I didn't noticed the first time that Ellen looked teary-eyed when Sir Elton was singing, especially during "Tiny Dancer." Although I'd probably be sniffly if Elton John was on my talk show.

There was just a really flattering article about Ellen in today's Chicago Tribune. It basically says that Ellen is a breath of fresh air and a natural as a talk show host. Props to Ellen for the comeback of a lifetime!

Aw, Steve Martin had me in tears! Although I have to admit that I've been in love with him since "King Tut", so I knew already that he played banjo and juggled. I love physical humor, and Ellen is so good at playing along!

I loved all the 'challenge' things Ellen pulled out of the hat for Steve to do... and the rope part really got me, hee!

Jon Cryer was good too...Ducky!

From the "living well is the best revenge" department.....

I thought it was great neither Ellen nor Steve mentioned Anne Heche. I was wondering if they would. And they had plenty of time to do it, since Steve was given three segments.

Wonder if Anne returns the favor on Friday, when she is supposed to be on "The View". I'm curious to see what, if anything, she will say about her relationship with Ellen. Probably will not say anything negative as Ellen is so popular now - hit talk show, hit movie, hit book. The last I heard of Anne she was doing a movie on TNT. How far they fall.

It seemed pretty obvious that this show was taped before the Christmas holidays, judging by the way the audience howled whenever Steve Martin mentioned how his movie came out "a few weeks ago" and he wanted to read the reviews that probably hadn't been in the newspapers yet.

I also loved the "challenges," since I had no idea how multi-talented he was.

The King of Hearts dance was very funny, especially when he and Ellen were climbing all over each other to pick up the loose card.

Actually, Anne Heche is about to appear on BWay, in a revival of Twentieth Century with Alec Baldwin. She last appeared in Proof and from all accounts she was quite good opposite Doogie...errr, I mean Neil Patrick Harris.

Playbill.com link

I think being a theater actress is a lofty goal, but I do think if Anne Heche had stayed on the track she was on when she co-starred with Harrison Ford in that Day/Night movie, she would have been doing big movies. Her personal life definitely had an impact on her career. It's possible that she aspired to a theater career all along, but I think someone who seems as ambitious as she did was gunning for the big movie star career.

Sorry I missed Steve Martin. Thankfully, there's Oxygen.

The thought that went through my mind was, "When Steve Martin dies, this entire segment should be shown on every obituary to remind all the world how unbelievably wonderful he was."

Heh. I somehow read the "supposed to be on" part of that sentence and thought you meant she was going to be a guest on Ellen's show. Nearly had a seizure, I did.

It was nice to have a new show, but sort of irritating that it was so obviously pre-taped.

I also loved the fat reindeer comment.

I don't get why they try to "pretend" the show wasn't taped before the holiday break. It's obvious that it was and nobody minds, so why?

I actually thought the Steve Martin segment was weak and Jon Cryer was actually better. Ellen is great with the monologues and the spontaneity but still needs to brush up on her inteviewing skills. Aside from the clip there was barely a mention of "Cheaper By The Dozen," and she still spends too much time gushing over her guests instead of asking them questions.

I work multiple jobs and attend college, so I'm normally never home to watch Ellen. But I happily caught it today to find Elijah Wood on! Aww! Loved Ellen's reaction to his toenail comment too. Love the boy, but damn, homie, keep some things to yourself! (I'd already heard him talk about that in a print interview, but still. This is national television, baby!)

And I have to say, I think that some people would feel that Ellen's mannerisms would get old after the first month, but I still really like her. I think she's a great host. I hope her show sticks around for a few more years.

Was any other EW subscribers giggling to themselves when Ellen held up the "EW Best of" issue? Ellen's like, number 6 on that very list. Ha!

Awww, I love li'l Elijah! I've been a fan of his since I saw him in Radio Flyer and he acted the pants off Macaulay Culkin in "The Good Son". I loved that he gave Ellen a kiss on the cheek when he came out. He's so cute! He's precious! my preciousssss.... Sorry, got carried away. I really really like that guy.

What the hell was Terry Bradshaw smoking before he came onstage? Is he always that...rambunctious?

edited because acting the pants of Macaulay Culkin doesn't make much sense

I don't watch much sports but have seen Bradshow on other talk shows, and yes, he's always that rambunctious. I felt sorry for his "date," to tell you the truth -- she didn't really look like she wanted his hands all over her.

I kinda agree about Ellen's interview skills, too. Sometimes after a guest tells a joke or story, she'll just sit there and laugh when she should be asking a follow-up question or otherwise keeping the conversation going. Then we get the dreaded awkward pause. But good interview skills develop over time, and it's not a huge flaw in the first place, so it doesn't really dent my appreciation for her.

I don't know that I can be neutral in an appraisal of Ellen's interviewing, but I think she's lightyears ahead of most first-year talkshow hosts, and quite a few experienced ones (*cough*Leno*cough*Regis*cough) to boot.

I loved the Steve Martin interview. Another one for the classic drawer.

