r/television • u/Gato1980 • 13h ago

Ellen DeGeneres Is Unapologetic, Unrelatable and Totally Insufferable in Her New Netflix Special 'For Your Approval'

https://www.cracked.com/article_43701_ellen-degeneres-is-unapologetic-unrelatable-and-totally-insufferable-in-her-new-netflix-special.html
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u/Status_Web_8917 13h ago

It will be interesting to see if she can still write, and tell, a good stand up joke. I don't think she has done a stand up routine in over a decade.

I did think she was quite good when she was young and coming up, but I don't know how much of that Ellen is still around, it may just be the crazy a-hole Ellen that's been around since she got her own talk show.

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u/Mike9797 13h ago

Ya her 2 specials from the early 00’s late 90’s are actually pretty damn funny and caught me off guard. I just didn’t expect them to be as good as they were. I don’t expect her to be as relatable today as she was in those 2.

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u/Caelinus 13h ago

Money and power poison most people's brains, making them lose touch whith what is normal, and in turn it can cause them to think they deserve it is a way that is unique to them. That can often result in them being complete assholes, which then makes people pull back from them. Then when the smallest amount of that wealth and power is taken away, the out of touch person does not react well.

The pattern happens really often with high profile famous people who lack humility.

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u/threehundredthousand 13h ago

I also think self-awareness becomes warped when someone no longer relates to regular people. It's greatly amplified when you're very rich and famous and mainly associate with other famous people. It's like the reverse of living in a cabin in the woods alone for decades.

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u/_Patronizes_Idiots_ 12h ago

30 Rock nailed this with Tracy's "standup". I feel like this happens with almost every comic who gets really big, they start off in their 20s trying to make it and just being a normal person observing normal things, then in their 30s or 40s if they make it they get uber-rich and stop experiencing things that the average person can relate to (cough cough, Tom Segura), and also with age and money start having more "old man yells at cloud" type viewponts.

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u/DreadPosterRoberts 12h ago

bill burr has an interesting interview with someone who i am forgetting at the moment, but they talk about how carlin is maybe the only one who got famous, lost his touch and started to bomb, did some self reflection and reinvented himself.

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u/RachetFuzz 11h ago

Carlin’s secret was he didn’t let his status temper his rage. He was extremely frustrated with how society works. All the way through. You can’t ever forget what drives you.

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u/SlendyIsBehindYou 9h ago

He was extremely frustrated with how society works. All the way through.

And that's why people remember him

Yes, he was an incredibly talented comic, easily a generational talent

But his connection to the true injustices and societal failings that the common person encounters give his observations a weight that our cultural consciousness still carries to this day.

Also, think about the things he witnessed in his day that many of the newer generation of comics missed out on. He was around for WW2, the Korean War, and the Cold War. American society pushed to the breaking point after Vietnam, with many of the effects of those years still sending ripples into our current societal woes.

History doesnt always repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.

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u/Maxpowr9 11h ago

Why so many wealthy, out-of-touch comedians bomb now. They much rather do tv/film than have to go back to the stage.

If a comedian can't work a crowd, they likely weren't good comedians to begin with.

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u/Hulahulaman 9h ago

According to his daughter the secret to not tempering his rage was also huge quantities of booze and cocaine.

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u/leshake 7h ago

He also lived in the only city where being famous won't keep people from telling you to fuck off.

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u/Nukerjsr 1h ago

Carlin's other secret was that he knew comedy was still an act, a performance at the end of the day. He would have these huge monologues talking about how bullshit everything was and how misanthropic he could be to create a hypothetic scenario, but he kept that shit on stage. Off stage, still a very sweet, down to earth guy.

I feel like so many of the comedians past their prime that do obsess over "cancel culture" have totally drunk the koolaid that comedians are important truthtellers who need to exist and be validated by society. Carlin was not one of those guys.

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u/psychohistorian8 10h ago

I'd love to listen to this if anyone knows which interview it was

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u/DreadPosterRoberts 10h ago

pretty sure it was rogan but couldnt find the interview after youtube searching for a bit

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u/Indigocell 12h ago

Segura has only gotten worse. His recent podcast appearances have him dedicating time to discuss his fucking diet and exercise regimen. He has a private chef and a personal trainer so really it's their accomplishment, not his lol. I can think of fewer topics more boring, especially from a "comedian." It's even more boring than when he discusses his luxury watch collection. Like, he seriously thinks he should be seen as some authority on this shit because he finally started jogging and taking supplements at age 50.

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u/Martin_Aurelius 12h ago

He talks about his accomplishments like daddy wasn't a VP at Merrill-Lynch.

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u/RachetFuzz 11h ago

His dad was an actually interesting person. Combat marine, married interracially back in the 1970s, and then became a vp at Merrill-lynch. Tom has always been funniest dude on this college campus and he’s never really been relatable. The life of being a starving artist is pretty easy when dad can (and did) bail your ass out.

