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Ellen - The Complete Season 1

Ellen

Ellen - The Complete Season 1

A&E Video (1994)
DVD
NR (Not Rated)
733961714081
TV Series | TV Shows
USA | English | Color | 04:59

The first television season of Ellen was actually called These Friends of Mine, and while the series sought to define itself through various tones and shades of comedy, the best episodes captured a middle ground between Seinfeld and Friends. Ellen DeGeneres is both a brilliant centerpiece and generous ensemble player, constantly finding fresh ways to mine laughs from her ever-rambling, guilt-ridden, and perpetually dissatisfied heroine. As Ellen Morgan, bookstore employee and platonic roommate of semi-loser Adam (Arye Gross), DeGeneres finds plenty of opportunity to explore humiliation. In the pilot episode, Ellen's unhappiness with her bad photo on a driver's license prompts an obsessive (and unsuccessful) quest to beautify her ID. "The Promotion" finds Ellen and her posse (besides Gross, costars in these first 13 programs include Maggie Wheeler and Holly Fulger) trying to figure out how to bribe Ellen's boss into giving her a job boost, a futile adventure that ends (don't ask how) in a bad way at the Mexican border.

Among the best episodes is the Seinfeld-ian "The Mugging," starring Mariska Hargitay as a gorgeous woman mugged on her way to Adam and Ellen's front door. A cowardly Adam saw the crime and not only fails to help, he won't admit being an eyewitness lest he lose his shot at romancing the victim. Along those same black-comedy lines, "The Anchor" finds Ellen neurotically pursuing a friendship with a woman she can't stand, simply because the latter heard Ellen speaking badly of her. The 13 shows in this set are presented out of season one's chronological order, but that makes little difference to the best material here. --Tom Keogh


Episodes View details

1 Pilot 23 min | Mar 30, 1994

Ellen Morgan, a 32-year old, wisecracking, insecure single woman who lives in Los Angeles and works at a bookstore called "Buy the Book," deals with a crisis when she tries to get her awful drivers license photograph changed. Meanwhile, Holly, one of Ellen's friends, is dating a new guy, named Roger, and Ellen fears that he will dump her after Holly sleeps with him. Rounding out the friends are Adam Greene, Ellen's sloppy, sarcastic roommate, and Anita, Adam's one-time, smart mouthed girlfriend.

2 The Anchor 23 min | Mar 30, 1994

Ellen cannot stand Audrey Penny, a terminally annoying and obnoxious friend that she's been trying to dump for years. But when Audrey accidentally overhears Ellen's true feelings towards her over the phone, a guilty Ellen tries to win her back. Meanwhile, Holly puts on a false breast front to impress a new man she is interested in.

3 A Kiss Is Still a Kiss 23 min | Apr 06, 1994

Attempting to freshen up their dating lives, Ellen, Adam, and Holly answer personal dating ads in the newspaper. Holly meets a recently-divorced neurotic man; Adam tries honesty, then exaggeration; and Ellen meets Jackson, the man of her dreams. But Mr. Right is all wrong at kissing and Ellen cannot bring herself to tell him.

4 The Class Reunion 23 min | Apr 13, 1994

Ellen goes to her 15-year high school reunion were she poses as a wealthy cardiologist marred to Adam in order to show off to her former classmates, which jeopardizes a romance with a former high school heartthrob she also meets there. Also, Holly feels left out when Anita gets all the attention during the reunion dance, while Adam tries to hook up with a building manager to arrange a move into a rent-controlled apartment.

5 The Promotion 23 min | Apr 20, 1994

At her mother's advice, Ellen tries kissing up to her no-nonsense bookstore boss, Susan, by buying a gift for her newborn baby. But Ellen's job is threatened when she makes disparaging remarks about Susan's baby and her maid overhears this who makes the threat to Adam. Meanwhile, Holly and Anita plan to travel to Mexico to buy some paintings to sell them to a shady art dealer for large sums back in Los Angeles.

