One of the most recognizable lesbians in the world, and namesake of this site, Ellen Degeneres, has concluded her almost two-decade-long talk show. The Emmy-winning The Ellen DeGeneres Show premiered in September 2003 and has aired over 3,200 episodes. Many people who made the show a staple of their day are in a state of mourning.
The conclusion came full circle when Jennifer Aniston, the first guest on The Ellen Degeneres Show back in 2003, was on the final episode on May 26. Alecia Moore, aka Pink–who wrote the show’s theme song–also made an appearance to farewell the TV veteran.
Ellen told The Hollywood Reporter that her longtime friend and fellow ex-talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, said that she “won’t really feel it until September, when [she’d] normally go back [into production].”
Ellen has already shed many tears over its ending, even seeking the help of spiritual gurus to make it through. “I knew going in that this season was going to be my last season, so I really tried to take everything in. And it’s funny because the last couple of months I was more emotional than I was in the last week or two. I got really emotional about two months out, but that last week I wasn’t because I really just wanted to enjoy it. I was working with [former monk] Jay Shetty a lot, too, on being present and I was. I was very present for all of it.”
“There was a time a couple of months out where I was crying every day. I was really emotional, even though it was my choice, and it’s the right choice. I knew it was time to end this chapter and to do something different, but still it was really emotional. But I did not want the last two weeks to be about that. I’d meditate every day on my intention and how much I wanted to be present and enjoy it and I wanted that for the audience, too. I wanted people to be reminded of what we brought to television with the music and the games and everything. It was more of a variety show than anything, and I wanted the last two weeks to be pure fun because I struggle with anxiety and depression and I know how important it is to have an escape. We’re reminded every single day of what’s going on in the world, from a sick family member to wars and fires and global warming. There are so many different things that make you sad.”
We’ve come a long way, baby…
Ellen DeGeneres has been at the vanguard of lesbian representation in the media. Originally, she made her breakthrough in the 1990s with the sitcom Ellen, which was a raging success – some even called it the “female Seinfeld.”
However, the world wasn’t ready for lesbianism. Perhaps overestimating the public’s love and support for the obviously lesbian star, the ratings dramatically plummeted soon after Ellen Degeneres came out in 1997, both in real life and as her character. The show was cancelled in 1998.
The Ellen Degeneres Show has ended with controversy, too. News that the show was concluding came only 10 months after it was accused that the set was a toxic workplace. Three producers left as the claims surfaced. Ellen apologized for “things that shouldn’t have happened” while on-air that season, admitting that she is imperfect, like everyone: “I am a work in progress.”
In the 19 years since it aired, millions of people tuned in to The Ellen Degeneres Show to watch Ellen’s hilarious musings on current events, her interviews with a range of celebrities, and entertaining games with the studio audience, every day.
But it wasn’t always fun and games: “Very few stations wanted to buy the show [before it aired], and here we are 20 years later celebrating this amazing journey together,” DeGeneres said during the final show. “When we first started the show I couldn’t say gay.”
She outlined that she couldn’t say “wife,” or allude to gay marriage because it wasn’t legal. DeGeneres now says wife “all the time.”
“If this show has made you smile, if it has lifted you up when you are in a period of some type of pain … then I have done my job,” DeGeneres continued. “Because of this platform we have been able to change people’s lives, and this show has forever changed my life.”
