The End of the "Ellen" Show

The TV program "Ellen" has fallen on hard times. Last spring, it was hyped as a great "break-through" for homosexuals and lesbians when the lead, Ellen De Generes, "came out" as a lesbian, both personally and on the program. It has now taken a nose dive in popularity. In fact, the ratings erosion has been so sharp, it dragged down the otherwise healthy Wednesday evening lineup of ABC in the US and CTV in Canada.

The first sign of the "Ellen" program being in difficulty showed up last October when it was pre-empted for the World Series. At that time, ABC had given the program a blanket TV-14 rating (unsuitable for children under 14). ABC officials also claim they never expected the program to be so "in-your-face" lesbian-oriented in content.

The program is expected to go into hiatus in the US in March, and not to be renewed next season. In Canada, however, CTV will continue to play old "Ellen" episodes until the end of the season, not so much because it wants to, but because it has to. Unfortunately, CTV doesn't have rights to the shows ABC will be substituting for the "Ellen" show in the US.

The homosexual/lesbian fad seems to be running out of gas, a trend which appears to be confirmed by the probable refusal to renew the program, and by the fact that advertisers have been refusing to advertise during the lesbian "Ellen" episodes. To the many of you who did write to the advertisers in Canada about this -- well done!

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