the UK and it really saddens me that this wonderful sitcom was never given its due. But, with Ellen's talk show doing so well and the DVDs of her earlier sitcom, Ellen, selling so well, perhaps "The Ellen Show" will one day see the light of day again!

I think this show wasn't given near enough credit. It was a very funny show. It was also great to see Cloris Leachman on a weekly bases again. The rest of the cast had great chemistry and Ellen brought in some great guests from time to time, including Mary Tyler Moore in a Christmas episode which I still have on TIVO to this day. Also Betty White and Ed Asner. I was surprised when it stopped airing (I had not heard or read anything anywhere about it's being canceled. It just stopped airing one day.......).

I would like to see the 18 episodes that were produced released on one DVD set, so that those of us who enjoyed it can continue to enjoy it for years to come. (or at the very least allow us to view the 6 episodes that never aired.)