Ellen's Next Move
By Daniel R. Coleridge
(TV Guide Online, 25. Mai 2001)

It's good to be a gay icon. Just ask Ellen DeGeneres, who was the belle of the ball at a recent garden party benefit for Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (which runs July 12-23). Held at an old Tudor mansion in L.A.'s posh Hancock Park, the sunny soiree was attended by a gaggle of gussied-up gay gals eager for a glimpse of their heroine.

"Oh, they're buzzin' around like bees to a honeycomb, aren't they?" DeGeneres joked to TV Guide Online. "I don't know what made me the special guest today. When other people aren't available, I'm here. I'm the designated lesbian."

But seriously, folks, DeGeneres is out to do some consciousness-raising. Enthused the actress: "I think it's important to have more gay films available — especially to our youth, so that they see there's other people out there like them. It's not all tragic and depressing. Unfortunately, we just focus on how hard it is and the suicide and hate crimes, but there are a lot of love stories, and that should be portrayed in the media. If I can bring awareness to that and ask for people to shell out a few more dollars, that's why I'm here, basically."

Speaking of high-profile gay projects, the funny lady's new sitcom, The Ellen Show, will debut on CBS this fall. In one amusing scene, DeGeneres's openly lesbian character walks into her old bedroom at home and — indicating posters of Billie Jean King and Charlie's Angels on the wall — tells her mother (the perfectly cast Cloris Leachman), "I can't believe you didn't know."

Even so, DeGeneres — who will host the Primetime Emmys on Sept. 16 — indicates that her character's sexuality will be more a matter of fact than a major storyline focus, as it was in her old ABC series. "I don't think we're going to make an issue of it about me being gay at all," she says. Instead, the comedy — taking a page from shows like Ed and Providence — follows a defeated city dweller's quest to find a simpler life in her hometown. Though that will be a challenge, she hints: "I love small towns. But home is where the heart is. You can't move geographically and think things are going to be different."