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u/SheinhardtWigCompany The Wire 11h ago

Not really a fan of Segura, but what does that have to do with his accomplishments? He didn't get a cushy job at Merrill because of his dad, he became a stand up comedian.

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u/PG4PM 11h ago

He was able to, cause of his dad and the inherited status and freedom to fuck around

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u/SheinhardtWigCompany The Wire 11h ago

I get that to a degree, but also it's not like his dad was paying people to go see him perform. Like he still had to actually be funny enough to sell tickets

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u/Bonezone420 5h ago

No, but half of any kind of artistic field - be it entertainment, visual arts or whatever else - is the ability to spend time networking and improving yourself. Someone who has less financial pressures because, for example, a wealthy and successful parent will bail them out when they do run into trouble is always going to have an easier time simply being there, make the parties and meetings or be available at any show with scouts or executives of interested parties, than someone who has to work a job or two to keep themselves afloat and can't afford to drink ever night because they have to wake up early to get to work on their day job while they struggle to make it.

Every single field is filled with talented people who simply never get their chance, be it because they missed the show that would have gotten them their time in the spotlight, or because they had other commitments in life and couldn't afford to drop everything at that moment. So, yeah, it does matter, a lot, when someone has that kind of safety net to back them up all the time.

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u/SheinhardtWigCompany The Wire 4h ago

I acknowledged that already. I just think people on Reddit overrate these things because they are bitter about their own lives. He still became a famous comedian. I don't know if you've ever performed at an open mic, but that shit is a lot harder than it looks. I don't really know anything about him so I don't know if his father was paying all his bills when he started in comedy or if he had a day job. If so then yeah he had an easier path than most people. But to act like his accomplishments in comedy are because he had a rich dad is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to become a big comedian. I've never found him funny but he seems to having a decent sized fanbase.

Ya'll are acting like he's some nepo baby who works at his dad's company. Stand up doesn't work that way. There's a reason you've never heard of a George Carlin Jr. or Richard Pryor's nephew.

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u/wigglefuck 11h ago

I catch myself before I even talk about weight loss most times. Because the sarcastic Matt Perry in my head is like "ah, figured out how not to eat 3000cal a day eh buddy. good for you"

Tom figured out how to be a normal person and all it took was millions of dollars.

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u/MooseHeckler 12h ago

Yeah it's wearing thin.

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u/LinkinitupYT 11h ago

Well he certainly isn't AYO!

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u/MooseHeckler 11h ago

Hiyooo!!!

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u/Dismal_Rhubarb_9111 9h ago

Kevin Hart talked about his ex wife and how his kids had to fly commercial with her now and the kids learned that they can't just bring big bottles of shampoo with them due to the TSA. He outright said he can't talk about his ex in stand up as part of the divorce agreement but he couldn't resist talking about how his kids are learning what it's like to fly like a regular person. It was bitterness and snark that wasn't funny and yet was part of his stand up special.

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u/Dapper-Profile7353 11h ago

The writing was on the wall when Tom and his unfunny wife were selling Tiger King inspired merch to capitalize on the show despite them not being even tangentially involved in it.

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u/FlamboyantPirhanna 12h ago

“You’ve lost touch with your roots, Tracy.”

“No I have not. I had dinner with The Roots last week!”

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u/asshole_commenting 4h ago

Such an underrated show. The fact reddit sucks the office and parks and recs dick but barely has heard of 30 Rock is criminal

30 Rock is the best show since I love lucy

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u/Daddy_Diezel 11h ago

30 Rock nailed this with Tracy's "standup".

It's how I've felt about Kevin Hart for a few years now. We reference the lobster joke all the time with specific comedians.

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u/Toby_O_Notoby 7h ago

"Your act is about your life. And if you stop having a life, your act becomes about your act." - Dana Gould.

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u/Successful_Car4262 4h ago

Fuck I haven't seen Segura in a while, but he's always been one of my favorites. what's he be doing?

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u/TheydonBoys 12h ago

I’ve worked for some ‘famous’ people and I think what we underestimate is how intoxicating it is when everyone around you is like “wow what you said was so [smart/funny/insightful]”.

An old boss of mine was famous and wealthy and literally everything she said someone would be like “wow! I hadn’t thought about it like that!!!” even when what she was saying was complete nonsense. One day she sent an email round and it had some completely untrue stuff in, I told her PA that she should ask her to change it. She said no, and also please don’t tell her yourself as it’ll make my life hell. So I didn’t.

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u/Toby_O_Notoby 7h ago

It's like when Trump was going on about sharks and electric boats:

“So I said, ‘Let me ask you a question, and [the guy who makes boats in South Carolina] said, ‘Nobody ever asked this question,’ and it must be because of MIT, my relationship to MIT —very smart. He goes, I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery is now underwater and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there?’”

