Ellen 

Ellen Morgan is a neurotic bookstore owner who deals with life through comedy and extensive rambling.

Creators:

Carol Black, Neal Marlens, David S. Rosenthal

Stars:

Ellen DeGeneres, David Anthony Higgins, Joely Fisher

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 14 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ellen DeGeneres	...	Ellen Morgan 108 episodes, 1994-1998
David Anthony Higgins	...	Joe Farrell 101 episodes, 1994-1998
Joely Fisher	...	Paige Clark 95 episodes, 1994-1998
Clea Lewis	...	Audrey Penney 79 episodes, 1994-1998
Jeremy Piven	...	Spence Kovak 71 episodes, 1995-1998

Storyline

Ellen Morgan is a neurotic, 30-something, bookstore employee who tries to get by life in dealing with her various friends who include the outgoing redhead Paige, insecure photographer Adam, her unsure-of-himself cousin Spence, coffee shop guy Joe Farrell, the critical and obnoxious Audrey, and most challenging of all, Ellen also has to contend being around her annoying and overbearing parents Lois and Harold.

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Plot Keywords:

stand up comedian | based on standup comedy | character name as series title | forename as series title | actress name as series title | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

These Friends of Mine

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Black-Marlens Company, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (109 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While Portia de Rossi Degeneres was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986) in 2010, Oprah told Portia that when Oprah played the therapist on season four, episode twenty-two, "The Puppy Episode", (the "coming out" episode) of this show, Oprah got more hate mail about that minor appearance than she had ever gotten during her entire previous career as a talk-show host and actress.

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Quotes

Margaret: Ellen, Ellen, where are you?
Ellen: [walks out of a coat closet] Here, I was in the closet.
Margaret: It's big isn't it?
Ellen: Yeah, but I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time in there, entertaining or anything.

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Connections

Referenced in Blonde Poison: The Making of 'Basic Instinct' (2001)

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Soundtracks

The Promise
Written by Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri
Performed by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

User Reviews

From good to bad to worse.

It is hard to believe the idea and opportunity that was squandered by the producers of this show. The show started out wonderfully in 1993, entitled "These Friends of Mine." The show was witty and featured Ellen and her kooky friends that lived across the hall from her. (Doesn't this sound familiar?) They had the idea a full year before the premier of "Friends".

When the show returned from hiatus, it was revamped, retitled, and focused on the main character, Ellen. While not as entertaining as the original version, the show coasted along with decent ratings and quite a few laughs.

Somewhere between the shows infancy and maturity, something awful happened. The show took a complete right turn and started focusing on Ellen's lesbianism and gay lifestyle. While I hold nothing against Ellen DeGeneres for coming out, and celebrating the lifestyle she chooses to live, the American viewing public was simply not ready for that kind of focus. Viewers became alienated, and ratings plummeted. I feel that ABC was generous in leaving it on the air as long as they did.

In the end, when the show was canceled, I felt that ABC unjustly took a lot of heat for not supporting what some deemed as a "ground-breaking show". On the contrary, ABC supported the show longer than any other show suffering from such poor ratings. In the end, it was the writers, and the lack of a viewing public that killed this show.