I keep mentioning that my favorite at-home talk show is The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. This surprised me, because I’ve always preferred Kimmel. Fallon is genuine, he’s caring and he’s adapted his show to be more personal and to incorporate his family. His daughters interrupt him and he’s patient with them, his wife does some segments with him and is embarrassed to be on camera, and he films from all the rooms in his crazy house. Plus he is just so happy to see the people he interviews and seems genuinely interested in them. Kimmel is also quite good and has pivoted his show well from home. Colbert is doing very well, his kids are helping him, and so is Seth Meyers, I’ve been impressed with his monologues especially. Conan is working from home doing his trademark wacky interviews. Trevor Noah is doing great, my mom adores him. Kelly Clarkson is doing ok (she’s still annoying and talks over people but she’s trying) and in general the talk show hosts have adapted well, with the glaring exception being Ellen. Normally I would not talk about her but I watched clips of her show on YouTube and it was so bad! I can’t believe how truly awful it is.
Of course Ellen probably isn’t paying her writers, we’ve heard that her entire crew is in the lurch and she’s hired non-union contractors, so that would partially explain why her bits were so bad. That and her terrible personality, which relies on a laugh track and audience giveaways to be entertaining. I absolutely can’t do justice to how cringey this is, but in the segment below, Ellen has an extended bit where she tries to throw olives in her mouth and fails. Her producer Andy is lurking around in her garden behind her. She plays a guessing game called Huh, What which involves Andy acting out different scenarios on her lawn using noises. She also asked him to pantomime but she has her eyes closed for some reason. Parts of that did make me laugh slightly, but it’s like she’s getting off on humiliating him. Twitch called in from home and he’s decent, but he was always too good for that show.
Ellen’s very disconnected interview style is also so obvious when she’s at home. She is rude with people, cuts them off abruptly and doesn’t seem interested in them at all. This was obvious in her recent interview with Chris Hemsworth. She seems like she’s mad at him for some reason! I don’t know how this is playing at home as I can’t get her show on demand, but I imagine it’s worse.
Ellen did have a great interview with a middle school teacher who is going above and beyond for her students. That was purely due to how wonderful the teacher was.
As for the question in the title, I think Ellen will stick around for a while, there’s a lot of money and influence behind her. The word is out about her now and this situation is shining a glaring light on it. She’s not a nice person, she treats her staff poorly and she’s just not funny or authentic. She relies on all the people she’s discarded to prop her up and without them she’s just herself.
I have never been able to watch Ellen. She is so tone deaf and rude. The amount of celebrities who have called her out on her own show is astounding. If you want five cringy minutes watch celebrities correcting Ellen on her show.
I so agree. You watch the same actor/singer/etc. with any other host (esp. with Conan, Fallon or Kimmel in US) and they come off funny and enjoyable. With Ellen I always just feel so bad for the guest. This quarantine has shown that she is not a good person and does not give a damn about the guests other than them keeping her in the spotlight
I think the bloom might finally be off the lily. All the rumors of her bad behavior, her on air bullying & at times down right rudeness To people have always been close to the surface. Now there is treating her staff & crew rather shabbily during the shut down might have sealed her fate. No one buys the Nice Girl persona any longer which, let’s face it, was the cornerstone of her “brand”.
If her show ends, which it should as it’s rather stale, I would be seriously worried for Portia’s well-being
How do they still get celebrities to go on her show? She’s so rude and self centered. I just love that her terrible personality is finally being exposed.
They’re probably obligated to as PR for projects.
I don’t really watch talk shows other than the occasional clip, but I don’t care for any of the Jimmy/James guys. I like Colbert and Seth and Trevor, and Sam Bee is awesome but in an attempt to not go crazy with rage at Trump, I don’t watch her show often.
It would serve Ellen right if she went back to the studio to restart, and her entire staff and crew, unpaid and unappreciated, walked off and left her there alone.
She is a ratings juggernaut and PR people and studios want as much exposure as possible.
It is business, plan and simple and I think the celebs that go on her show now know that.