As many people have pointed out, Trump thought "Nobody ever asked this question" was a compliment about how smart he was. When it was more a polite way of saying, "Um, that's a really stupid question".

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u/Aselleus 5h ago

Did he think the shark would eat the battery, or did he think the battery was so heavy it made the boat sink? The world may never know.

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u/banana_assassin 1h ago

I think he thinks the boat will sink from the heavy battery, a shark will eat the battery and possibly turn into some kind of electrified shark monster that will kill people with 10000 volt bites. Or so I assume.

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u/Suitable_Hunt_409 7h ago edited 6h ago

Power corrupts, but people never think it'll corrupt them. When the people around you have their livelihoods and careers depend on you, they're not going to tell you no. They're not going to say something is a bad fucking idea, they're not going to tell you that you fucked up when you could socially and professionally obliterate them with a tweet. Normal people get told "no".

The rich and famous can't be normal people because normal people don't have dozens, hundreds, thousands or millions of people saying their every move is the best one. JKR still thinks she's in the right about her demonic hatred of trans people because she's surrounded by people who will tell her she's right no matter what batshit opinion or action she takes. The idea she's evil and out of touch will never reach her infected brain through the hundreds of layers of sycophants, yes men, and politically "neutral" people who support and enable her. If one ever tried to talk some sense into her, she'd just get a hundred others to replace them.

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u/Successful_Car4262 4h ago

Man the hero worship makes me want to gauge my eyes out.

I'm involved in the business community in my area, and there's one fucking guy whose always doing things around the city. He's the epitome of right time right place. Started a company, sold it for close to a billion, now he does venture capital because of course one isn't enough.

People who don't work directly with him worship this man. Seriously. They quote him. They get excited when he's at events. It give mes religious vibes. It's so gross.

The kicker is he's an absolute moron. I know reddit loves to hate on rich people simply for being rich, but I promise this is not the case. His strategies are 20 years old and were dubious back then too. It's painful obvious he's a mediocre person who happened to stumble on hole in the market and hired people who were able to scale it. All of his new companies are failing, including the company set up to support the companies he invested in. Half the CEOs in town won't work for him. He's stolen ideas from people and then immediately failed to execute on them. His entire existence is just parading around getting worshipped by people and huffing his own farts.

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u/Vakr_Skye 9h ago

Exactly.

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u/DuckInTheFog 12h ago

I think it's the people surrounding them wormtonguing them - from a loving sycophant type like Smithers or manipulative power grubber like the blue haired lawyer

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u/IAMACat_askmenothing 12h ago

I went to look up his name and he’s literally named blue-haired lawyer lol

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u/DuckInTheFog 12h ago

Yep! Comic book guy has a name but I forgot

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u/MGD109 12h ago

I think it was Jeff Alberts but don't quote me on that.

I know Matt Groening what it to be Louise Lane, but I guess he got vetoed.

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u/DuckInTheFog 2h ago

Jeff Albertson, I remember now

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u/MGD109 12h ago

Impressive he's been on so long and never got one. I guess he just doesn't need it.

If he ever does I wonder if it will be a pun on his inspiration or if its been so long since no one will make the connection now.

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u/evergreendotapp 12h ago

Fame corrupts. I've been reading rock and roll biographies such as Heavier than Heaven (Charles R. Cross, about Kurt Cobain) and The Untold Story of Alice in Chains (by Aaron de Sola) and as soon as you get a bunch of money and freedom to do whatever you want, your own sense of self becomes diluted and you're just swept up in the tide of consumerism and capitalism. I don't think even Leo DiCaprio planned on diving down the age gap iceberg when he first started out. Relating to regular people absolutely helps; this is why I coach disc golf and play Rocket League with randoms online.

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u/MikeHfuhruhurr 12h ago

Have you tried coaching disc golf online?

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u/3yhHExDnu2 6h ago

ngl, I got to the last sentence and thought "Oh man, this has to be shittymorph, he got me again"

and I was kinda disappointed XD....

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u/Salsaprime 11h ago

Yo, what's your goto disc?

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u/individualeyes 10h ago

With comedians I'm not sure they don't start losing touch even before they get rich and famous. They write their first material while they're still normal people with day jobs. They start getting popular so they hit the road. From then, their experience is never being home, traveling all over the country/world, and only really interacting with other comedians.

I can't relate to that experience.

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u/myislanduniverse 13h ago

I think you kinda nailed it. Sustained celebrity and wealth make it pretty impossible to relate to normal people, who by and large are the audience you're trying to relate to and amuse.

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u/Stinduh 13h ago

Shades of Chappelle for sure.

Also, I think we have to grapple with the fact that our society really favors a base amount of egotism and self-confidence to reach success. Like you do not become a successful comedian without, at least somewhat, think you're hot shit. Otherwise, you'll just burn out before reaching that success.

