Ellen DeGeneres has been doing her talk show for 16 years, which – wow. I can’t believe it’s been that long and I’ve been watching since the beginning. Good for her. This past year, as often happens when contracts come up for renewal, the rumor mill shifted into high gear with suggestions that Ellen was calling it quits. Tuesday, she put those rumors to rest by announcing that she had just signed on for another three more years:
Okay, so I have been doing this show for 16 years. That’s about 3,000 episodes. A lot. I don’t remember them, but I’m told it was enjoyable. When we started, that was before Instagram, before YouTube, we were young, we were bored out of our minds. From the beginning I said this show was going to be like a relationship. We’ve been through the good, the bad, the Fifty Shades of Grey phase. It’s been a lot of fun and 16 years is a pretty good run. Sometimes in a relationship, you need to take a break. But I don’t, you’re stuck with me because I just signed for three more years.
Following her announcement, Ellen reflected on how the show was her second chance after she’d taken a career hit. She spoke about all the people who have contacted her and told her that she’d helped them in many ways, like getting through chemo or some major life event, and Ellen declared that that is why she was going to keep the show going, for those who still need her. That and because, “Lamborghinis are expensive.”
As I mentioned, this topic came up a lot over the last year and for her part, Ellen has been saying this whole time she’s not ready to leave the talk show. She told Entertainment Tonight that she hopes she knows when it’s the right time to leave but she isn’t there yet. I don’t often watch her full shows anymore, but in the clips I’ve watched, she still seems into the show. I don’t think this is just about money. It’s a great gig and I imagine it is deeply personal for her. Ellen’s career all but ended when she came out publicly. The show revived her career and elevated her to a worldwide platform to continue fighting for LGBTQ rights. It’s poetic, really. I like Ellen and her show, but I am not a stan by any measure. However, I watched her religiously during both my pregnancies and there were many days she helped me get through. So I will likely always wish her and her show well. As she said, her show is a relationship. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I refuse to have anything to do with it.
Photo credit: YouTube, Getty Images and WENN Photos
I like Ellen, but I rarely watch her (I’m not even sure what time she comes on around here, lol.) But I do watch the clips that get replayed and she seems warm and engaged with her guests, which is important obviously for a talk show host. I like that she found a life after sitcoms.
I don’t wash the show, but I do watch the clips online. I quite like Ellen and wish her the best. she does seem to still really love the show and what she’s doing, and sometimes when I’m PMSing I like to watch the videos of her giving nice people money because it makes me have a good happy cry haha.
I’m so happy about this!! We need more people like Ellen in this world, she’s kind, generous, endearing, warm hearted and funny. Her show is great, she is a great interviewer of and you can’t help but laugh at her antics, she also takes her show and does good for others.
I was young but I know it was big when she was publicly out and had this platform. I think she really has helped people to be more inclusive of others and accepting. I would love her regardless but I really think she has helped changed the narrative and I am genuinely so happy for her at the success she has achieved and maintained.
I know she has helped many people in the LGBT community but also doesn’t push that to the forefront constantly on her show and I think her impact will be expressed more deeply as the years go on. I know when I think of her, I think of someone who is authentically genuine and authentically themself and that is rare to come by these days.
Edited from my first comment:
I love her announcement, so her and the comment she made, for the people who need her. I don’t always catch every episode but if the tv is on and her show is on, I’m tuning in and no matter how I’m feeling or where I’m at in that moment, she has the ability to make me laugh and is always refreshing. I’m so happy about this. We need more people like Ellen in this world and on public platforms such as hers. She’s kind, generous, endearing, warm hearted and funny as all get out. Her show is great, she is a one of a kind host and interviewer and you can’t help but laugh at her antics, she also takes her show and does good for others.
I was young but I know it was big when she was publicly out and gained this platform. She crushed boundaries and broke down walls put in her path. I think she has really helped people to be more inclusive of others and accepting. I would love her regardless but I really think she has helped to change the narrative and I am genuinely so happy for her and the success she has achieved and maintained and to top it off, it is clear that she loves what she is doing.
I know she has helped many people in the LGBT community but also doesn’t push that to the forefront constantly on her show and I think her impact will be expressed more deeply and profoundly as the years go on. I know when I think of her, I think of someone who is authentically genuine and real and has always had the courage to be authentically herself and we can all learn a lot from that. She is a rare gem to come by these days and her popularity along with her sincerity is just another example of how liked and cared for she is.
I’ve always been iffy on Ellen. While I do like her stand up and she puts on a face of being relatable as well as warm-hearted, I just can’t shake the feeling there’s something ugly under the surface. The “scare” pranks she pulls and undertones of some of her jokes don’t sit well with me. Then there are the rumors that she bullies her staff.
