Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval

There are far too many applause breaks for moments that aren't particularly funny or noteworthy. The narrative about being 'kicked out of' show business doesn't land when she's literally here on Netflix with a multi-million dollar deal. Clearly, despite the controversy, companies still willing to pay for her work, it's ultimately within her power to remain in or step away from show business.

I was hoping to hear her side of the controversy, or at least how she would weave it into her routine, but instead, she skims over the issue without offering much insight or depth. The constant jumping from topic to topic with no clear link makes the special feel disjointed and unfocused. It lacks the depth or insight that I expected, leaving the entire show feeling more like a ramble than a cohesive stand-up performance.

Ellen switches between observational comedy and show business comedy. Her observations are the same topics you've heard other comedians talk about before: driving annoyances, restaurant annoyances. Yawn. It plays like a poor man's Seinfeld. Her show business material is her defending herself against people calling her mean by saying she's only human. What a cop out. She constantly reminds the audience that she's gay to gain sympathy and hide her narcissism. She also drags bits out too long. We don't need 10 minutes of pigeon material. If this is her final special, she went out with a whimper. Her final message to the audience is that she doesn't care what they think. We know; she's been telling that to her staff for years. Ellen exits the stage like an old horse being put out to pasture. A sad end to a long career.

Instead of finalizing her career as a comic with something irreverent or groundbreaking, she chose a stale recounting of the last 2 year's headlines. Nothing special & no way to end your groundbreaking career. Ellen has always leaned into her dry approach to comedy but I don't think it suited her here. Yes, we know people called you mean, and if that's not true, that's terrible. One retelling would have sufficed. Ellen carved her own path & she doesn't technically need comedy like most standups, but I sure wish she had gone out with a bang since this is her last special.

It seems she needed this adoration more than she needed the laughs.

I have no idea what the idea behind this program was? Did Ellen want to show that she had some self-distance and was able to face what had happened to her career? Admit to certain things and take responsibility for them? If so, it has failed because it is clearly superficial and insincere. There is still a tone there that suggests that she had to suffer all this because of her gender and s. Orientation.

The comedy aspect itself is even worse. The jokes are flat and completely unfunny. This is a completely amateur level. This is only emphasized by the reaction of the audience, which had to be carefully selected from among her fans, because their hysterical reaction to her every joke, even the weakest, seems simply artificial and far-fetched to those watching at home. And I watched it with three other people. One of them, a woman, used to be very fond of Ellen. We all watched it with straight faces almost the entire time. A slight smile may have crossed our faces a few times. Not good for such a long performance. Not good. Not good at all.

Ellen wanted to leave with great pomp, but it turned out to be a dud. Maybe because of her limited comedic skills? Or maybe it's because she can't be truly honest, either with herself or with the audience. At one point he says that "if you tell someone that all their stories should be 50% shorter, you lose 100% of their friendship." I think she could apply this principle of brevity to her own jokes as well. Instead of repeating the same thing over and over again.

Here we go with yet another self-serving ego massage like "Relatable", but not nearly as cringe. To be fair, there are a handful of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Ellen is always at her best when she sticks to her tried and tested style of observational humor. But, I'm afraid she has been disconnected from reality for so long, that she's completely lost he sense of self awareness.

Imagine telling an audience that you're currently kicked out of show business while you're performing on a stand-up tour and then airing it on Netflix. That's literally the opposite of being kicked out of show business.

She addresses the abuse controversy by making excuses: She claims of being unfairly penalized for being a gay woman. What does she think happened? The country embraced her and her talk show for 20 years and then just up and decided to dump her because she's a gay woman? Zero remorse. Zero accountability. Zero self-awareness. She could have easily addressed it at the beginning of the show just by admitting she screwed up. Instead, she has the audacity to claim that it's unfair for her to be held accountable as the leader of her show just because it's her name, face and brand on it. She likens it to holding Ronald McDonald accountable for how the McDonald's Corporation is run. Except Ronald is not the product, nor is he real. He's a fictional mascot. Ellen IS the product, the brand and the one who both mistreated people and allowed others to mistreat people under her watch.

The biggest problem with Ellen's rationale behind what happened to her is that we know what happened. And she's hoping you'll forget that.