And then the money and power just feed that egotism and confidence. It can be okay, like I'm not saying every comedian with success is an asshole. But I do think it feeds it, like you're saying, and when they get used to it, it becomes the new normal for them.

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u/Caelinus 12h ago

It can be okay, like I'm not saying every comedian with success is an asshole.

Yeah I absolutely think it is possible, just much more difficult. Whereas reality and other people will do their best to humilate me from time to time, those in power have to actively keep themselves humble. Either by maintaining grounded relationships, or by sheer mental discipline. The former is probably the easier method, but when money gets into the picture and people's livelihoods start to rely on you, it becomes hard to tell when people are being honest. And way too easy to get rid of them when they are.

I also think this is why dictators tend to get really crazy over time.

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u/jollyreaper2112 12h ago

Yeah, your ability to tell people to walk. Nobody is going to call Elon Musk out on his shit to his face. He doesn't have to listen to anyone. Even federal regulators he can tell to piss off. His setback in Brazil is rare. Because he can get away with so much and nobody can tell him he's being an ass, when he finds a problem he can't bully or buy his way out of, he goes bananas. Look at his trans daughter. Look at losing Grimes. Meltdown.

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u/brigbeard 12h ago

Shades of Chappelle for sure.

You just named his next special or memoir lol

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u/FreudianStripper 12h ago

I'm so sad that his specials seem to have gotten less funnier with each new release. The politics stuff aside, his material has just gotten kinda boring to me

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u/Orphasmia 11h ago

A lot of living legends in comedy feel like they’re just doing victory laps in their latest specials and it bothers the hell out of me.

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u/Nidcron 10h ago

Watching Dave go from the silly shit I saw him in that endeared him to me (Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Half Baked) to being mainstream with Chappelles Show and saying I am so happy this guy is finally getting his dues, then falling off the map and then enjoying his stand up again in the early 20 teens and thinking to myself, he's lost some of his wit, but he's still got those chops - to then watch him going full whatever the hell he is now is just so sad to me. It's like man I have loved your work since I was a kid, and now this is who you are?

I really think that Key and Peele taking that empty space left by Chappelles Show - years later - and spinning it into 6 seasons of a successful sketch show made him angry and bitter - because he knew that could have, and probably should have, been his story and his success - he even makes a jab about it in one of his jokes.

He sounded so introspective and self aware when he quit Chappelle Show, and it seems like all of that went away at some point. 

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u/january_stars 4h ago

Like you do not become a successful comedian without, at least somewhat, think you're hot shit. Otherwise, you'll just burn out before reaching that success.

I feel like there are two types. In order to survive the brutality of trying to make it in the industry until you get big you either have to have insane levels of self-confidence/arrogance, or insane levels of self-doubt and insecurity. You endure the beating because you "know" you deserve better and will make it, or you endure the beating because you "know" you deserve it and it continues to validate your own opinion of yourself. Unfortunately the first type becomes totally out of touch and bigheaded once they gain success. And the second type may end with a sadder result, such as addiction or ending their life, because they don't believe they deserve the success they achieved.

But either way a relatable, well-adjusted person with a normal level of self-esteem isn't likely to become famous.

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u/Brodellsky 10h ago

Like you do not become a successful comedian without, at least somewhat, think you're hot shit. Otherwise, you'll just burn out before reaching that success.

This used to be possible. It might still be, but it used to be, too.

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u/ArkyBeagle 9h ago

Either you know how to beat it or it beats you.

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u/Billy1121 11h ago

Ellen has another angle tho in that she was heavily rejected for coming out with her sexuality. That episode of her show made her and Laura Dern radioactive for a time.

Her sitcom lost sponsors and was cancelled next season. She has a lot to be bitter and mistrusting about. Also her stepfather molested her

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u/StillAFuckingKilljoy 3h ago

That doesn't excuse her horrible behaviour. It might explain it, but it doesn't excuse it

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u/shameusseamus 12h ago

that reminds me of the chelsea peretti bit in her standup where she talks about the difficulty of being both an actor and comedian now

"now that i'm an actor, nothing feels like it costs anything anymore... is that relatable?"

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u/boyyouguysaredumb 11h ago

lol Jesus Reddit is so dramatic

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u/StillAFuckingKilljoy 3h ago

Good art absolutely requires self awareness. It's kinda hard to make any good art if you aren't able to be introspective, it always just comes off as fake and superficial

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u/PeaWordly4381 12h ago

Yeah, that's not how it works. I don't like these classist-sounding implications of "you should be poor, hungry and unable to afford basic needs to be a good person".

What happens is that there are way more shit people in the world that we realize and when those people are rich and famous, we hear about them more often than about an abusive husband from a house next door or something. Also, usually it's easier for shit people to be rich, for example because they come from a rich family that gave zero fucks about raising their kids properly.

