‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ To End After 19 Seasons

At the end of a rocky 2020-21 season, following a toxic workplace environment controversy and amid declining ratings, Ellen DeGeneres is ending her daytime talk show. DeGeneres’ current contract takes The Ellen DeGeneres Show through the upcoming 2021-2022 season, the show’s 19th, and it will now be the program’s final chapter.

Like this past year for the show, the announcement of its end was messy, with the news leaking to a tabloid, The Daily Mail, which broke it early Wednesday morning, thwarting DeGeneres’ and the show’s producer Warner Bros.’ plans of announcing the news on their own terms. DeGeneres will speak about the pending end of her daytime talker in the Ellen opening monologue she will be taping later today.

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After a long reign as daytime’s top entertainment talk show and a slew of Daytime Emmys, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, produced by Warner Bros.’ Telepictures, has struggled during the pandemic-impacted 2020-21 season, with its ratings falling 40% year-to-year, pushing the program down the daytime rankings. The Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s ratings dive was examined in a March story of the New York Times, which got a lot of attention and raised questions about the talker’s future.

Following a string of reports about a toxic workplace on the show last spring and summer and an internal investigation by Warner Bros., The Ellen DeGeneres Show made a number of behind-the-scene changes last fall, including ousting long-time executive producers, and DeGeneres apologized to her staff.

DeGeneres previously had indicated that she was seriously considering ending her show, most recently in 2019 when she ended up signing a new three-year deal to extend the program through 2022.

“Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that the truly great things never will,” Mike Darnell, President, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, said in a statement provided to Deadline. “The Ellen Show started as the little program that could and became an absolute phenomenon. Over the years, it established itself as the premiere destination for both superstars and incredible heartfelt human interest stories. The show and Ellen brought comedy, joy, happiness, comfort (and dancing!) to countless millions every day for 18 years. It was and is an indelible piece of the television landscape, and it will be sorely missed.”

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