Ellen (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Ellen |
| Original title | These Friends of Mine (season 1) Ellen (from season 2) |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1994-1998 |
| Production company |
Black-Marlens Company Touchstone Television |
| length | 22 minutes |
| Episodes | 109 in 5 seasons |
| genre | Sitcom |
| Theme music | Texas - "So-Called Friend" (Season 3+) |
| music | WG Snuffy Walden |
| First broadcast | March 29, 1994 (USA) on ABC |
| German-language first broadcast |
August 29, 1995 on Das Erste |
| occupation | |
| |
Ellen is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1994 to 1998 .
development
The series initially started under the name These Friends of Mine as a short series with 13 episodes, but was so popular that it received a permanent slot under the new title in autumn 1994 and was continued in four further seasons with 24 episodes each. The first season focused primarily on the leisure activities of the bookseller Ellen Morgan and her friends, but in the following seasons, the processes in her bookstore were increasingly included.
characters
- Ellen Morgan
Ellen Inez Morgan is the central character of the series, she is in her early 30s and comes from New Orleans . She works as a saleswoman in the bookstore "Buy The Book" in Los Angeles . During the second season she becomes the owner of the shop, but in the fourth season she has to sell it to a chain store for financial reasons and remains the manager until the fifth season. She first lives with Adam Green, later with her cousin Spence in a shared flat . In the fourth season, she buys her own house, which she finances by selling the bookstore.
Due to her clumsy manner and her need to be loved by everyone, Ellen always manages to get herself and her friends into embarrassing situations. Ellen tends to gossip and chatter uncontrollably when she is nervous or embarrassed, which usually leads to further embarrassing situations. She regularly goes to psychotherapists with whom she speaks about her problems and worries.
Ellen has some relationships with men for the first three seasons, but they're all short-lived. After her outing, she met Laurie Manning in the fifth season, with whom she stayed until the end of the series.
- Adam Green
Ellen has known Adam Adam since college. Adam isn't much more successful at love than Ellen. Professionally, he has to be content with less lucrative jobs for baby photos until he experiences his breakthrough at the beginning of the third season and moves to England; so his character disappears from the series.
- Paige Clark
Paige is introduced as Ellen's friend in the second season and is the main supporting character from then on. The two went to school together, and the wild Paige repeatedly involved the timid Ellen in unpleasant situations (which Ellen's mother reproachfully remembers at every opportunity). Paige starts out as a secretary in a production company and becomes a producer in the third season. Although from then on she can afford a much more luxurious lifestyle than the others, her friendship with Ellen is not affected. Paige has numerous relationships with men, most of which are only superficial. At the end of the third season she wants to marry the policeman Matt, but has an affair with Spence, with whom she stays together until the end of the series despite a few breakups.
- Spence Kovak
Ellen's cousin Spence appears in the third season and moves in with Ellen. Spence was an intern at a hospital but had lost that job because of his irascible temper. Then he begins to study law, which he also gives up. In the fourth season he continues his work as a medic. He is a womanizer and has some relationships and one night stands before dating Paige.
- Lois Morgan
Ellen's mother is one of those women who find it difficult to let go of their grown children. Constantly worried that Ellen might not find a suitable man, she urges her to look more actively. At first she found it difficult to endure her daughter's coming out , but then reacted with surprising calmness. She seems naive and sometimes has crazy views and ideas. She separates from her husband Harold during season four, but they get back together later.
- Harold Morgan
Ellen's father is a patent attorney and is retiring from the series. He spends his retirement looking for cheap specials. Like his wife Lois, he seems naive and has just as crazy views and ideas. At first he has serious problems with his daughter's coming out and reproaches himself for being a bad father. After a clarifying conversation with Ellen, he shows understanding and is ultimately proud of her.
- Audrey Penney
Audrey and Ellen waited together as students in the same pub - since then Ellen has not been able to shake Audrey off again, although she annoys her with her always cheerful manner. In the third season, Audrey even manages to get a job in Ellen's bookstore. Although this should only be a temporary job, Ellen doesn't have the heart to fire Audrey. Audrey's parents are very wealthy, but she'd rather stand on her own two feet. She has a number of relationships over the course of the series, including with Adam.
- Joe Farrell
Joe is Canadian and runs a coffee shop that will be added to the bookstore midway through the first season. Although Ellen is his boss from the start, she never succeeds in asserting herself against him. Outwardly, Joe looks rather conservative, but always knows about the hottest trends and knows the most important people.
- Peter Barnes
Peter also appears for the first time in the second season, but does not play a bigger role until the third season. He studies law and is involved in numerous charity projects. Unlike Ellen, he is open to his homosexuality from the start and acts as her moral compass.