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u/PointOfFingers 12h ago

It didn't happen to the commedian she based herself on - Bob Newhart. He was always normal and humble.

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u/Rage4Order418 11h ago

That’s why I hate when comedians I like get too big. 🤪

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u/TechnodromeSquad 10h ago

Just look at Tom Segura.

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u/doesntCompete 7h ago

I think this effect is amplified in stand up comedy. The grind is so hard to get to the top, when they finally get there they go crazy. Also a lot of these people aren't mentally or emotionally all there (kind of why they are great comics) so these issues get amplified even more.

The reason why there are so many airplane stand up jokes is because big time comics spend so much time on planes and not in real life that they don't have much material to work off.

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u/friso1100 7h ago

At a certain point of wealth you may get into a conflict with your own moral system. "Why do I deserve all this money? Is this right?". There are an couple of ways you can resolve this inner conflict.

One of them is convince yourself that "yes you are special and deserver much more then others do. And actually you having this much wealth helps other people! I mean they have a job thanks to you right? So you are good!" Rather then come to terms about the situation you are in you go in full defence mode. preventing them from holding themselves to the standards they had before they gained the wealth.

That can make a good person turn selfish. Just to protect their vision of themselves. In a way someone who accept they are selfish can be kinder in that situation then someone who has to convince themselves that they are good actually. Because if your self worth is connected to being a good person then any pushback to that can be seen as an direct attack to you. Someone askes for a raise? How dare they question the effort you put in for them! Something like that.

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u/asshole_commenting 5h ago

Sounds like Tom Segura, who was funny during covid lockdown and became a Conservative dick in the modern day thats insufferable

I hadn't watched or heard him in years and then saw him and Bert doing what's essentially a PowerPoint presentation for Tom Brady's roast and they made these conservative jokes that everyone seemed confused by - like you're at a fucking roast. Why the hell you bringing random ass politics into this shit? Isn't part of toms schtick finding random videos online and roasting these normal people but when it comes to an actual roast he whips out repbublikkkan.ppt

Like I'm pretty sure Tom and Bert are a part of the Russian paid podcast people

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u/HonoriaG 13h ago

I still say “Your aura’s brown!” in my head when dealing with something or someone who is being frustratingly stupid.

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u/Blanche- 12h ago

YOUR aura is brown! What a stupid thing to say to me!

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u/bigblue_box 6h ago

I literally passed a suburb called 'Whispering Pines' the other day. "What's your name, 'Whispering Pine'?"

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u/Archamasse 13h ago edited 13h ago

I think people forget because so much is made of them as a moment, but the sitcom eps where her character comes out are legitimately funny as hell.

If the trippy lesbian grocery store dream sequence with Billy Bob Thornton or the final toaster oven reveal don't make you laugh I don't know what will.

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u/slowrun_downhill 6h ago

Truth. Ellen is a brilliant comedian! She’s also had a really fucking hard life. Yeah she’s got money, but money doesn’t shield you from trauma, grief, being ostracized, pigeonholed, or any other things that happen to us. Her decision to come out on her show was an act of pure bravery (and self-love). The fact that so many celebrities WANTED to show up and support her on that episode, really speaks to her likability. Laura Dern lost her career for a while because of it, the evangelicals lost their shit on Oprah and ABC/Disney. It was nuts.

And you’re right, the puppy episode was fantastic! And I thought the next season was great too!

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u/NonoOno 2h ago

Archamasse do you know where I can find the two episodes?

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u/doobjank 13h ago

That part where she jokes about rolling up an electric window lives in my head rent free

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u/HAL_9_TRILLION Stargate SG-1 12h ago

And the goldfish bit.

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u/DavidForADay Community 12h ago

You must have missed her last special: Relatable (2018).

It was solid. It was also before the gossip of her being a terrible person came to light, so there was not an ulterior motive of the stand-up being used to help her image.

Relatable might not hold up like some of Cosby's stuff, though. She makes a lot of jokes about being perceived as nice and how hard it is having to be nice all the time--which is a fair point in a vacuum but in retrospect seems like her telling on herself after we find out that she's a mean, abusive person.

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u/Coriandercilantroyo 11h ago

I seem to remember not finishing that special. Was not very amused

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u/FatalFirecrotch 12h ago

Yeah, I thought that hour was decent. 

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u/slowrun_downhill 5h ago edited 5h ago

I think all humans are complex. We all do good and we all do bad. I highly doubt she’s a monster (I wasn’t sure what connection you were trying to make between her and Cosby - definitely a weird comparison). She’s probably like all of us. Some days we’re jolly, other days are average and we can fake niceties if we have to, and other days we can be an asshole. The goal is to have more average days. With that said, if you live long enough you know that sometimes life just gives you shit sandwich after shit sandwich to eat and during that period of time you’re likely to have more crabby days than you’d like or is typical.