I recall an interview she did right before her latest Netflix special. The interview took place at her beach-front mansion. She was going on about how she still thinks she understands what normal people go through. During the interview her personal chef made her a green smoothie, which she ended up not liking so she had the chef make her a different one. She also said she just tunes out everything having to do with Trump because it’s so depressing and she’d rather not let it affect her. The article also listed off several famous neighbors. Maybe I read it incorrectly but the entire thing reeked of privilege.
Then again, she worked her way to that position so maybe I’m complaining about nothing.
i totally agree! i think i read that same interview- she seems peripherally aware of her privilege but not enough to like. understand?
my sister and i- who famously disagree on most everything- recently realised we both share the same opinion that ellen is….. Dark. she gives off bad vibes, and the stories of how she treats staff don’t help.
Exactly. It was ridiculous to read a multi-millionaire talk about how she thinks she’s still relatable to the common folk while she’s sitting in a beachfront mansion (surrounded by celebrity neighbors) and sending back smoothies made by a personal chef just because it wasn’t exactly to her liking. Little Bird said it best. Ellen is aware of her privilege but doesn’t really seem to understand it’s not what most people have. That, or she doesn’t care. I also hated her comments about ignoring what the current administration does. She’s become so insulated most of what the GOP does won’t hurt her.
At the same time, I also question if it can be counted as privilege since she worked very hard to attain this level. She’s faced some big obstacles and set backs, especially when she came out as a lesbian. She didn’t grow up wealthy or inherit anything. That being said, I’m just surprised at how tone deaf it was.
Also, 100% agreed on the dark vibes.
I used to really enjoy watching Ellen, but I can’t help but feel she has become less friendly and a bit passive aggressive with some guests in recent years. She made poor Saoirse Ronan so uncomfortable when she had her play a “Which Celebrity Guy Would You Rather” game and got annoyed her when Saoirse was trying to think through her responses instead of choosing based on hotness. For Ellen, a prominent figure in the LGBTQ community, I’m shocked that she’d even go as far as to assume Saoirse likes men when she hasn’t made her relationships public. She clearly wasn’t told they’d play the game beforehand.
I’ve also seen her imply things to her guests that are completely wrong (for instance, she mentioned to Jodie Comer from Killing Eve that she played an American in a show that was completely British, leaving Jodie to be like ‘oh haha nope, I hope I didn’t sound American!’). She just seems a bit over it these days, so I’m surprised she’s continuing. The genuine joy isn’t there anymore.
Agree! ^^^^
I have been really surprised by some of her questions which have made me realize that she genuinelly doesn’t care about her guests so much as she likes us to believe.
Colin Farrell was a guest some time ago and Ellen made an ignorant comment about his son (who has special needs) which made it seem like she just didn’t bother to do her homework. Everybody in the industry knows that Colin’s son has Angelman’s syndrome and Ellen’s remark was just so embarrassing.
I like Ellen in Finding Nemo/Dory. That’s about it. Used to love her talk show but got tired of hearing about her treating staff badly. A friend of mine was in the audience for one of her shows and said when the camera turns off, it’s like a switch flips and the “warm, happy” Ellen is gone. She said it was unnerving to see her switch between personalizes. Don’t really care for her anymore, as one of the other commenters said to me she is dark, there is a certain darkness lurking behind her smile and I do not want to be around to see it. There is something off about relationship with Portia and their public interactions, something like Ellen is controlling and dictates the narrative…definitely not a fan of her.
This is interesting. If you’re able to, can you please elaborate on the personality switch?
When the cameras are on, and on her, she is the effable, warm, friendly, approachable Ellen we all have come to know and love.
When the cameras turned off, during the break, she was not chatty, talked down to her staff, snapped at them etc, only to switch right back on as the cameras came on.
I was very upset because I was obsessed with Ellen after watching Finding Nemo, but then I started observing her closely, her humor, the scare pranks always go one step too far. There is something dark and fake about her, when you watch Portia with her, you definitely see from their body language, Ellen is controlling, but whatever works for them.
To me, the talking down to her staff is what is a huge turnoff.
In the context of the Busy Philipps cancellation, I’m glad the Ellen show will continue. It’s not a late night show, but it’s so important to have an influential woman on television daily. After all the hell she went through in the 90s after coming out, I still always get a chuckle when I see the Ellen show playing in a doctor’s office here in a place as homophobic as Tennessee.
She was mean to Keanu, so I won’t watch her. Not that I still was watching her anyway, but now it’s definite. lol