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Ellen - The Complete Season One


Directed by Neal Marlens;Iris Dugow;Michael Lembeck;John Tracy (II);Alan Myerson;John Bowab;Tom Cherones;Lorraine Sevre-Richmond
Starring Ellen DeGeneres
A&E HOME VIDEO

List Price: $19.95
Available: Usually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank: 18012
Release Date: September 28, 2004
Rated:  
Running Time: 299 minutes
Theatrical Release: March 30, 1994
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO


FORMATS

  • Anamorphic
  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • Dolby
  • DVD-Video
  • NTSC


EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
Cast/Crew: Ellen DeGeneres Description: The first TV vehicle for the many talents of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres came in the form of the half-hourly sitcom ELLEN. The show lasted for four years, and firmly established DeGeneres in the hearts and minds of the American public. Ellen played a bookstore employee who regularly has to deal with her irritating parents, her best friends Paige (Joely Fisher) and Adam (Arye Gross), and a variety of other colorful characters. This release contains the entire first season of the show, with all 11 episodes offering a wonderfully comedic look at the world. Release Notes: DVD Features: Region (unknown) Keep Case Full Frame - 1.33 Additional Release Material: Audio Commentary 1. Holly Fulger 2. Arye Gross Biographies 1. Cast Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Access

Amazon.com
The first television season of Ellen was actually called These Friends of Mine, and while the series sought to define itself through various tones and shades of comedy, the best episodes captured a middle ground between Seinfeld and Friends. Ellen DeGeneres is both a brilliant centerpiece and generous ensemble player, constantly finding fresh ways to mine laughs from her ever-rambling, guilt-ridden, and perpetually dissatisfied heroine. As Ellen Morgan, bookstore employee and platonic roommate of semi-loser Adam (Arye Gross), DeGeneres finds plenty of opportunity to explore humiliation. In the pilot episode, Ellen's unhappiness with her bad photo on a driver's license prompts an obsessive (and unsuccessful) quest to beautify her ID. "The Promotion" finds Ellen and her posse (besides Gross, costars in these first 13 programs include Maggie Wheeler and Holly Fulger) trying to figure out how to bribe Ellen's boss into giving her a job boost, a futile adventure that ends (don't ask how) in a bad way at the Mexican border.

Among the best episodes is the Seinfeld-ian "The Mugging," starring Mariska Hargitay as a gorgeous woman mugged on her way to Adam and Ellen's front door. A cowardly Adam saw the crime and not only fails to help, he won't admit being an eyewitness lest he lose his shot at romancing the victim. Along those same black-comedy lines, "The Anchor" finds Ellen neurotically pursuing a friendship with a woman she can't stand, simply because the latter heard Ellen speaking badly of her. The 13 shows in this set are presented out of season one's chronological order, but that makes little difference to the best material here. --Tom Keogh



CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 34 reviews)

Funny, but lacking.  
I grew up watching "Ellen" back in the 1990's when it was still a hit show, then ratings crumbled once she came "out of the closet". After buying the DVD of Seasons 1 and watching all of the episodes, it just didn't seem as funny or enjoyable as I had remembered it being. Don't get me wrong, Ellen is a hoot, but something seemed lacking. Maybe the show got funnier as it progressed over the years. Season 1 is a 3 out of 5 stars for me. It's definitely not one of the modern classic sitcoms I have on DVD that I can watch over and over again, like "Will & Grace", "The Golden Girls", or "Roseanne".
November 17, 2008

Weak beginning to a good show  
Ellen DeGeneres is undeniably one of the funniest comedians out there. And the Ellen show did develop into a really good show in its third and fourth seasons. But Season One has not aged well. It has all the classic weaknesses of an ensemble cast that has not really clicked yet. It looks and feels like the weakest of late 70s/early 80s sitcoms. Unless you are an obsessive collector who feels the need to have complete sets, you can skip this one.
May 13, 2008

Ellen season 1 Hilarious!  
Ellen, as usual, is hilarious. Who cares if season 1 is far removed from the rest of the seasons. It doesn't make it any less funny. Highly recommended. This season is gut busting laugh-out-loud hilarious.

jimmy
October 02, 2007

Spoiled by bad laugh track  
I don't think I've ever said this about a show, but what spoils this for me is an extremely bad laugh track. Not the way you think though, where there are giant guffaws over the slightest things...no, the thing here is it's so badly mis-timed. It's like whoever was responsible for this had no sense of humor or timing. Great jokes get nothing, mediocre jokes get big laughs. It's very strange.
September 13, 2007

Great Buy  
Ellen- Season One does not have as many episodes as the other seasons so I went through them pretty fast. I like this season, but I missed the character, Spencer, who does not come in until the 3rd season. Of course, every episode is funny. Ellen is soooo witty and down-to-earth, you can't help but identify with her issues. I had a ton of laughs and am now watching the next season of the show. Ellen is one of the funniest people I've ever watched!!!
July 18, 2007


SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Ellen - The Complete Season Two
by Carol Black, David S. Rosenthal
Directed by Alan Myerson, Iris Dugow, John Tracy, Lorraine Sevre-Richmond, Michael Lembeck
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, Joely Fisher, Arye Gross, Alice Hirson, Steven Gilborn
A&E Home Video

Ellen - The Complete Season Three
Directed by Alan Myerson, Andy Ackerman, Iris Dugow, John Tracy, Lorraine Sevre-Richmond
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, David Anthony Higgins, Joely Fisher, Clea Lewis, Jeremy Piven
A&E Home Video

Ellen - The Complete Season Four
by Carol Black
Directed by Alan Myerson, Gil Junger, Iris Dugow, John Tracy, Lorraine Sevre-Richmond
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, Joely Fisher, David Anthony Higgins, Clea Lewis, Jeremy Piven
A&E Home Video

Ellen - The Complete Season Five
Directed by Alan Myerson, Gail Mancuso, Gil Junger, Iris Dugow, John Tracy
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, David Anthony Higgins, Joely Fisher, Clea Lewis, Jeremy Piven
A&E Home Video

The Ellen Show - The Complete Series
by Carol Leifer, Mitchell Hurwitz
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Gaffigan, Emily Rutherfurd, Martin Mull, Cloris Leachman
Sony Pictures

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