I’m a therapist who works in substance abuse treatment centers. When I’m with my clients I’m “on” and I’m beaming with empathy and compassion, but the interpersonal shit behind the scenes with colleagues can get hairy! At one point in my career I was in middle management and it blew. All of the clients and counselors saw me as an authority who could get shit done, but really I was beholden to my superiors and what they needed me to do for the bottom line. I just wanted to help my staff and make a good program for our clients, but at the end of the day my staff hated me. I know I wasn’t mean or threatening, but they totally perceived me that way. Nothing I did was seen through a positive lens. After so many years of that I was like, “fuck being in management, I just want to go back to being a counselor where I can help people directly. “ And so I did. 6 years later, I’m loving life. But I’m not in the public eye, like Ellen, I can only imagine how much it blows.

Ellen is a person. Like many of us, she’s got wounds and traumas and burdens that she carries. As is true for many comedians, there’s the funny out-facing persona, and deep wounds that the humor covers up. Despite all of that, she’s brought a lot of love, laughter, and light to this world., and she tried to encourage people to be kind to one another, even on days when she might miss the mark. And she absolutely changed the lives of so many queer kids when she came out. Me included.

I really hope she enjoys retirement!

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u/MissDiem 12h ago

I can't stand her but that was a good set. However, no, it did not come after the gossip about her. Her character has been widely known much longer than that. It was a talking point that people wouldn't give Relatable an objective viewing given how widely disliked she was.

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u/hhhisthegame 12h ago

Had the news about Ellen really not come out by 2018? I could have sworn it’s been a while

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u/Sufficient_Number643 11h ago

It was around the same time. I watched it right around when it dropped and I had already heard the news recently.

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u/whiniestcrayon 8h ago

I found it completely unfunny. I couldn’t relate at all.

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u/slowrun_downhill 5h ago

That’s comedy for ya. No comedian makes everyone laugh

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u/Professional-Sock231 11h ago

It wasn't solid? People were clapping at every premise just because her name is Ellen and all her jokes were about her being rich and famous. It was so boring

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u/Philly139 7h ago

It's been a while but I remember thinking it was pretty funny.

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u/slowrun_downhill 5h ago

I thought it was hilarious, but that’s comedy for ya - to each their own

1

u/Apt_5 5h ago

The title is ironic. It’s the same observational and self-deprecating humor she’s always done, that people have decided is now mean and out-of-touch. She is self aware and pokes fun at contrasting circumstances.

1

u/fogleaf 12h ago

I prefer her standup to her show (never watch it). So I'm fine with her being cancelled and then putting out standup.

1

u/slowrun_downhill 5h ago

I really hope she does more standup! I love her stuff!

3

u/Aristophanes771 11h ago

Oh my god those shows were so good. Her bit about cellphone reception and screaming "THE BANGS!!" still slays me. Too bad it turns out she's a horrible person. Better to die a hero and all that.

2

u/Mike9797 10h ago

For me it’s the one where she says that certain jingles will pop up in your mind at odd times and used the Clorox one. Which I can totally relate too cuz it happens all the time to me. Just random music that has no context but I heard it on a commercial type thing.

Heck even the bit about seeing someone from far that you think you know but the closer you get the more you realize it’s not them and now you’re all flustered in embarrassment. It’s all relatable and funny. I wish she was still doing that kind of stuff.

2

u/mark-smallboy 12h ago

Her 2018 special, funnily enough called relatable was quite poor

2

u/lillyrose2489 11h ago

I remember her first as a standup! For some reason I just never watched her sitcom but pre talk show I genuinely liked her standup. I think Comedy Central used to have her in the rotation of old specials.

It wasn't groundbreaking but it was silly and entertaining. I miss those days.

1

u/ablackcloudupahead 11h ago

It happens to a lot of them. After being successful for so long they become out of touch and unrelateable. Her, Seinfeld, Chappelle kind of (although he still makes me laugh, despite how much of a dick he is now), even Kevin Hart is getting that way

2

u/Mike9797 10h ago

Kevin Hart jumped the shark for me with the special he had where he keeps on asking for the fire to be lit after he says a joke. It was just too much and he was probably high on all the fame and upswing he was riding during that time.

1

u/intellectualcowboy 10h ago

Someone gifted my mom her book when I was a teenager. It was actually pretty funny even though her humor isn’t really my thing. 

1

u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth 10h ago

I was shocked how good Here and Now is from 2003. Catching her last Netflix thing I was like wow this is so bad. I fully believe this headline that the new thing is awful.

1

u/msvideos234 7h ago

Yeah, we are all shitting on her now, but she was very funny. That Nancy bit still cracks me up.

1

u/V1rginWhoCantDrive 2h ago

My brain might be misremembering but there was one HBO standup where she accidentally calls an audience member a man who is a female and you could see how horrible she felt and how she apologized and was very respectful about it. RIP to her being genuine.