Really, people watch that crap? I had no idea. No accounting for taste.
I find all the late night shows more relaxed and enjoyable in their at home versions. I know that can’t continue though, as that would put a lot of stagehands, band members and others out of work. But, for the time being, I’m liking it.
I doubt I’ve seen five Ellen episodes in the decades she’s been on, but her situation reminds me of Rosie O’Donnell. She was “America’s Sweetheart” talk show host also, until word got around about her off camera behavior.
Same this reminds me a lot of Rosie O’Donnell too. She was beloved in the 90s and dubbed “the Queen of Nice.” I knew about her less than stellar behavior from my aunt who worked for her very early on in Rosie’s career. And now after all these years we know Rosie struggles a lot with mental illness (this does not make her a bad person but we’ve seen how erratic it can make her) and is actually very abrasive and not the friendliest person, her “nice” persona just a character for her show.
I don’t watch Ellen’s show but I did watch a bit of her interview with Chris and it was so painful to watch I didn’t make it to the end. Chris was full of good energy but Ellen seemed like she couldn’t be bothered, wth.
She was so disconnected! He was charming, smiling and laughing the whole time and Ellen just looked flat and uninterested. Like, she couldn’t even make the lack of subtitles funny, it just sounded like complaints.
I remember Portia from Ally McBeal, and she should have had a bright career ahead of her. I wonder how happy she’s really been.
Ally McBeal the show cast that was rampant with Anorexic Nervosa.
Holy Cow … that was SO hard to watch. Such a great show but so many of the women just disappearing. That was awful.
It was so sad to watch those women get smaller and smaller over time. Flockhart got self-righteous about it and told people to “get off my skinny ass.”
I didn’t watch AMcB but Portia was great in Arrested Development.
I believe Portia has talked about her time on that show and the eating disorders, and it was not good.
She was GREAT on Better Off Ted and Arrested Development, I’m sad she’s not working as much anymore.
She was outstanding in Arrested Development too. I’ve rewatched seasons just for her.
I fell in love with Portia in that show! She was like my earlier Angelina.
So awful… she should give up now.
Makes no difference to me. Even if her show continues I won’t be watching it.
I couldn’t make it past the first 20 seconds of that cringefest video.
You know what else I find cringe indusing as well? Still the thought of Kelly Clarkson having her own show.
I use to like her but she has changed. This thing about not paying her crew is just awful. It’s also strange she hasn’t spoke out about it which means it’s true and she doesn’t care.
I just think she got rich and started hanging out w/ the wrong people. Her crew over the last few years is very vapid. They don’t do anything either outside of Jimmy who I think she personally hangs out w/ sometimes. Good for Jimmy tho b/c I didn’t know he was paying people out his own pocket. That’s good.
This was always Ellen, she just stop acting like she cared.
I have found all the talk show hosts feel a little strange but I truly appreciate they are trying and want to entertain.
I will say why I find some of the m awkward it is obvious they want to do it, Ellen is is obvious she doesn’t and I found her rude to that teacher.
I noticed that too. I watch Kimmel, Fallon and Mayers and they adjusted wonderfully, but Ellen… oh my lord, she seems so annoyed and bored all the time and she doesn’t even try.
I watched a few of portias videos recently, where she’s making dinner for her and Ellen and she seems nervous and fidgety
What are the chances she’s an ass to her employees and talk show guests and not an ass to her wife?
Zilch.
Slim to done. And Ellen continues to poke fun at her for her lack of cooking skills. She can’t be an easy person to be married to and seems to have just subsumed Portia’s personality and presence to nothing more than a backdrop and punching bag.
Yep!No doubt she’s at best controlling,and she likes to scare/prank/embarrass people on her show,so I’m sure Portia is on the receiving end of a lot of unkindness.
There are SO MANY stories of how awful Ellen is. She’s mean and rude and had been telling us who she is for a while now – believe her.
Surely there must be some way for her to get out of her contract with the show. Sometimes she comes off as a disgruntled employee who is forced to come into work and interact with others. Surely she has enough money to retire and go live her life.
