After Cancellation
From the show's premiere, Ellen DeGeneres was critically praised for her performance as Nancy MacIntyre. In the September 30, 1992 edition of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, columnist Tom Jicha explained in his review of the series, "The only comic relief comes from Ellen DeGeneres as Laurie's assistant. It`s a brief -- almost cameo -- appearance, but it's sufficient to raise speculation she would make a more enjoyable character in her own program."
Months after the cancellation of Laurie Hill, Marlens and Black, together with partner David Rosenthal, received a new development deal with ABC, which resulted in the sitcom pilot entitled These Friends of Mine. Marlens and Black had enjoyed working with DeGeneres on Laurie Hill, and cast her as one of the four leads in their new comedy project. These Friends of Mine aired as a midseason replacement series beginning in March 1994, with DeGeneres again being a breakout talent among the cast. The series would be subsequently revamped to emphasize DeGeneres as the principal lead, and continued more familiarly thereafter as Ellen, running until 1998.
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