The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, commonly shortened to Ellen, is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, with 3,339 episodes broadcast in total. It was produced by Telepictures Productions. The majority of stations owned by NBC Owned Television Stations, along with Hearst Television and Tegna, served as the program's largest affiliate base. For its first five seasons, the show was taped in Studio 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. From season 6 onwards, the show moved to being taped at Stage 1 on the nearby Warner Bros. lot. Since the beginning of the sixth season, The Ellen DeGeneres Show was broadcast in high definition.

The show received 171 Daytime Emmy Award nominations and won 63 Daytime Emmy Awards as of 2022, including four for Outstanding Talk Show and seven for Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment, making 11 total awards and surpassing the record held by The Oprah Winfrey Show, which won nine as Outstanding Talk Show before it was divided into two categories (Informative and Entertainment) in 2008. The show also won 17 People's Choice Awards. On May 21, 2019, DeGeneres announced she had signed for three more years, renewing the show through 2022. The eighteenth season premiered on September 21, 2020. On May 12, 2021, DeGeneres announced that the nineteenth season would be her last, which premiered on September 13, 2021.

The final episode aired on May 26, 2022, as previously announced on March 17. New episodes with guest hosts, archival clip shows hosted by DeGeneres and others, and repeats aired on stations across the United States until September 9, after which most stations (including NBC O&Os) began occupying the show's time slot with new newscasts or syndication programs such as The Kelly Clarkson Show. The show ended due to a combination of declining ratings following allegations of a toxic workplace environment and DeGeneres's own desire to move on creatively.

Concept

The program combines comedy, celebrity, musical guests, and human-interest stories. The program often features audience participation games where prizes are awarded. During her Twelve Days of Giveaways promotion, audience members receive roughly $3,000 worth of prizes on each of the twelve episodes. Because the show has become so popular, not all who arrive hoping to see a taping can fit into the studio, so an offshoot space was created. People seated here are often referenced and shown briefly on camera but watch the taping from off-stage. Other non-celebrities have been featured in an attempt by DeGeneres to give them 15 minutes of fame. Guests in this role have included intelligent children and small business owners. In the show's third season, DeGeneres began surprising fans by introducing them to their favorite celebrities.

Recurring elements

thumb|Ellen DeGeneres in 2004

Several recurring sounds, gags, and catchphrases are used by DeGeneres depending on the topic of discussion or theme for a specific episode. For example, after DeGeneres says the phrase, "Aww Snap!", the sound effect of a whip cracking often is played. In her monologue, DeGeneres frequently thanks the audience's applause by saying "I feel the same way about you!" Other video segments include DeGeneres scaring people, playing pranks, taking part in faux-breaking news segments and interacting with crew members. Other recurring segments include those where DeGeneres comments on Internet videos, tabloid-style photographs of celebrities, advertisements on Craigslist, or voicemails left for her on an answering machine. Some segments feature audience members more prominently, including having audience members show hidden talents, pictures of others that resemble DeGeneres, and interviewing children.

DeGeneres frequently plays games with audience members and awards prizes based on their performance. Games have included Pictionary-style drawing games, finding hidden objects within the studio, category, current event or pop-culture-based trivia, and various other stunt and charade-based games. DeGeneres also joked several times on the show about when a sequel to Finding Nemo, in which she famously had a lead role, would eventually release, as well as make references to the film. Eventually, the sequel, Finding Dory, was officially announced by DeGeneres.

Segments (including former and recurring)

The show has many recurring segments throughout the years. Some include:

