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/Talyac181 8h ago

I mean - that's one hell of a safety net in case you can't get money. So many people can't even try that stuff out bc they need to pay the bills.

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u/SheinhardtWigCompany The Wire 6h ago

100%. He still accomplished what he did tho. Having a rich daddy doesn't make you good at comedy.

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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/Bonezone420 4h ago

Except people aren't acting like that. They're saying it had influence on his chances, which it does. You're getting defensive over it, for some bizarre reason and insisting they're making a bigger deal of it than even they are. If he didn't have his dad's money backing his chances he might never have gotten to where he is, there's more to being a comedian than just showing up to stand up night and being funny - and if you come loaded with connections and backing cash then you have a massive head start over everyone who doesn't. And yes, it's absurd to act like it's all his own work when those things absolutely impact his career's success. It's like claiming your stellar diet and exercise have given you the healthy body and life you have now, when all you did was pay someone else to cook for you and tell you when and how to work out. Yes, you put in work: but it isn't at all on your own, or of your own merit like you're portraying it as.

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u/SheinhardtWigCompany The Wire 4h ago

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

That's exactly how people are acting. Look I'm done defending a comedian I don't like. Just calling people out on their BS

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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