Ellen DeGeneres talks about tomorrow night's variety show...

I'm looking forward to seeing Ellen DeGeneres' variety special tomorrow night and wrote a story that appeared in today's LA Daily News about it. So go out and pick upo a copy!
Oh, you don't live in LA? OK, here's the story - delivered special to Out In Hollywood readers...

**************************************

Hosting an old-fashioned variety show could be just what Ellen DeGeneres needs right about now.

She's had rough go of it in recent weeks. First there was the drama surrounding an adopted dog name Iggy that led to Ellen crying on the air and now she's under fire for continuing to tape her syndicated show during the writers strike.

On Monday night, she hopes all of that will be set aside during "Ellen's Really Big Show," a 90-minute special airing at 9 p.m. Ellen will host established stars like Sheryl Crowe, Wayne Newton,
magician Lance Burton (Mary J. Blige was a last-minute cancellation))
and she introduces viewers to a lot of lesser-known acts. The writing for the special was completed before the strike.

"I've wanted to do a variety show for a long time," she says. "I really miss variety, I miss Carol Burnett and the Smothers Brothers. I love all the weird acts, the things you don't normally see unless you go to Vegas...I really think people are ready to see a variety show on prime time."

She was in talks with TBS to do some kind of special but was not keen on doing another stand-up show like she had done in the past, a format she says "is too daunting."

"I used to love on Carol Burnett when they would do sketches and couldn't keep a straight face. Also Sonny and Cher. It was a different kind of humor. I loved when I saw new comedians like Steve Martin."

What's not well known is that after the cancellation of her ABC sitcom "Ellen," and before the one season run of "The Ellen Show" on CBS, she had taped a variety pilot that she was hoping to do for CBS instead of another sitcom.

"I thought it was a really good idea and a really good pilot," she says. "But nobody thought America was ready for it. So we did the other one that didn't work out either. I wish that somehow the pilot I did would be able to be aired. It was sort of behind the scenes and on stage,Larry Sanders style."

So if it's not all about her and her comedy, then what's the appeal of doing "Ellen's Really Big Show" which was taped in Las Vegas on Thursday?

"It's close to stand-up and yet not as much talking," she says. "I have people to take over for a little while. I get to respond immediately to something that's going on. It's sort of why I had always done what I do. I really like making people feel good. If you are hosting a party, you want to make sure people are having a good
time. It's a challenge and it feels good. I like feeling the energy in the room when I'm helping that move along."

She hopes the writers strike will be long over. She was slammed by the union which released a statement saying "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than a single day."

Ellen skipped taping of her show the first day of the strike two weeks ago but, along with Oprah Winfrey, Rachael Ray and other syndicated shows, has continued producing new shows.

"I hope it ends soon. I hope people can compromise or figure it out. It's just the hardest thing in the world to drive on this lot. I'm stuck in the middle."