After 19 seasons on the air, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” ceased to exist after the namesake host said her final goodbyes in 2022. Her oft-repeated tagline at the end of every episode of the daytime talk show was “Be kind to one another,” a sentiment DeGeneres seemingly meant every time she uttered the words. However, after a series of stories involving the host and fellow producers leaked detailing a toxic work environment towards her employees, DeGeneres exited the entertainment business.
More than two years later, the comic returns to the standup stage seemingly for the last time, with a Netflix special called “Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval.” No stranger to Netflix’s comedy slate with her previous 2018 special, “Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable,” the comedian returns to her roots by explaining where she’s been the past couple of years and the aftermath of her talk show’s demise.
“For Your Approval” starts with a slight nod to the comedian’s career trajectory, including her monumental coming-out journey on her eponymous primetime show and the rejection she endured as a lesbian actress taking up space on television. We see DeGeneres walk through the dressing rooms of her life as she’s welcomed onto a new platform on daytime television.
Opinion pieces and news articles become a focus, highlighting the theme, “Well, can a lesbian host bring in viewers to daytime?”
Clearly, the answer was yes, as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” became a daytime staple in American households for almost two decades. But this new comedy special doesn’t take its cues from the comic’s career highs. It traverses several topics that straddle observations on life and DeGeneres’ recent ousting.
She opens her often hilarious set at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles by talking about the elephant in the room: chickens. Yes, chickens. It seems that since DeGeneres was exiled to her Montecito mansion, she’s taken up the subtle art of raising chickens, which she finds entertaining and humbling. She moves on to another hot topic in parallel parking before she dives headfirst into her cancellation from show business.
At this point in “Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval,” the comic doesn’t hold back how she feels about the accusations of a toxic work environment on her daytime talk show. She explains that she never considered herself qualified for a leadership position and that she always viewed her role on the show as a front-facing one rather than a boss behind the scenes.
She takes responsibility for her role in the accusations while deflecting the idea that she is a mean person. At the same time, DeGeneres makes it clear to her audience that she has zero f—s left to give but still cares if she is beloved. She goes on to discuss her undiagnosed OCD and tackling aging as she approaches her late 60s.
“For Your Approval” might be DeGeneres’s last stand on the comedy stage, a comfortable space that gave the comedian so much promise early in her career. The special is a healthy balance of observational humor and confronting the sins of the past while taking ownership of one’s journey through life. The Orpheum Theatre audience is unbelievably supportive of the comic’s honesty, applauding and laughing at just the right places that visibly give DeGeneres pause in moments of self-realization.
There’s a poignant moment towards the end of Ellen DeGeneres’s Netflix special where she talks about coming to terms with her ability to be a strong woman. Not only a strong woman in the entertainment industry, which she’s always fought for from every angle of her lengthy career. A strong woman in her personal life that gives her the courage to step back onto a stage, fearing how the audience will react to her post-downfall.
Some may interpret “Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval” as a dismissal of her former employees’ experiences and sentiments. Others will see it as the final comedy special in the legendary comedian’s career, a source of inspiration to never compromise on one’s principles. However it’s perceived, one thing is certain: Ellen DeGeneres’s honesty shines through, making her incredibly, candidly and hysterically relatable.
“Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval” is now streaming on Netflix.
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