On a side note, she now has home decor items that are popping up everyone. They are cute and I like them, but I’m now second-guessing whether I want to support her brand.
I’ve really been enjoying Colbert and Meyers during the quarantine, although I might have to stop watching because their in-depth reporting of what Trump and his cronies are doing is making me anxious and depressed. On Seth Meyer’s show, writer Amber Ruffin always makes me laugh, and she did a great Quarantine Easter Parade bit which you can find on YouTube that I loved so much!
I never found Jimmy Kimmel to be hard-hitting enough for me, though it’s objectively absurd to be looking for journalism from late night talk show hosts. But that’s where we’re at, because we can’t count on the actual newsreaders for in-depth discussion. They all seem to be pandering to the lowest common denominator and not pounding into our heads what each and every awful decision Trump makes will result in. Fallon has been canceled for me because of his rep as a drunk and as that jerk who “humanized” Trump by ruffling his hair. I have to say that the little I’ve seen of him in quarantine seems to be better and healthier than he is on his show.
tl;dr I have spent too much time watching late night shows on YouTube while self-isolating! Definitely go watch Amber’s Quarantine Easter Parade, though!
I completely relate to your comments.
I love Seth Meyers, Colbert, and will add, Trevor Noah. They provide no BS, intelligent commentary and shine a spotlight on the shit show which is this administration and the GOP unlike mainstream reporters bending over backwards to remain impartial. Knowing that they and their audiences exist and see through the daily gaslighting gives me hope that there are still decent people out there (hopefully a majority). But, like you, I’ve had to stop watching all the time because my anxiety level is just too high.
Personally, I can’t stand Fallon at all. I hated his interaction with Drumpf and his silly comedy schtick does nothing for me……….but that’s just me, to each their own.
I absolutely love the “Daily (Social Distancing) Show” with Trevor Noah.
Do you see her face when one of her ‘scares’ or jokes fall flat, she cannot hide her emotions for sh***. Didn’t she also keep production running during proposition 8 or something.
I don’t watch her, how does she react?
Ellen has always bothered me. She has always come off as creepy and inauthentic, even 10+ years ago when she was thought of as a “sweetheart”. Her mean-spirited side has always shown itself in her bullying, condescension and pranks. Like Jared Kushner, she reminds me of an evil ventriloquist doll with her haircut, and facial expressions. I find her eyes to be blank of emotion (except for when she’s demeaning people); her smile never reaches them.
Despite acting like she’s over it, I think she continues with her show because she craves the attention it brings. Which is why she’s been so horrible adapting it to the current situation; she doesn’t have a live audience to feed off of or people to humiliate. She also doesn’t have anyone to write her jokes for her.
That is a great observation…she, like Kushner, do look like dead-eyed puppets. No humanity or spark in their eyes.
Ellen comes off so mean on her game show. She really looks like she is enjoying humiliating the contestants. She also sucks as an interviewer
That’s the truth behind the mask for me. She really loves to scare her guests, which I think is mean and unsettling. What kind of host wants their guests to be jumpy and on edge? And those games on her talk show and game show are all about the humiliation of others and inflicting discomfort on them. She LOVES it. People who find pranks and mean spirited “jokes” hilarious are just using humor as a front for their sadism and anger. It’s passive aggressive. I hope her show goes away after this is over.
I caught some of her game show earlier this year and was appalled at it. Humiliation for entertainment. I can’t believe people watch it or participate it it.
She’s also not funny. She has writers on her show that make her seem witty, and she has writers when she does stand-up so those are not even her jokes anyways. Whenever she tries to say something off-the cuff “funny” on her show it always came off as sarcastic and mean. This ofc is just my opinion. But i stopped watching her show years ago cause of her terrible interviews. You can tell she’s only interested in her guests when she can make herself seem caring by giving regular people prizes and money, and when a celebrity says something that she can turn into a joke making fun of them. It’s always so mean and she loves humiliating people.
Ellen looks like she’s hitting the bottle pretty hard.
She’s just an ass. I’m glad people can finally see it now.