79

u/S1075 13h ago

I thought she did some kind of special just a few years ago that was panned for the same things mentioned in this story.

Edit: Yeah, she did one in 2018 that wasn't well received.

35

u/darkeststar 13h ago

I only watched it the weekend it came out so I'm a little fuzzy on a special I watched 6 years ago but the main thing I remember about it is her joking about how she wasn't "allowed" to be mean to people ever in her real life because she was portrayed as the nicest person ever on tv. In the special she paints it like a Larry David scenario where she couldn't be visibly angry or mean if someone cuts her off in her car or someone being a jerk in the grocery store but it certainly gets recontextualized after the allegations about her show came out.

3

u/unoredtwo 12h ago

The 2018 special was so-so but I mainly remember it because of how angry she still was about how her sitcom went down. Which I get must've been a shitty experience, but it genuinely seemed weird how bitter she still was about it.

-5

u/EffOffReddit 12h ago

I don't think it's weird at all considering she got canceled for being gay and lost pretty much her while career publicly. Some really shitty things happened to her and a lot of the hate she gets to this day is because she is a woman and also gay. I'm sorry but the hate she gets compared to the stories that came out about her are completely out of all proportion and I think there are very bad reasons for that.

5

u/acrazyguy 12h ago

Nah the reason the vast majority of people don’t like Ellen NOW has nothing to do with her sexuality. She’s a mean person who likes to violate people’s privacy and make them cry for the sake of ratings. Or at least she used to before she rightfully lost her TV show

1

u/EffOffReddit 11h ago

Top comment on this thread is a Trump supporter, but yeah I'm sure he really just cares about niceness.

Ellen getting held to a standard that doesn't exist for the many notable assholes in show business but of fucking course you're all broken up about mean segments on daytime talk shows lol.

3

u/acrazyguy 11h ago

It’s not just the segments. It’s the behind-the-scenes behavior. It’s the bullying. It’s the woe-is-me bullshit at the beginning of COVID. And I don’t care who the top commenter supports. That is literally irrelevant to my point as that’s one person

65

u/staplerbot 13h ago

Her stand-up is why I loved Ellen back in the day and was so bummed out after her fall from grace. She was super relatable, she didn't shy away from her sexual orientation, and was just so casually funny.

33

u/Archamasse 13h ago

I liked that she pretty much always made herself the punchline, without being too mawkish about it. Like you say, she made it look so casual and easy to be funny.

I doubt she still has the stuff that made for those qualities now, but when she was good she was real, real good.

3

u/LTS55 12h ago

Her joke about Go Gurt is one of my all-time favorite bits

3

u/LeviHolden 11h ago

“ooooo, no, i just opened up a thing of yogurt…. i am in for the night….”

she is/was great at observational humor! 

3

u/kkeut 11h ago

i remember back in the 90s she was effortlessly funny, with a bit of a Bob Newhart-ish streak

3

u/minnick27 10h ago

Yeah, her early 90s specials were great.

24

u/shaka_sulu 13h ago

I used to love her throwaway lines and absurdist comedy.

"I remember my parents used to take me to kindergarden... at least I thought it was kindergarden. It turns out I was working in a factory for two years"

6

u/shit_fuck_fart 9h ago

I'm about 15 minutes in, and honestly, she's pretty funny.

17

u/kidchinaski 13h ago

She did a special in 2018 for Netflix called “Relatable” I remember my friends and I turned it on almost as a joke when we were hammered one night. From what I remember it was mid!

3

u/EmperorXerro 12h ago

I saw her in ‘92 and she was hilarious, but I think that person is gone.

5

u/holli1re 13h ago

Ian Karmel mentioned he collaborated with Ellen for her tour. I don’t know if he was the only contributor, or to what extent, but it seems it’s not 100% Ellen.

3

u/CaptainPit 12h ago

Yeah he definitely mentioned writing material for this special too. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few different writers involved.

5

u/KeyboardG 13h ago

Many big names have a team of writers.

2

u/measlyballoon 10h ago

Ian Karmel said on his podcast that wrote for this special, but didn't say how much. I imagine he wasn't her only writer.

2

u/hollaback_girl 10h ago

Even before she had her sitcom in the 90’s when she was a headlining comic she was paying for material. I’m kind of curious when was the last time she did a routine that she wrote herself.

3

u/dpdxguy 12h ago

it may just be the crazy a-hole Ellen

As we've seen a number of times, the public persona of comics and other celebrities sometimes doesn't match the person they actually are. Surprise!

Also, Bill Cosby anyone? As much of an asshole as Ellen turned out to be, at least she never (AFAIK) sunk to the level of "America's Dad."

1

u/AllysiaAius 13h ago

She did one back in 2018 called Relatable. This was before the revelations about her were more then just rumors. It was pretty unrelatable, even then. It basically amounted to "I'm rich now, fuck you. But I'm still relatable, see?" all while not being relatable. Remembering it now, after the revelations, it's pretty fucking cringe.