I actually like how when things get awkward in an interview, she totally lets them get awkward. Makes me feel better about all the awkward pauses in my own conversations.

Ah gee, I missed Elijah Wood. We're having peculiar (for us) weather here in Portland so when I tried to watch my tape yesterday all they had was news about the weather. (Which basically just said "Hey! We got a lot of snow here! That never happens. And now, for the next 8 hours, we'll describe just how unusual it is for us to get this much snow.")

I hope they haven't done the same thing today, but I suspect they did. (Probably with a varient: "Hey! We have freezing rain over the snow! Now we have a lot of ice. And now, for the next 8 hours, we'll describe just how slippery ice is").

re: Ellen's interview skills. I think she does a pretty good job. It's her first year, after all. As long as she doesn't do any more dating segments for her pa's I'll be pretty happy.

I can't believe I missed Elijah. I met him when I was in New York this summer and he was unbelievably nice, so I hope I catch the episode on reruns. On a side note, I just finished Ellen's book, and the way to get out of five embarrassing situations was the funniest thing I've ever read.

I wish that I could watch this show all the time, but I just don't have a TiVO yet.

But did anyone else remember the one with Katie Holmes??!? I was laughing so hard at Ellen. She's so fast sometimes and says what others usually think about.

I'm refering to how Katie was upset because in LA, they don't say "Hi, Katie" at her local starbucks, like they did when she was in NC. Ellen was like is it the same girl and Katie's like, "YEAH". then Ellen was like, well do you know her name? Katie went blank!! It was great because it was so true!!! But it wasn't done in a mean way, it was done in a very honest way.

she's so great.

I just caught the show with Elton John (& Noah Wylie) last night on Oxygen. I just absolutely loved Ellen's reactions to Elton! She looked like a starry eyed kid when he started playing and she was sitting there in the audience. And when she climbed on top of the piano, she still had this wonderful open look of admiration. I think it's great that she lets her excitement over such an incredible guest just shine through instead of trying to pretend it's no big deal because she's famous too. To me, she reacted very naturally to then entire encounter. She's a professional, but she isnt fake.

Just caught the Elijah Wood episode and I have four words:

Elijah.

Wood.

Is.

Gay.

Not that there's anything WRONG with that, as I am gay myself.... There were just several instances in which he had flames shooting out of his head (and his nubby little fingers!).

going back few days, I liked Steve Martin till I saw him on Ellen. He creeps me out. I liked Tracy Morgan. he was a good guest.

Tracy Morgan was funnier than I thought he'd be and he played off Ellen well. I howled at his various characters on SNL, but have never given his show a chance. The clip they played from it did make me LOL, tho. Maybe I'll watch it next time.

OT: 10thandPiedmont, you don't happen to work at Outwrite do you?

I'm glad they got rid of that ugly vase on the set that used to be behind Ellen's head. Little things make me happy.

I will never watch Tracy Morgan's show, and I never will because Cute TV Children. Are. Never. Cute.

I know that the schtick with Houston is never the show's best aspect, but wanted to seen him to Hew-ston to convince them to start pronouncing it House-ston, while he become Hew-ston is positively inane.

Insane and crazy enough to (almost? maybe? probably not) work. I have no idea what that means either.

Jason Bateman next wednesday!

Heee!

You know, I guess there's no chance of her having Steve Irwin as a guest (not that I care), but that was quite a rant. Gentle, but direct and to the point.

Heh. I did a little mental happy dance at that, too. Hated that vase. The new flowers line up almost exactly with the flowers on the table, though, which still seems like set-design overkill to me.

I couldn't believe she had the much-despised Kelly from King of the Jungle on. Blech. Admittedly, she wasn't bad as a guest, but I hold a grudge.

Would someone be able to transcribe Ellen's rant about Steve Irwin? Even a little gist would be appreciated!

Ah geez, I missed a mini rant about Steve Irwin? They're still talking about the weather here and pre-empting everything. I can't catch the repeats on Oxygen because I don't have cable. And, as much as I like this show, I'm not getting cable for it.

Tomorrow they'll probably preempt it again to talk about the ice melting. ("Ice, it's slippery, and eventually it melts (when the temperature gets above freezing). And now, we'll discuss how much flooding we may or may not get when the ice ... which we must reiterate is slippery ... melts. But first, we'll go to our news crew outside the studio who will tell us how slippery ice is and at what rate it appears to be melting")

I'm going through some serious Ellen withdrawel here folks. The only new show that's been broadcast here was the one with Steve Martin.

I don't remember the exact wording, but after whatever-her-name-is from Animal Planet finished a very neutral, PC reaction to the Crikey-man, Ellen said "Thankfully, I don't have to watch what I say." And of course, the audience went crazy laughing and applauding.

She continued with something to the effect of "I wasn't there, and I don't have children, but even I know that babies can't hold their heads up until they're six months old, and Steve's little baby wasn't even a month old and his head was all" [Ellen imitates baby] "while Steve was holding a dead chicken in front of a crocodile. If you're going to do that, at least hold the baby's head."