If she were to dress-up on Christmas as an elf, she would not need false ears
These hosts really need the aid of a laugh track to cue us if they are making jokes. A lot of their spiels fall flat and I am sometimes left wondering if they were serious or not. I often miss the punch lines. John Oliver’s show looks morose. I don’t know about Ellen. After those stories about her surfaced on twitter, I can’t take her seriously anymore so I don’t care about her performance. I tried to understand her during that Bush debacle but I just can’t enjoy her show anymore.
I’ll always respect Ellen for coming out on live television in her puppy episode. I also think she’s made a great contribution by creating and maintaining a lesbian hosted daily show on a major network for over 16 years. It’s maybe hard to remember how terribly homophobic things were even in 2003 when the show began. I remember being amazed she got a show at all. By becoming a household name, she’s helped all of us who are gay have an easier time of it. I heard rumors that she wanted to retire in 2016. I think she should have, although I would say she did help me by having Hillary Clinton as a guest after the election to talk through things. On balance, I believe Ellen has helped more than hindered our national conversation. That said, I think she should retire after her contract is up in 2022. She may have to go earlier if the show stays in her home and she loses viewers due to the lack of entertainment value.
ITA with everything you said. She is the essence of representation doing so much for so many that it is hard to see that she as a person is not who we all for so many years imagined her to be.
I think it is very telling that comments are turned off on her YouTube videos.
I think I’m borderline obsessed (not really but you know) with Portia. I think she’s so so beautiful, super sexy and does a lot for animals. She was magnificent in Scandal. She was exactly what that show needed at that time! It makes me so sad to see her with that nervous energy around Ellen. That was me with my husband years ago and after years of intense therapy work I never want to go there again. I love her and want her to get out. I feel their home could possibly be a nightmare to live in. I hope she’s cancelled. I know she did an amazing thing coming out the way she did but unfortunately, as the last couple years have shown us that sometimes our heroes are extremely flawed as well.
I can’t remember where I saw a recent picture of Ellen in her living room sitting on a sofa, but it looked like Portia was lower on the floor with her hand on her upper leg. It kind of reminded me of a master and their dog picture. That pretty much said it all.
Oh man Ann. That makes me sad. I hope she’s getting the help she needs if that’s the case. She’s insanely talented!
Ellen forgot that underneath all the fame, money and bullshit, she’s still just a minority in a country that does not offer her equal rights.
All the fame, money and bullshit around her has allowed her to forget who she is.
Without the fame and money, half of Americas would rather see her hanging from a tree than living.
And while I can see how it may be tempting to allow all the fame, money and bullshit to allow herself to forget that, she does so at her own peril.
I don’t usually watch these shows but I caught an episode of Ellen’s show recently. I just kept asking, wtf is this sh-t? A grade schooler could do a better show. Wtf is up with making that producer stand behind her outside? That was awkward as heck. It was embarrassing how bad the show was.
To be fair I don’t see anything wrong with the Chris Hemsworth interview. He annoys the sh-t out of me though so if she seems bored or whatever I can understand why LOL.
Went to her show a couple years ago. There isn’t a laugh track, but boy, when those “applause ” “laughter ” and “dance ” signs are up…you’d best comply!
I’ve been saying this for years!! The women is obnoxious and rude and her shows are heavily edited and scripted & audience are couched which is why alot of people fall for her fake facade. I’m glad people see her true self now.
Finally, what I’ve been saying for the last 20 some odd years is becoming apparent to more people. She is a very angry person and it shows in every insincere thing she does. The look of contempt on her face when her audience goes mental over giveaways says it all. She hates everyone but her few close friends like Jennifer Aniston.
Yes, yes, yes!! Aniston on her show many, many times. There was an episode when Aniston came out with a huge fake breasts. I believe this was after Angelina just had her breast removed and reconstructed. That is just disgusting and mockery to the highest level. And the way they laughed was equally disgusting!
I no longer watch her talk show, and I’ve only watched her game show once. She isn’t a nice person, and she seems sadistic. It seems like the older she gets, the more mean she becomes.