Ellen (originally titled These Friends of Mine for the first season) was a U.S. television sitcom which ran on the ABC network from 1994 to 1998. It was created by Mitchell Hurwitz (Arrested Development).

The title role of Ellen Morgan, played by stand-up comedian Ellen DeGeneres, was a neurotic bookstore owner in her thirties. The series centered around Ellen dealing with her quirky friends and the problems of daily life.

In 1997, Ellen made television history when both Ellen the character and Ellen the actor came out as lesbian. The revelation ignited a storm of controversy, prompting ABC to place a parental advisory at the beginning of each episode, although the show was never salacious in nature.

Ellen was a critical and popular success in its earlier seasons, due largely to DeGeneres' comic ability. However, after Ellen came out, the show's ratings began to decline, which many attribute to the show becoming too much of a focus on the gay issues and not enough the comedy.

The show was cancelled in 1998, after 5 seasons.

External links

• Ellen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108761/) at the Internet Movie Database
• Ellen (http://www.tvtome.com/Ellen/) at TVTome