She seemed really disgusted with it.

I liked Lewis Black's reaction on the Daily Show better. They played a tape of Irwin trying to justify saying he wouldn't be a good parent if he didn't teach his children how to interact with the crocs. Black then said he wasn't teaching the one month old baby anything, he was teaching the croc to associate babies with feeding time.

I officially love the tellistrator...Ellen pointing out all the awkward hugging moments on the show and using the pen to point everything out had me laughing out loud. I like that they haven't overdone those segments too...unlike segments featuring a particular PA.

Yeah, me too!

I especially liked it when she pointed out the parallel lines formed by her arms and the arms of one of the guests she was hugging. Another high point was the replay of Elijah Wood and Ellen embrace, hysterical!

I also love Ellen because she revealed to me the fact that James Spader got the reciepe he gave on The Daily SHow for brining a turkey from the Food Network.

They haven't been doing as many Houston segments lately, so maybe the producers realized they were running that particular joke into the ground. Or maybe it just seems like they haven't done as many segments because the show was in reruns and I wasn't watching...

I guess we'll have to start an official Houston count to know for sure. To add some class and pretend we're cool, we could even do it in French, like Kim and her Eiffel Tower count for Real World Paris.

At least on Friday that other PA (Jack?) was the one doing the mugging.

...and now it just occurred to me that you may have been referring to Jeff, instead.

I wonder if we'll ever get an update on Jeff and his "girlfriend." Girl friend. Whatever.

I was referring to Houston, but my statement certainly could have been referring to Jeff, as well. I think they are toning down the parts of the show that people evidently dislike or think is featured too often..."The Most Difficult Game..." is much less frequent than it was, and I agree with queasy that Houston's segments are lessening. Just slightly, though, in Houston's case, and that whole thing about Houston going to Houston and name switching or whatever is cringe-worthy.

Eeek. That rant makes me seem somewhat embittered toward the show, and that's not the case at all.

This week's shows were really wonderful, IMO. A lot of the guests were really exuberant and receptive toward Ellen, which I love.

Arrrgggh! And all I got to see were weather reports! ::sobbing::

I'm dying to know what's going on with Jeff and Vanessa (that was her name wasn't it?) Since the show where he picked her, Jeff hasn't even been mentioned again.

How sad that I knew the answer to all those "Lifetime movies" questions.

Heh. I think I got them all right, myself.

By the way, why is it apparently so impossible for the contestants to respond correctly when playing the hardest game? It's not supposed to be YES or NO, people.

I sent Tony all my old record albums -- over 75 of 'em. I don't even own a turntable anymore, so it was not only good to be able to get rid of them, but also fun to imagine him going through the box. (None of them are dance tunes by any means, but whatever. Maybe he was really, jonesing for old Batdorf and Rodney songs.)

There was even a silly "Burl Ives sings country" thing, so if Ellen shows that one on air, it was from me.

swimmerboy I too became a fan of Elijah Wood after seeing Radio Flyer on HBO years ago. I thought at the time this little guy is gonna be a big star one day.

I enjoyed seeing Elijah on Ellen's show earlier in the week. He is a cutie and seems like a great guy. Down-to-earth and a real sweetie. Also noticed he slipped back/forth between a slight British accent to regular voice. hee

At times tho, he did seem a bit creepy and I kept waiting for him to morph into that monkey-boy character Chris Kattan did on SNL.

For those who might be interested, E! is doing one of those True Hollywood Story shows on Ellen Degeneres tonight at 8pm. It's 2 hours.

And now we rejoin the discussion of Ellen's talk show, already in progress ....

Funny and nice of Ellen to try and save Elijah from himself after he gave out that bit of TMI about biting his toenails. It seemed like he wanted to elaborate on it more, but she cut him off.

Watched the show about Ellen on E! tonight, and she came off very well, I thought. She seems very comfortable with who she is, and I got a warm feeling at the end of the show...sort of "they lived happily ever after" vibes. Good for you, Ellen!

Did they show the mysterious Alexandra?

starri" yes, they had a couple of pix of her.
Wonder if someone will start airing the Ellen sitcom reruns again? I liked that show but I hope it's not Oxygen because I don't get it.

They briefly showed a photo of Alexandra Hedison – she’s very beautiful and I guess she was an actress on “Nash Bridges.” The show interviewed actress Kathy Najimy (Ellen is the godmother to Najimy’s daughter) and she described Hedison as “the salt of the earth” – very grounded and good for Ellen (as opposed to you-know-who.)

Anyone know why the show dropped the first DJ (Scotty something?) and replaced him with Tony?

I noticed that Ellen wears a ring on her wedding finger (if I was looking at the right hand). Are she and her partner married? Are they legally married or just a commitment ceremony (or whatever)?

I thought Ellen and James Spader were great together.

Oxygen (I believe) actually does rerun the Ellen show. It's usually really late night and on the weekends but I've caught it a few times recently.