Oh Hair No! is a segment that involves fans sending DeGeneres pictures of their funny haircuts, some of which appear on the show.
Know or Go is a segment involving three audience members (as contestants) who answer questions based on different topics such as Thanksgiving and current events. Upon an incorrect answer, the contestant gets dropped through a trapdoor. The remaining contestant will have to answer 3 questions correctly in a row in order to win the game.
Clumsy Thumbsy is a segment in which DeGeneres shows messed up auto corrects sent in by fans.
Oh Puh-lice is a segment in which odd police reports are shown.
Ellen's Dance Dare is a segment in which viewers send videos of themselves secretly dancing behind oblivious people. Irish jigs were featured on the 2012 St. Patrick's Day episode. Many celebrities have participated such as Emma Stone, Zac Efron, Lilly Singh, The Janoskians and Taylor Swift.
Bad Paid-for Tattoos Odd, usually misspelled body art is displayed.
A Little Yelp from My Friends DeGeneres reads reviews from the website Yelp.
"What's Wrong with These Photos?" Photos Silly photos sent in by viewers are featured.
"What's Wrong with These Videos?" Videos DeGeneres shares funny moments from TV that aren't quite right.
Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh! Baby, Baby, Baby, Photo! DeGeneres shares funny baby photos sent in from viewers.
Ellen Answers Your Questions About Taxes And When She Can't, She Calls Someone From H&R Block Audience members ask DeGeneres various questions relating to taxes. If DeGeneres doesn't know the answer, she calls various H&R Block offices from around the US.
Ellen and tWitch Guess What's Going to Happen Next In This Crazy (Foreign) Commercial tWitch and DeGeneres are shown clips of funny commercials, and must guess what will happen next from a list of possible outcomes.
"What Were They Thinking?" Audience Dancing Audience members are shown dancing with voices acting out the dancers' thoughts.
"What's Wrong with These Signs?" Signs Viewers send DeGeneres pictures of signs that aren't quite right.
Looky Looky at this Booky / Me Read Books DeGeneres shares books with funny covers and titles sent in by viewers.
Awesome Album Covers Viewers send DeGeneres records with bad covers.
A picture's Worth Five Thousand Dollars DeGeneres shares old photos of herself sent in by viewers, choosing one photo to win five thousand dollars.
Oh Come On! DeGeneres shares things that make her say oh come on!
Oh, Straight People DeGeneres shows slightly amusing news headlines, punctuating each headline by saying Oh, Straight People.
$#*! My Mama Says DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, reads out funny lines in a serious manner, occasionally reading out lines sent in by viewers. This segment is a direct response to the CBS sitcom $h*! My Dad Says.
What the BLANK is Your Secret Secrets from audience members are shown, with various words blanked out. tWitch and DeGeneres then try to guess what the missing words are, questioning the audience member for clues. If none of them guess it correctly, letters can be revealed.
Spill the Tea/ Spill the talents A game where DeGeneres has to match secrets to a panel of five audience members. Ulike similar games, DeGeneres does not question the contestants, simply matching the secrets based on intuition. After all secrets are correctly matched, each contestant tells the story of their secret. A variation featuring hidden talents has also been played.
Really Real Real Estate DeGeneres shares funny real estate listings.
World Wide Whaat? DeGeneres shows off strange, funny and useless websites.
Beach, Please! Viewers send in mildly infuriating moments from their lives, with the person deemed most inconvenienced winning a vacation getaway.
Tony Karaoke is a segment that features the show's DJ, Tony, singing often wrong-but-hilarious lyrics to popular songs.
Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie is a segment in which Sophia Grace & Rosie interview celebrity guests on the show, all while enjoying cookies and tea.
OMKalen features Kalen Allen reacting, often dramatically, to videos. The segment has become recurring on EllenTube.
ApPARENTly Confused a spinoff of the segment Clumsy Thumbsy, DeGeneres shows messages written by parents who don't understand texting and technology.
In Your FACEbook is a segment in which DeGeneres shares funny Facebook photos taken from the profile pages of audience members.
