Quick: How long did Ellen DeGeneres' sitcom last? Four episodes? Ten? Maybe it eked out a full season? Get this: Ellen, one of the blandest, most generic sitcoms in recent memory, endured for five seasons and over 100 episodes, and if there's a hole in your pop-culture memory it's only because the series, or at least the 1994 debut season, is virtually indistinguishable from Wonder Bread. Yes, DeGeneres herself is sweet and genial and impossible not to like, but these 11 episodes, dating back to when the show was called These Friends of Mine, are like Seinfeld-lite (very, very lite). Featuring instantly forgettable plots that are the stuff of the most banal standup comedy (bad driver's license photos, faking your way through a high-school reunion, dissecting personal ads), the only marginally interesting thing about the first season is the irony that so many episodes focus on bookstore manager Ellen Morgan's unsuccessful attempts at finding a boyfriend (today we know that her only problem in the romance department was that she was chasing the wrong gender). The series won all sorts of awards, including the prestigious Peabody, which makes one wonder how the award givers could have possibly gone through life without having heard the one, milked in an episode here like it was a discovery of great comic import, about how white guys can't dance. DVD extras include pilot episode commentary by co-stars Holly Fulger and Arye Gross, and two third season episodes that should have aired during the first season. Optional. (M. Johanson)
Ellen: The Complete Season One
A&E, 2 discs, 300 min., not rated, DVD: $39.95 Volume 19, Issue 6
Ellen: The Complete Season One
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