- Laurie Manning
Laurie is a mortgage broker and Ellen's girlfriend in season five. She has a twelve year old daughter, Holly. In contrast to Ellen, she is rather calm and her life is very organized.
- Anita
Ellen's friend Anita is a saleswoman in a department store. She is self-confident and leads a much more active love life than Ellen and the others. In the middle of the first season, Anita disappears from the series without any explanation.
- Holly
Shy Holly is a school friend of Ellen. Her rare attempts at hooking up with men regularly end in disaster. This character is also given up without comment after the first season.
synchronization
| actor | Serial role | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ellen DeGeneres | Ellen Morgan | Claudia Lehmann |
| Arye Gross | Adam Green | Stefan Krause |
| Joely Fisher | Paige Clark | Ranja Bonalana |
| Jeremy Piven | Spence Kovak | Uwe Büschken |
| Alice Hirson | Louis Morgan | Renate Danz |
| Steven Gilborn | Harold Morgan | Friedrich W. Building School |
| Clea Lewis | Audrey Penney | Katharina Graefe |
| David Anthony Higgins | Joe Farrell |
Tobias Meister (1st voice)
Andreas Fröhlich (2nd voice) Oliver Rohrbeck (3rd voice) |
| Patrick Bristow | Peter Barnes | Santiago Ziesmer |
| Lisa Darr | Laurie Manning | |
| Maggie Wheeler | Anita Warrell | Judith Brandt |
| Holly Fulger | Holly Jamison | Dorette Hugo |
Opening credits
In the first two seasons, the series has a neutral opening credits that show the main characters in different images in nature. Ellen announces a new opening credits at the beginning of the third season, which is not yet finished at this point. This becomes a running gag , because until the end of this season, the premiere of the opening credits is repeatedly postponed to the next episode.
Starting this season, the title song is So Called Friend by the Scottish band Texas . From the fourth season, either well-known musicians (including ZZ Top and Queen Latifah ) perform the title song according to their style, or other well-known American artists perform together with Ellen.
The coming-out episode
The original title of this episode is The Puppy Episode (German title: Das Outing ); this was broadcast as a double episode at the end of the fourth season. After actress Ellen DeGeneres came out publicly in 1997, her series character Ellen Morgan came out as well. This event was announced during the entire season. Examples: Spence said to her "Just be who you always wanted to be: Melissa Etheridge , kd lang , the Indigo Girls ..." All lesbian artists. Audrey also said to her: "Let's promise that there will never be a man between us again!" To which Ellen replies: "I can assure you that this will not happen."
content
The episode begins with Ellen going to meet her college friend Richard. In the run-up to the meeting, her friends call out clear sentences to Ellen: u. a. "Ellen, come out at last!" Or "Stop hiding!" During dinner with Richard, she meets his boss Susan, and they get along very well from the start. They later say goodbye, and Ellen goes to Richard's hotel room with Richard. During Richard's advances, Ellen escapes, runs into Susan, and they go to her nearby room together. During the conversation, Susan comes out as a lesbian and says that she assumed that Ellen was also a lesbian, whereupon Ellen leaves the hotel, completely perplexed.
Ellen tells her friends that she slept with Richard, but realizes that she feels something for Susan. She first talks about this with her therapist (played by Oprah Winfrey ) and then rushes to the airport, believing Susan would be leaving with Richard, and comes out to her. Only then does she have the courage to open up to her friends, who mostly react positively to the outing.
Public attention
This episode caused a sensation in the US media and was the highest-rated episode on ABC at the time. After the comedy show Love, Sidney with Tony Randall, produced from 1981 to 1983, Ellen was the second US series with a homosexual and the first with a lesbian main character. After coming out, the series focused more and more on Ellen's homosexuality and became increasingly serious. At the same time, the ratings fell, and so the series was canceled in 1998.
Guest appearances
In addition to many well-known artists who appear in the opening credits, other artists also appeared in the series.
DVD release
Seasons 1 to 5 have only been released in English on DVD so far.
Web links
- Ellen in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ellen at Fernsehserien.de
- Ellen-DeGeneres.com - Unofficial site with "Ellen" episode guide
- The Ellen Cyclopedia, Guest Star List and Episodes List
Individual evidence
- ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Series | Ellen. Retrieved October 20, 2017 .
- ↑ Bill Carter: ABC Is Canceling 'Ellen' . In: The New York Times . April 25, 1998, ISSN 0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 20, 2019]).
- ↑ Glenn Lovell, Glenn Lovell: Bono: 'Ellen' too gay. In: Variety. March 9, 1998, accessed February 20, 2019 .