I Thought You Were My Friend DeGeneres shares funny Facebook photos taken from the profile pages of audience member's Facebook friends.
"What Have YOU Been Up to on Facebook?" is a recurring segment in which DeGeneres reveals some personal and private information of the public to the audience.
INSTA-grammification is a segment in which DeGeneres shares funny and unusual pictures from the show's Instagram page.
"Vine After Vine"/ Fresh Off the Vine is a segment in which DeGeneres shares 6-second video clips from the once popular mobile app Vine.
Weekly Tweetly Roundup is a segment in which DeGeneres shares funny and interesting tweets.
Classic Joke Thursday is a segment in which DeGeneres shares funny jokes/puns, usually in a conversation with the show's DJ.
This Plus That is a segment in which a montage of dancing audience members is shown usually combined with humorous sound effects.
Just KID-ink is a segment in which DeGeneres shares funny drawings from kids.
"Grand Design" an online segment in which DeGeneres, with presenters and home makeover experts the "Kitchen Cousins" John Colaneri and Anthony Carrino would redesign a room in just 24 hours on a budget of $1,000.
"Starbucks Prank!" is a recurring segment in which DeGeneres sends popular celebrities out to Starbucks to prank the cashiers.
"What the Heck Are These Kids Talking About?" is a former segment in which DeGeneres reviews rap lyrics and tries to figure out what they mean.
"Celebrity Pranks!" is a segment in which DeGeneres often pulls a prank or scares celebrity guests, although she once pranked a pair of best friends she brought on the show (one posted a video of scaring the other every day for a year). Although any celebrity can fall victim to it at any time, some have fallen for it often including Taylor Swift, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Paulson, and Selena Gomez, who have each fallen for it at least five times over multiple appearances. On several occasions, the celebrity is pranked more than once during the same show (Octavia Spencer and Sam Smith as well as the previously mentioned ones). Some pranks include (but are not limited to) scaring guests in the dressing room (usually the bathroom), having a staff member or another celebrity scare them onstage during the interview (using various methods ranging from simple to inventive), or backstage shenanigans where her own staff, particularly Andy Lassner, are frequent victims as well. On occasion the prank fails to scare the intended target, usually prompting a wisecrack from DeGeneres (e.g. Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Daniel Radcliffe, and Garth Brooks). DeGeneres herself is an occasional target but has proven to be very difficult to pull a prank on with two celebrities (Steve Carell and Matt Lauer) being the only ones to successfully prank her as of April 2021.
"Chat Time With Ellen!" is a talk-show segment in which DeGeneres talks about—or to—people who have made viral videos.
Can Andy Say That? is a segment in which DeGeneres has the show's executive producer, Andy Lassner, repeat funny phrases that are filled with double entendres and sexual innuendo.
Haunted House (the segment is actually untitled) is an annual segment in which DeGeneres sends her writer, Amy Rhodes, to various haunted houses in the days leading up to Halloween. In later years, Amy was joined in the haunted houses by her own mother, as well as the show's executive producer Andy Lassner. After Andy's stint going through with Amy, DeGeneres has made him go through every year, replacing Amy after she left the show. He's been joined by other DeGeneres staff members as well as celebrities like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Paulson, and DeGeneres's wife Portia de Rossi (as well as others) have also been sent to a haunted house. In one instance, DeGeneres herself joined Andy and went through a haunted house based on the 2017 film It. On other occasions some of DeGeneres' staff (Integrations Assistant Mackenzie, producer Matt Wright and Kalen Allen) went through without Andy. DeGeneres has occasionally sent celebrities on their own as well (Katie Lowes and Guillermo Diaz for example).
Average Andy is a segment in which DeGeneres sends her executive producer Andy Lassner to learn new skills from the world's most talented people.
Throwback Thursday is a segment in which every Thursday DeGeneres revisits funny moments from previous seasons.
