To Ellen, Back Again

• Share

(2 of 2)

No matter. The audience laughs just as much whether the material is good or lame. But there's the rub. DeGeneres has lost her barometer for testing laughworthiness. There's no quality control like a tough room, and all the rooms DeGeneres plays are warm and nurturing. It's as if she honed her routine by doing it for her mother and a thousand doting aunts. One of the reasons comedians make us laugh is that they see the world differently from us. They're ridiculously paranoid or filthy minded or clumsy. But Ellen is very warmly embraced by loads of folks. And as she has become more loved, she has become less lovable.

DeGeneres is by no means the only comedian with this problem. Fame isn't good for comedy. (Seen Robin Williams do anything funny recently?) Neither, alas, is happiness. (Why so quiet, Jerry Seinfeld?) DeGeneres is dealing with a triple-barreled assault on her humor resources. And perhaps it's better to be happy and a hero than to be funny. But it doesn't augur well for her new comedy-variety show, scheduled to air on CBS in November, which she, worryingly, describes as an old-fashioned comedy show. Please, Ellen, no hugs.