1

u/mtarascio 13h ago

It'd just be like a musician having their songs written and produced for them now, wouldn't it?

1

u/Deto 12h ago

I just don't think people of her level of fame can really sharpen a standup routine the way that up and coming comics can. She can't really get objective feedback from rooms of strangers night after night.

1

u/Appropriate_Cow94 12h ago

I wanna say I saw her first on some comedy contest show in the early or mid 90s. She was pretty damn funny.

1

u/Sufficient_Number643 11h ago

One of her earliest routines was her phone call with god where she asks why god made fleas and mosquitos.

She wrote that at her lowest point, when she was living in a flea infested apartment right after her girlfriend had died in a car accident. It’s shocking how unrelatable someone who had experiences like that became.

1

u/P15T0L_WH1PP3D 10h ago

Relatable was 2018.

1

u/Noobasdfjkl Better Call Saul 9h ago

Pretty sure she had a special out a few years ago dude.

Edit: yep, 2018

1

u/papaburgandy25 8h ago

I’m sure there are exceptions, but it seems like comedians tend to have stronger material early in their careers, especially when they’re doing smaller gigs and hitting the road. At that stage, they have no choice but to grind, and the pressure to prove themselves sharpens their material.

Stand-up is a brutally tough niche. Either success goes to their head and the grind lessens, or the early grind is so taxing that they feel they can finally take a breath. But fans always want more. The one comedian who just came to mind as consistently great throughout his career is George Carlin.

1

u/executingsalesdaily 8h ago

It will be interesting to see….

1

u/toritxtornado 8h ago

“here and now” is the special that got me into standup. it was my favorite for a long time. her latest (before this) was so cringe i had to turn it off.

1

u/orangeyougladiator 7h ago

It will be interesting to see if she can still write, and tell, a good stand up joke.

She’s literally never been funny wtf

1

u/Western-Dig-6843 6h ago

A lot of stand ups don’t write their own material, especially after they get huge. I doubt she wrote a single joke from her current special.

1

u/Flexappeal 6h ago

Didn’t she host the Oscars once? I remember it being good, but the bar for that is pretty low

1

u/Lvanwinkle18 4h ago

And who says she actually wrote the material? I really doubt most of it came from her.

1

u/apple_kicks 1h ago

Soon as they make it they start getting first class treatment which is everyone around you fawns over you and does things for you like youre a toddler. Its kinda obvious how many artists or politicians embrace that and start having toddler tantrums whenever reality hits

1

u/FCkeyboards 1h ago

She has writers. The host of a podcast I listen to said he was hired to help write the special. Later on, he said she went with different writers but still paid him the full amount. He claimed it had nothing to do with controversy and was just "she wanted to go in a different direction", but I think he probably saw where the special was going and was like 🤔🤔

1

u/uses_irony_correctly 46m ago

Based on the trailer of this special, which contains 0 jokes, I would say the answer to that is a resounding 'no'.

0

u/IDrinkUrMilksteak 12h ago

Meh. Her comedy was always very one-note. Say a standard line. Follow it up with a “well actually something absurd” or just pseudo-ramble tags in rapid succession. Got old quick. Worked for 80s clubs but audiences now are more sophisticated.

2

u/LeviHolden 12h ago

She’s great in The Beginning and Here and Now. Check her out and give it a chance because it doesn’t sound like you’ve actually watched much of her standup. 

-1

u/IDrinkUrMilksteak 11h ago

I’m a huge standup fan for 30 years now. That’s cool you like her, you do you, but your comment comes off like astroturfing. Links and everything.

1

u/muskratboy 12h ago

She cannot. She just had one of these specials a couple years ago, and it was abysmal. It turns out standup isn’t something you can just turn back on after having not done it for years.

1

u/MrBoliNica 12h ago

She already did a stand up special with Netflix years ago - icr if it was any good but she’s def done a routine since her original run ended

1

u/ThisFreakinGuyHere 12h ago

Last time I saw any of her stuff she ended every joke with, "and, uh..." which is a stupid little parlor trick used by hacky stand-ups to indicate, "I just said something WACKY but I'm gonna change the subject like it's NOT wacky! Aren't I funny?!?!"

1

u/_BrokenButterfly 11h ago

Neal Brennan writes all her jokes. She hasn't written anything in decades.

-5

u/Fluffy_Somewhere4305 12h ago

Her stand up has ALWAYS been trash.

20 years ago her special, one of her "big laugh" jokes was about Airplane Seats and how they don't recline that much. Her gag/spin on it was doing a visual, standing profile of how little it reclines and riffing on it.

She's basically Seinfeld without the dating a high schooler part. Weak ass stand up and always has been thin, shallow "observational" BS