"Who's in My Bushes?" is a segment in which a celebrity is hidden in decorative bushes in which DeGeneres will ask questions to that celebrity and eventually comes out when figured. However, during this segment, DeGeneres already knows who the celebrity is and the audience will just play along.
Take That, China! is a segment in which DeGeneres makes jokes about impractical and often unwise American inventions.
Breaking News is a segment in which news anchor Devin Scillian interrupts the show and delivers unusually mundane, humorous breaking news.
Why I Don't Have Kids is a segment in which DeGeneres shows pictures or videos sent in by viewers of crazy situations they have encountered with their kids.
Epic or Fail is a segment considered to be DeGeneres' favorite game, in which DeGeneres shows several stunts or tricks caught on tape, and when the videos are paused, DeGeneres, the audience, guest celebrities and tWitch have to guess the ending's outcome.
Hot Hands is a game in which some audience member or celebrities get on a special seat and name the celebrities which are shown on the screen as much as possible in 30 seconds.
5 Second Rule is a game in which DeGeneres and celebrity contestants have to think on their feet and list three answers that fall into a given category in only five seconds.
Ellen in Your Ear is a segment in which celebrities interact with unsuspecting people, with DeGeneres instructing the celebrities through remote earpiece.
Ask Dr. Dax is a segment in which Dax Shepard gives relationship advice to audience members, while often telling stories about his own experiences.
What's in the Box? is a segment in which DeGeneres gives out gifts through boxes, curtains and small games such as three-card monte. Gifts can include iPads, watches and even holidays
Hubba Hubba Quiz Quiz is a segment in which DeGeneres questions men.
Don't Leave Me Hanging is a game in which DeGeneres questions people. If they get a strike, they get lifted into the air. If they get three strikes, they get lifted all the way to the top.
Ellen, Rate My Baby is a segment in which DeGeneres rates pictures of babies sent in by her viewers from a scale of 1-10 (She goes over 10, e.g. 17/10)
Make it Rain is a game in which two (usually male) celebrities have to answer questions. If they answer correctly they get a chance to stand under one of several umbrellas and pull a string. One of the umbrellas releases money, which goes to a charity of the winner's choice. The other umbrellas release water, which ends up making the celebrity wet.
Me Me Monday is a segment in which DeGeneres shows a collection of funny memes and comments on them.
Danger Word is a word association game reminiscent of Password, where audience members must guess a word from clues without saying the titular "danger word" (such as "cereal" being the danger word for "Cheerios"). If the player guesses the winning word, the opponent gets a strike and gets sprayed by one of the cannons. If a person guesses the danger word, that person gets a strike and gets sprayed.
Thank GIF It's Friday is a segment in which DeGeneres shows GIF's that people post on the Internet. She shows these on Fridays.
One-Eyed Monster is a game in which two player took turns entering the monster's mouth where they will be questioned by DeGeneres. The answer itself ranged from 0 to 5. For each number the contestant is off, he or she must pull one of the monster's teeth. However, one of the monster's teeth will cause the monster jaws to snap shut.
Silhou-What Screen Is Hiding Andy Lassner/tWitch? A game where three silhouettes stand behind screens, with DeGeneres trying to guess which one of them is her producer Andy Lassner by asking various questions. A variation featuring tWitch has also been played
The Masked Dancer is a segment spoofing the series The Masked Singer (to which DeGeneres notes that Fox had not sued her yet), where DeGeneres and tWitch attempt to guess the identity of a mystery guest concealed with a costume mask. Actual Masked Singer panelist Ken Jeong made an appearance as a guest judge on one episode. In January 2020, it was announced that Fox and Warner Bros. would produce The Masked Dancer as an actual spin-off of The Masked Singer, with DeGeneres as executive producer.
Burning Questions is a game where a celebrity guest sits in a chair in front of a buzzer while DeGeneres asks them a slew of personal (sometimes embarrassing) questions. The celebrity hits the buzzer when they answer the question.

