You Pay Only: $19.95 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767066150
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0767066154
Label: A&E HOME VIDEO
Manufacturer: A&E HOME VIDEO
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: A&E HOME VIDEO
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 28, 2004
Running Time: 299 minutes
Sales Rank: 18927
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
Theatrical Release Date: March 30, 1994
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
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
Product Description:
Cast/Crew: Ellen DeGeneres Description: The first TV vehicle for the many talents of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres came in the form of the half-hourly sitcom ELLEN. The show lasted for four years, and firmly established DeGeneres in the hearts and minds of the American public. Ellen played a bookstore employee who regularly has to deal with her irritating parents, her best friends Paige (Joely Fisher) and Adam (Arye Gross), and a variety of other colorful characters. This release contains the entire first season of the show, with all 11 episodes offering a wonderfully comedic look at the world. Release Notes: DVD Features: Region (unknown) Keep Case Full Frame - 1.33 Additional Release Material: Audio Commentary 1. Holly Fulger 2. Arye Gross Biographies 1. Cast Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Access
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Weak beginning to a good show
Ellen DeGeneres is undeniably one of the funniest comedians out there. And the Ellen show did develop into a really good show in its third and fourth seasons. But Season One has not aged well. It has all the classic weaknesses of an ensemble cast that has not really clicked yet. It looks and feels like the weakest of late 70s/early 80s sitcoms. Unless you are an obsessive collector who feels the need to have complete sets, you can skip this one.
Rating:  - Ellen season 1 Hilarious!
Ellen, as usual, is hilarious. Who cares if season 1 is far removed from the rest of the seasons. It doesn't make it any less funny. Highly recommended. This season is gut busting laugh-out-loud hilarious.
jimmy
Rating:  - Spoiled by bad laugh track
I don't think I've ever said this about a show, but what spoils this for me is an extremely bad laugh track. Not the way you think though, where there are giant guffaws over the slightest things...no, the thing here is it's so badly mis-timed. It's like whoever was responsible for this had no sense of humor or timing. Great jokes get nothing, mediocre jokes get big laughs. It's very strange.
Rating: - Great Buy
Ellen- Season One does not have as many episodes as the other seasons so I went through them pretty fast. I like this season, but I missed the character, Spencer, who does not come in until the 3rd season. Of course, every episode is funny. Ellen is soooo witty and down-to-earth, you can't help but identify with her issues. I had a ton of laughs and am now watching the next season of the show. Ellen is one of the funniest people I've ever watched!!!
Rating: - Excellent start to an excellent series!
Ellen: The Complete Season One might as well be considered completely seperate from the rest of the series. When the first season originally aired, it was titled 'These Friends of Mine' and was much more Seinfeldish than it grew to be by the second, and especially third seasons. In the first season, Ellen has not come out of the closet yet (that is still 3 seasons away). It is kind of weird seeing her dating men, as you can totally see there is no chemistry there at all. Also, later series regulars Joely Fisher and Jeremy Piven have not yet joined the cast. There are two other female friends featured here that are inexplicably gone by the end of these 13 episodes and never return. Joely Fisher is then first introduced in the first episode of Season 2 with no explanation as well.
With that being said, even though there are major differences between this first season and the rest of the series, it is still a great, funny show. Ellen truly is a comedic genius and she works well with this first season cast (though I must say she has much better chemistry with the later casts). Amazon Marketplace has this set for sale pretty cheap; it's definitely worth a look, whether you are a current Ellen fan, or new to the series. The DVDs do not have many special features; there is a commentary or two (with Ellen herself conspicuously absent) and some biographies and that's about it. But you do get 13 pretty darn funny episodes! Highly recommended!
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