6 The Hand That Robs the Cradle 23 min | Apr 27, 1994

Ellen begins dating a younger man, named Tim, who makes Ellen feel old and uncomfortable about herself. At the advice from Joe, Ellen sets out, with Holly in tow, to a hip clothing store in an attempt to act cool to the 24-year-old Tim. But Ellen's attempts to be cool leave Tim lukewarm.

7 The Go-Between 23 min | May 04, 1994

Ellen's boss, Susan, is looking for a date to a family wedding and Adam convinces her to bring him along. But Ellen does not expect both of them to get really intimate. When Susan and Adam individually tell Ellen that they are not right for each other, Ellen tries to play cupid for her boss and roommate.

8 The Houseguest 23 min | May 24, 1994

Ellen's cousin, Tracy, arrives in town for a visit and that's only the start of incredibly bad troubles that happen to both of them in an attempt to make Tracy's vacation enjoyable. But when Tracy mistakenly thinks that Ellen has sabotaged her vacation, she flees town with a notorious motorcycle gang, and Ellen, Holly, and Adam set out in hot pursuit of them.

9 The Refrigerator 23 min | Aug 09, 1994

Anita offers to buy Ellen and Adam a new refrigerator with her employee discount from the merchandise store she works in. But when Anita begins dating the appliance section manager, she, Ellen and Holly have to keep moving the new refrigerator to and from Ellen and Anita's apartment again and again to make it seem Anita owns it which turns into a major hassle. Meanwhile, Adam slightly injures his back in a minor car accident and his ambulance-chasing doctor suggests faking pain for a potential lawsuit against the insurance company.

10 The Soft Touch 23 min | Aug 23, 1994

Ellen needs a new car, so Adam gives her some aggressive bargaining tips. Ellen is so good at it that she gets Glenn, the weak-willed car salesman, yelled at by his employer for selling the car so cheep. Afterward, a guilty Ellen hires Glenn at Buy the Book after she mistakenly thinks she got fired. Also, Ellen's overbearing and obnoxious parents, Lois and Harold, put a damper on her plan to buy a new car by revealing they have money problems like her.

11 The Boyfriend Stealer 23 min | Aug 30, 1994

Ellen thinks that Holly's new boyfriend Steve is hitting on her. But Holly, along with everyone else, refuses to believe Ellen's suspicions. Determined to get hard evidence, Ellen plants a microphone on her and tries to get Steve to make a pass at her, but it turns into Ellen having to come on to him, which ruins her plan. Meanwhile, things change at the bookstore when Susan hires "Coffee" Joe Farrell to manage the new coffee shop and he and Ellen don't hit it off.

Cast View all

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Morgan
Maggie Wheeler Anita Warwell
Arye Gross Adam Green
Holly Fulger Holly Jamison
David Anthony Higgins Joe Farrell
Cristine Rose Susan
Michael Shamus Wiles Bartender
Greg Germann Rick
Steven Gilborn Harold Morgan
Alice Hirson Lois Morgan
Daniel Edward Mora Deliveryman
Giovanni Ribisi Cashier
Molly Shannon Woman
Kurt Fuller Dr. Collins
Jim Cody Williams Biker #1
Don Lake Bob
Harland Williams Ticket Taker
Christopher Darga Officer
Jill Talley Infomercial Woman
Clea Lewis Audrey Penney
Don Yesso Fight Fan #2
Matt Landers Photographer
Don Stark Repairman
Eve Brent Lovely Old Woman
Tommy Hinkley Steve

Edition details

Packaging Keep Case
Nr Discs 2
Screen Ratios Fullscreen (4:3)
Audio Tracks Dolby Digital Stereo [English]
Distributor A&E Home Video
Layers Single side, Dual layer
Edition Release Date Sep 28, 2004
Regions Region 1

Personal

Purchased For $ 39.95
Index 1612
Added Date Dec 12, 2012 01:15:23
Modified Date Mar 26, 2019 21:53:13