Unlike other talk show hosts, Ellen DeGeneres isn’t supporting the writer’s strike. In fact, she crossed the picket line so her show could go on.
There’s a writers’ strike going on, and here in Los Angeles, it’s a huge story,” she told her studio audience, defending her strikebreaking. (The episode will air today.)
“I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I’m not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they’re asking for. And I hope it works out soon. In the meantime, people have traveled across the country. They’ve made plans. They’re here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show.”
It’s a decision DeGeneres may come to regret. On SurgicalStrikes.com, one former, unidentified, writer for her 2001-02 sitcom, “The Ellen Show,” reports she treated her writers “like [bleep].”
“We’d watch her in rehearsals, smiling and winning us over with her charm and comic timing. Then the director would yell cut, her face would fall, and she’d level a glare at the writers. ‘Why do you keep writing these unfunny jokes?’ she’d hiss.
“Ellen frequently eviscerated the head writer and . . . boasted of the changes she’d make in season two, starting with his firing.” But, the blogger continues facetiously, the axed writer “was a hack anyway - all he did after leaving was create ‘Arrested Development’ and win two Emmys for writing, another for Best Comedy.”
The blogger also grumbles that DeGeneres “took to” a friend of his he identifies only as “J” and “put his jokes into her stand-up act, used his words to fill two full pages in her book, then promised him a job on her new show. When he met with a low-level producer, they said he didn’t have the right experience, and Ellen pretended she couldn’t do anything to help.”
“I’m disappointed in Ellen [for crossing the picket line] but not surprised . . . given what I’ve seen from her with my own two eyes.”
A TV insider said DeGeneres is unwilling to honor the picket line because “this is her last chance in show business. This show is the only thing keeping her from a lifetime of touring college campuses.”
I guess if you have to rely on your writers, it’s best not to piss them off.
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