Ellen DeGeneres knew her self-titled talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show would end after 19 seasons. The television host and comedian started her career in stand-up comedy in the 1980s, going on to have two sitcoms titled Ellen and The Ellen Show, before hosting her syndicated talk show in 2003. Aside from that, DeGeneres is known for her voice as Dory in the Finding Nemo franchise and for hosting Ellen's Game of Games as well as a myriad of award shows including the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and the Primetime Emmy Awards multiple times each.
It was announced that The Ellen DeGeneres Show will conclude after season 19 in 2022. Since its premiere, the show has had massive and substantial success, winning 61 Daytime Emmy Awards and 17 People's Choice Awards, and cemented DeGeneres as one of the highest-paid entertainers. DeGeneres had announced back in 2019 that she had renewed her contract for three more years with the show and it seems that she has seen the end of the road for a while now.
Per Variety, DeGeneres has shared the news in an opening monologue for her upcoming Thursday episode stating that she felt that the future season would be her last. The Ellen DeGeneres Show is currently in its eighteenth season and has produced over 3,000 episodes. DeGeneres compared this moment to another significant decision she made when she decided to publicly come out as a lesbian through an episode of her first television series Ellen back in 1997, at a time where having a gay character at the center of a network sitcom was unprecedented. Her statement on ending her show can be viewed below:
"The past 18 years has changed my life — you all have changed my life and I am forever grateful to all of you for watching, for laughing, for dancing, sometimes crying. This show has been the greatest experience of my life and I owe it all to you...Two years ago I signed a three-year deal. I always knew in my heart that (season) 19 would be my last. Nineteen is a great number...In 1997 I knew it was time to come out on my sitcom and live my truth. Back then I had a vivid dream that a bird flew out of a cage and set itself free because it needed to get out of the cage. Recently I had a dream that a beautiful bird with bright red feathers whispered to me ‘You can still do stuff on Netflix.’ And that was the sign I was looking for.”
The news of DeGeneres' decision comes at a time after the show has gone through some rough patches. Not too long ago, the show was at the center of an investigation for having a toxic workplace environment that led to the dismissal of three executive producers accused of harassment. DeGeneres has also faced accusations of her alleged mistreatment towards her staff, which contradicts her persona of encouraging kindness towards others, something which she has always ended her show with. The allegations resulted in a loss of about one million viewers for the show's current season.
While recent events and circumstances undoubtedly played a part in the decision, it has been expected that DeGeneres would eventually wrap up her daytime talk show in the coming years. The ending comes one year short of what would have been another milestone for the show, but DeGeneres has promised a memorable farewell season and will continue to be a part of the mainstream with future stand-up specials which she has also implied. More context behind DeGeneres' decision will be given when The Ellen DeGeneres Show airs on Thursday, May 13, where Oprah Winfrey will sit down with the host.
Source: Variety