What Makes the Ellen DeGeneres Show a Hit?

Guests: The Crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, Neil Patrick Harris, & Rihanna

First and foremost, Ellen DeGeneres makes the Ellen DeGeneres Show a hit. She is one of the most innovative, versatile, and gifted comedians of our times. Beyond this, Ellen's Show is carefully designed and orchestrated. Here are a few things I noticed as I watched this morning's show.

Opening - Ellen's Show opened with the audience clapping, cheering, and going wild. Ellen allowed this to continue for a minute to "set the mood."

Monologue - The first thing Ellen offered her viewers was a short monologue. This makes perfect sense as Ellen is an experienced stand-up comedian and it is one of her strong points. She began by asking people to take a deep breath, stressing their enthusiasm to her TV viewers. Then, she politely thanked the audience for being there, a standard PR move. Her opening joke was on herself. Humbleness makes the audience comfortable. She joked about her love for pantsuits and buying and selling houses. She rolled this right into jokes about realtors placing pictures of themselves in ads. Then, she delivered a zinger about selling a disgusting shack with a low-cut blouse. Sex and sexism are always a draw. Actual pictures of realtors were used to fill in her monologue time as she accompanied them with jokes. All in all, well done!

Billboard - A would-be realtor bus stop billboard of a young, sexy, Ellen hit the stage. It read, "She's Got Curb Appeal." I found it to have no appeal.

Song & Dance - Ellen quickly moved right into her signature dance to the song, "Brick House" by The Commodores. Good move!

Rosh Hashanah - A Happy New Year Wish went out to the Jewish community - very politically correct.

First Clip - Ellen showed a clip of a little golfer who had been a guest on her show a few days ago. The boy has lost an eye to cancer. Ellen directed people to her website to discover how they can help. This segment was cutesy, sympathetic, and charitable, all of which have strong appeal to wide audiences. Ellen accidentally mispronounced the little boy's name. She was very straightforward about her faux pas which deserves respect for many other celebrities would have tried to cover it up or somehow weasel out of it.

Second Clip - A dramatic clip of the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour was used to introduce them.

First Guest - The uniformed crew of professional astronauts from the Space Shuttle Endeavor entered the stage to Hip Hop music. Perhaps Ellen was trying to appeal to young, African-American, and other Hip Hop fans, but please! This combo was just "weird." Ellen asked the astronauts serious questions and interjected levity with, "How do you go to the bathroom?" A full space suit was on hand and again she asked, "How do you go to the bathroom with this on?" Perhaps, Ellen had to pee? She tried on a space glove, then thanked the crew, and commented on their courage and bravery. The segment was very American, very patriotic, and very sure to have appeal with like viewers.

Third Clip - A funny clip from Harris' sitcom, "How I Met Your Mother," familiarized viewers with the star.

Second Guest - Neil Patrick Harris entered the stage to a rendition of the Black Eyed Peas song, "Hey Mama." Possibly a connection was being made between the title of his show and the song. Ellen and Harris exchanged compliments. They discussed the issue of gay celebrities appearing in public with their significant others. They referred to Harris' upcoming magic trick with mystery in an attempt to hold viewers during a commercial break.

Fourth Clip - The show returned with a 4/18/07 clip of Harris performing a magic trick on Ellen's Show.

Magic Trick - Dramatic music that Harris joked about as he stripped a little ushered in today's magic trick. Ellen was put in a box of spikes and Harris pretended he did not know what he was doing. It was more meaningless meandering than magic, but still very entertaining mainly due to Harris' cuteness.

Final Clip - The singer, Rihanna, performed a bit of a hit.

Final Guest - I had never seen or heard Rihanna before. She delivered a wonderful performance. She's very talented, not to mention attractive, and her music is great! This girl can sing! She has a hit CD titled, "Good Girl Gone Bad," and two of her hit songs are, "Umbrella" and "Shut Up and Drive."

Closing - Ellen closed her show with a brief sit-down chit-chat with Rihanna. She gave herself credit for "having" Rihanna first which I found a little tacky. They discussed Rihanna's legs being insured for a million dollars. Ellen pointed out that shortly after this insurance Rihanna broke two toes. Are toes insured with legs? I have no idea.

As to be expected, Ellen's final words were mention of tomorrow's show with her guest, Kanye West. She made the comment, "He's gonna have some things to say," playing off of his well-known reputation for being controversially outspoken.

Throughout the show, Ellen's Show advertised Ellen's Show and Ellen reiterated her guests to try to keep viewers tuned-in, which is par for the course. American viewers have come to expect and accept this behavior no matter how obvious and annoying it may be.

Final Thoughts - Regardless of all the PR and strategy that is show business, one of the main reasons the Ellen DeGeneres Show is a hit is that Ellen is always herself; she is always "real". She has a unique personality that shines through the camera, attracts viewers, and keeps them coming back for more. Her show is fast-paced, energetic, and one hour of pure entertainment and fun.

Fashion Note - The couture for Ellen's Show was color-coordinated. She and her guests, except the astronauts, were dressed in black and white.

If you'd like to see Ellen in action for yourself, just click a button and Ellen may appear on your TV screen some time between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on weekdays. Please click this link for local listings: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/about/whenitson.php

For more reviews of the Ellen DeGeneres Show and other hot TV shows, stay tuned or in this case check back, to Renee Morway's Content Producer Page.