THE ELLEN SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES

After four and a half mostly successful seasons of Ellen, ABC pulled the plug on Ellen DeGeneres' acclaimed sitcom in the 1998 wake of the coming out of the show's main character. Though that twist didn't directly result in the show's demise, many felt that it knocked Ellen off course by putting too much focus on that one aspect of her life. Three years later CBS grabbed the bull by the horns and brought out The Ellen Show, which introduced the main character as gay from the get-go, but didn't center on that subject. A fine cast that included Cloris Leachman, Martin Mull and the wonderfully goofy Jim Gaffigan gave the show a solid foundation, yet it never quite jelled. Perhaps it's because rambling Ellen is far less appealing then straight-ahead, joke-telling Ellen, something she didn't seem to discover until her wildly popular talk show. This set contains 18 episodes, five of which were never aired. A must for Ellen fans, an interesting exercise for the mildly curious. (PFW) Grade: B