Heads Up!

Heads Up! is a game that DeGeneres plays with other celebrities. Originally, the game had players guess words or phrases on physical cards held to their foreheads by watching the other players act it out or give hints as time counted down. Later, DeGeneres and Warner Bros. Entertainment developed an app version of the game. The app became a huge success after its May 2013 launch, rising to the top of the App Store with over 650,000 downloads during its first month. By July 2016, it had been downloaded more than 25 million times and remained one of Apple's top-paid apps.

Dancing

thumb|[[Michelle Obama and Ellen dance on the second anniversary of Let's Move!.]]

Since the show's debut, DeGeneres has segued from her opening monologue by doing a dance. The dancing proved to be extremely popular with viewers, and has since progressed to a segment where DeGeneres dances into the audience, sometimes borrowing a coat or purse from someone's chair, and taking it with her. She has also featured a segment in which people teach her new dance moves.

One of her most famous dance moves is dancing over the table, where she straddles the coffee table and dances from one end to the other. Although she does not do it every day, dancing over the table is a recurring theme. As an April Fools' Day prank in 2009, the show's staff placed a wider table top over her normal table. During the show, when DeGeneres attempted to dance over it, she barely made it across, being forced on her tip-toes and using the table as leverage. On the seventh-season premiere, DeGeneres performed a dance segment with the cast of So You Think You Can Dance.

In September 2009, four major record labels sued the producers of the show for unspecified damages over the dance routine, for allegedly using songs without permission.

In 2018, The New York Times profiled DeGeneres as she faced decisions of renewing her talkshow contract, and exploring other outlets for her creativity including her Netflix comedy special Relatable (2018), which spoofs her kind image. They noted that she felt boxed in with a reputation of always being nice, and the host who danced all time.) and her cousin Rosie McClelland (born September 7, 2006) were first invited to the show after DeGeneres saw their YouTube video cover of "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj, which Sophia Grace and Rosie posted on YouTube on September 19, 2011. The then eight and five-year-old Essex, England natives became recurring cast members on the show, where they hosted their own segment called "Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie". In the segment, the duo invite and interview guest celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Hugh Grant, Julie Bowen, Harry Connick Jr., LL Cool J, Justin Bieber, and Reese Witherspoon over to tea. Sophia Grace and Rosie won the "Choice Webstar" at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards for this segment. They have also been correspondents during red carpet events such as the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the MTV Video Music Awards. They appeared in the third episode (June 2013) and the eleventh episode (September 2013) of Sam & Cat. According to her representative, Sophia Grace had been cast as Little Red Riding Hood in Walt Disney Pictures' film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, but she withdrew before production. Sophia Grace and Rosie starred in their own movie called Sophia Grace and Rosie's Royal Adventure.

Production information

Taping location

From 2003 to early 2008, the program was originally taped in Studio 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. It was then filmed in Studio 1 (named "The Ellen Stage" since her 2,000th show, which took place in November 2015) on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.

Personnel

The executive producers were DeGeneres, Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, and (until his death in 2012) Jim Paratore. The writing staff has included Karen Kilgariff (former head writer), Karen Anderson, Margaret Smith, and DeGeneres. Margaret Smith left the show to work on her own projects, including her first book, What Was I Thinking? How Being a Stand Up Did Nothing to Prepare Me to Become a Single Mother (Crossroad Publishing, 2008). Amy Rhodes, a former writer for the program, regularly appeared on camera during various segments.

DJ

Unlike most talk shows, the show used a disc jockey to supply music rather than a band. Originally, the role was filled by Los Angeles-based DJ Scott K, who lasted only a few weeks. He was later replaced by Tony Okungbowa, who DJed through season 3. Due to his growing acting career, Okungbowa left the show, and a few guest DJs were brought in to try out for the position. Tony was replaced by actor/DJ Jon Abrahams for the fourth-season premiere. Abrahams stayed on the show for one season, and also left as his acting career grew. Ted Stryker of KROQ, was the DJ for the fifth season. Stryker stayed for one season until Okungbowa returned. In a 2012 episode, DJ Pauly D from Jersey Shore deejayed when Okungbowa was promoting his CD.

Starting in season 11, several episodes include celebrity "guest DJs" filling the DJ position in Okungbowa's absence. Stephen "tWitch" Boss of So You Think You Can Dance fame had been Ellen's permanent DJ for several years. After the series completed in 2022, Stephen "tWitch" Boss died on December 13, 2022.

Okungbowa made a return appearance on the show in the April 28, 2014, episode, while Loni made a return in the June 5, 2015, episode.

2007 Writers Guild strike

DeGeneres, a member of the Writers Guild of America, supported the 2007 writers' strike. However, on November 9, 2007, DeGeneres crossed the picket line to tape more episodes of her TV show stating: