Ellenproducer looks back at the historic coming-out episode 20 years later

I cant even say the word.

Why I cant say the word?

I mean, why cant I just say…

I mean, what is wrong?

Why, why do I have to be so ashamed?

I mean, why cant I just… say the truth, I mean, be who I am.

What that admission lacked in brevity, it more than made up for impact.

DeGeneres had been dodging and weaving around questions about her own sexuality for awhile.

There was the requisite backlash to the news.

A few advertisers pulled commercials.

A Southern affiliate refused to air the episode.

Jerry Falwell called her Ellen Degenerate.

But ultimately the voices of support proved louder than the ones of fear and hate.

GLAAD announced a Come Out With Ellen Day.

In short, by making it through okay, shed made itokay.

I did it for my own truth.

And truly, thanks to The Puppy Episode, TV would never be the same.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Lets go in the way-back machine.

This episode aired 20 years ago, near the end of the shows fourth season.

She didnt want to do those anymore, so we were kind of out of ideas.

And I was happy to leave at the end of the second season.

I had never met her before, but she was delightful.

So we assembled a great team of writers and we thought, Oh, we can change things.

But immediately: Oh god, its the same old thing.

She doesnt want to date, but thats the only thing thats interesting.

So that didnt lead to any stories.

We were so relieved when she called a meeting.

She invited us all to her house and she made the announcement.

She said, I want to come out.

So we were all thrilled.

It just gave us direction for the whole season.

Or vice versa?It was a dual announcement to us, anyway.

I guess I was just not attuned to exactly how things were.

Because I thought, Is that such a big deal?

Dont people know that youre gay?

It was a huge deal.

ABC and Disney had been looking for ways to give the show more direction.

Were all behind it.

And all the writers heard was, If the script is good.

The script didnt come in as well as wed hoped.

So I thought we were all going to get thrown under the bus.

For a long time, I had a cynical attitude about it.

you’ve got the option to go deeper.

And by that point, we thought, Oh!

Theyre really behind it.

So that was exciting.

There had been speculation about the sexuality of Ellen DeGeneres and Ellen Morgan.

She went onThe Larry Sanders Showand had sex with Larry (Garry Shandling).

and suddenly we were in the news all the time.

And it was really fun.

We thought, Oh, people will get tired of that.

NEXT PAGE: Why wasnt there a big kiss in the episode?

That was a time when we were starting to see more gay characters on TV.

Shes somebody that anyone would say, Kids, listen to this woman talk about animals.

It was never off-color, it was never too edgy, so I think people just loved her.

Shes the daughter youd love to have.

Or the next-door neighbor.

So she was the perfect person.

Normally a series will stunt cast to draw in more viewers.

She was so behind it, and she embraced it so completely.

How did you go about assembling the guest stars, many of them who were friends of Ellen?

He ended up doing the show the next season.

We just kept sticking them in scenes.

And they looked at us nervously for a beat before we said we were kidding.

Thats how I remember it.

But as I said, there are probably 30 other versions as well.

There was no big kiss in the episode.

Ellen said at the time, I dont want people to watch me kiss somebody.

Thats not what this is about.

Ellen Morgan is scared to death.

She just found out shes gay.

It wasnt even Oprah at that time.

And I think that kind of released everybody.

It was a great piece of advice, and Ellen got it right away.

That really helped us.

And I cant remember who pointed it out but somebody said, Theres no big moment in here.

It just kind of happens and unfolds.

So we went back and found that airport moment and built to that.

That would be for down the line.

But I dont remember the internet or the studio saying, No, you cant do it.

Leading up to the Susan, Im gay line, there are several sentences of Ellen-esque stammering.

She just could not have played that any better.

What sticks out to you about filming the episode?

Everybody had to leave the stage.

But nobody in the audience was nervous.

It was just such a supportive crowd it felt like you were at a rock concert.

You couldnt get enough of it.

Youd think that bomb threats would add an air of tension.

But the feel-good energy overcame all of that?Yes, absolutely.

Everyone was just so behind it by that point.

What was the feeling inside the writers room about how America would react to this?

I remembering doing a series of radio interviews.

And they would say something either very supportive and somethingsodisparaging: This is the last thing we need.

This loser sitcom is now trying to make headlines.

And here we have Mark Driscoll, executive producer!

Is that gay humor?

Because I dont recognize that.

Thats how straight I am.

Things like that were gettinghugeresponses.

Those things got electric responses.

We were all happy.

Im sure we tried to show restraint and pull others out.

What was the toughest scene to break in the writers room?It was probably leading up to that.

And that was really fun and it was a way to sort of ease into it.

Jerry Falwell called her Ellen Degenerate.

An affiliate in Alabama refused to air the episode after being denied a request to move into late night.

Because we werent talking about that with her in the room.

Since that time, I had three kids at the time my youngest, Ian, was a toddler.

Your son knew that you co-wrote this episode.

Were you surprised to hear about that?Very surprised.

And again, these people put up with a lot of flak and kept it to themselves.

We didnt really know how bad that was.

But theyre not attacking you personally.

And this is Oprah!

Its hard to believe.

There was so much media attention around this while you were all inside the bubble making the show.

How historic did it feel to you at the time?I think at the beginning we wereobliviousto it.

We were like, Is this really that big a deal?

There was that kind of pressure.

What do you remember about the aftermath of the episode?It was amazing.

For the first few weeks after, you felt like you were the toast of the town.

Its all anybody wanted to talk about.

What did that episode do for the show creatively?

But that also imbued it with a sense of responsibility.It just gave it a reason to be.

And you didnt question it.

There was never any sense of, Oh, what crazy plot are they cooking up this week?

The shows just seemed to follow very organically and you wish they could have been longer….

I think it gave, especially Ellen, a sense of responsibility.

She was suddenly the spokesperson for an entire movement, and that must have been very difficult for her.

But [it paved the way] for the shows that followed.

Its like when youre starting a business, its always easier to come along second.

Did you feel like that went directly against the message of acceptance that the show was seeking to promote?

It was very offensive.Right.

I can see her taking it personally.

Im sure there was pressure from affiliates to come up with that warning.

I didnt have that visceral personal response.

But it seemed so silly at the time when you knew what the episodes were about.

I thought that those were very sweet and funny.

And just hit the right tone.

That was a very happy memory in television, those three episodes.

You had no idea where TV might be 20 years later in terms of inclusiveness of LGBTQ characters.

How much progress do you think TV has made?It seems like its light years ahead.

It is hard to explain.

Its really hard to believe.