So ‘Ellen’ Is a Lesbian--What’s the Next Step?

As practically everyone knows by now, Ellen DeGeneres’ character realizes she’s a lesbian during her self-titled ABC sitcom on April 30. The real question, at this point, is then what?

Despite the media hoopla--including a Time magazine cover story in which the star revealed her own homosexuality, plus upcoming interviews with Oprah Winfrey and ABC’s Diane Sawyer orchestrated to air during the ratings sweeps--several questions linger about the show’s future, unrelated to the sociopolitical debate the plot line has stirred.

Does the program inaugurate a new era featuring prime time’s first openly gay series lead, or could it be the show’s last hurrah? And assuming “Ellen” comes back next fall, where does the series go creatively?

Thus far, “Ellen” has yet to be officially renewed for next season--seemingly a nonissue if not for the star’s own reported ambivalence. DeGeneres (who has declined other interview requests) bristled when ABC shifted her time period twice this year and is said to have indicated on occasion that she wouldn’t object to this being her finale, allowing the 4-year-old series to exit on a high note.

Because DeGeneres has two years remaining on her contract with production company Walt Disney Television, that decision lies with ABC. “Ellen” will air twice after the one-hour “coming out” episode, breaking the news to her parents and boss in subsequent weeks. The network officially unveils next fall’s prime-time lineup on May 19, five days after the season’s final telecast.

Insiders say the network and production company Disney (a division of ABC’s corporate parent) have invested so much energy in “Ellen” that it’s almost certain to return.

“I would bet the farm that this show comes back,” said a source close to the show. “People are talking about it, and this network needs that right now.”

ABC nevertheless has several practical matters to consider. One involves where to schedule “Ellen,” considering programmers have stated that they won’t broadcast the series before 9 p.m. (8 p.m. in the Central time zone), because fewer children watch TV later in the evening.

That leaves just one logical time period: Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., following “The Drew Carey Show”--a ratings oasis for the network in an otherwise arid year. (A berth after the family-oriented sitcom “Home Improvement” has essentially been ruled out.)

A less desirable alternative would be to make “Ellen” a different kind of pioneer by trying to establish an audience elsewhere; however, sources say DeGeneres’ representatives would rather see the series canceled than relegated to scheduling Siberia on a night where ABC is struggling.

“If ABC picks up the show, my assumption is it’s going to go [at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays],” said DeGeneres’ manager, Arthur Imparato. “If not, I’m not sure why they would go through the motion of picking it up. . . . This show has been moved around enough.”

“Ellen” has never exhibited much ratings independence, existing as what’s known as a satellite show--feeding off its pairing with an established hit. Asked to open Wednesday night last September, the series lost to CBS’ “The Nanny.” Viewing levels rose when the show moved behind “Drew Carey,” and results have been moderate in recent weeks on Tuesdays after “Roseanne.”

Walt Disney Television President David A. Neuman said “Ellen’s” performance after “Drew Carey” merits a return there next season, especially compared with the poor results for “Arsenio” in that half-hour.

“This is a show that’s demonstrated it can perform wherever it’s put,” he said. “All of our signals to date are the network is pleased with the show.”

Sources expect public curiosity and the tidal wave of publicity to generate a big tune-in April 30. After that, interest will almost certainly subside, with executives anticipating that viewers alienated by the story development will be replaced by new ones inspired to give the show a second look.

Executives at ABC and Disney maintain that the episodes dealing with the lesbian revelation are perhaps the program’s best, after a period in which “Ellen” floundered creatively. DeGeneres told Time that the series “desperately needed a point of view.”

That raises another issue involving creative direction. Specifically, some wonder if “Ellen” can regularly navigate the fine line between allowing the character to have a life as a lesbian without becoming “the lesbian dating game,” as the producers have jokingly put it.

One source involved with the show predicted that no more than a half-dozen of next season’s 25 episodes would deal in any direct way with Ellen’s sexuality, saying, “Most of them will be about her and her friends.”

“It’s not going to be all about Ellen Morgan [DeGeneres’ character] as a lesbian. You’d run out of stuff pretty quick,” Imparato said. “But textually, it’s going to be a place where the show is coming from.”

Gay advocates would generally prefer such an understated approach. “To most gay people, their sexual orientation is not the only aspect of their lives,” said Alan Klein, a spokesman for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, adding that such matter-of-fact acknowledgment would be “the kind of progress that we’re looking for.”

“Ellen’s” transformation will also extend behind the scenes. The writing staff is expected to change almost entirely if the series is renewed, with executive producers Mark Driscoll and Dava Savel leaving at season’s end. A third executive producer, Vic Kaplan, will likely remain; DeGeneres serves as a producer as well.

As a result, Disney’s Neuman said that creative issues for next season--beyond general discussion about future story lines--will wait until the new team is in place. “It’s not going to be a radically different show than it’s been,” he said.

“Everybody has given it thought, but we haven’t sat down and done anything formally yet about next year,” Kaplan added.

A last issue is financial. If “Ellen” returns, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the American Family Assn.’s Rev. Donald Wildmon--who disapprove of homosexuality on religious grounds--have stated that they will keep up the pressure against advertisers sponsoring the show.

Many sponsors do shy away from controversy, but networks can usually replace them with others who are less skittish--especially, as shown with “NYPD Blue,” once it’s demonstrated precisely how far a series will go.

“I lived through ‘NYPD Blue,’ and this [controversy] is nothing compared to that,” said Peter Mathes, general manager of KTVX-TV, the ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City. So far only one ABC affiliate, the station in Birmingham, Ala., has balked at airing the program.

“NYPD Blue” ran with less than full sponsorship initially, meaning ABC may have to weather some bottom-line impact before the “Ellen” storm blows over. ABC said it expects the April 30 episode to be fully sponsored, and a few advertisers who are staying away have indicated they will consider buying time in the program once the issue cools.

Another advertiser, Absolut Vodka, is on board in a different medium, helping underwrite GLAAD’s “Come Out With ‘Ellen’ ” viewing parties. The company has even created an “Absolut ‘Ellen’ Cocktail” for that event, whose final mixing direction is to “garnish with Absolut pride.”