What could be better than watching TV at home, but watching TV live from America. Which is what many of us in the Philippines do when the TV program of Ellen DeGeneres comes around. Why this special addiction to The Ellen DeGeneres Show over many others beamed to us from the US? The answer is because Ellen has guested so many Filipinos in her talk show. She is also popular for the many jokes she has introduced into her show, her mannerisms, gags, catchphrases, as well as the pranks she plays on her guests which include children. The show has won 36 Daytime Emmy Awards as of 2013 and has been renewed until 2017.
Because the show has become so popular, not all who arrive hoping to see a taping can fit into the studio, so an off-shoot space referred to as “The Riff Raff Room” was created. Persons seated here are often referenced and shown briefly on camera while watching the taping from off-stage.
Several recurring sounds, gags and catchphrases are used in the show depending on the topic of discussion or theme for a specific episode. For example, after Ellen says the phrase, “Aww Snap!”, a sound effect of a whip cracking often is played. In her monologue, Ellen frequently thanks the audience’s applause by saying, “And it all goes right back to you!” Some segments feature audience members more prominently, like those who resemble Ellen, much like our KalokaLike competition on local television.
Ellen with Charice, just one of the Filipino artists she featured on the show. STAR
The Ellen Show has had various recurring segments throughout the years. For example, there is Oh Hair No! which includes pictures of fans in their funny haircuts. We love the Clumsy Thumbsy segment where Ellen is shown all messed up. In A Little Yelp From My Friends, Ellen reads reviews from the website Yelp. In What’s Wrong With These Photos?, silly photos are sent in by viewers. In Your FACEbook is a segment where Ellen shares funny Facebook photos taken from the profile pages of audience members. Just KID-ink is a segment where Ellen shares funny drawings from kids, while Can Andy Say That? is a segment in which Ellen has the show’s executive producer, Andy Lassner, repeating funny phrases filled with double entendres and sexual innuendo.
In Haunted House, Ellen’s writer Amy Rhodes is sent to haunted houses. In recent years, Amy has been joined in the haunted houses segment by her own mother, as well as Andy. Throwback Thursday is a segment where every Thursday, Ellen revisits funny moments from previous seasons.
Since the show’s debut, Ellen has segued from her opening monologue by doing a dance and it has since progressed to a segment where Ellen dances into the audience. One of her most famous dance moves is dancing over the table, where she straddles the coffee-table and dances from one end to the other. One time, Ellen attempted to dance over the table, but she barely made it across, being forced on her tip-toes and using the table as leverage.
In September 2009, four major record labels sued the producers of the show for unspecified damages over the dance routine, and for allegedly using songs without permission.
For many of us in the Philippines, we have found ourselves regular viewers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show not only because she has shown an interest in the Filipino, but also because she is open to making fun of herself which is rare in celebrities as big as she is.
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