The Puppy Episode - Production

Production

By the end of the third season of Ellen, producers were becoming frustrated by the series' lack of focus and the lack of interest that the character Ellen Morgan displayed toward the standard sitcom tropes of dating and relationships. One producer suggested that since the character showed no inclination toward dating, she should get a puppy. "It was an indication of just how lost the show was that network executives would be excited by Ellen buying a puppy", said executive producer Mark Driscoll. It was this suggestion that served as the source of the coming out episode's name. In the summer of 1996 DeGeneres and the show's other writers opened negotiations with ABC and its parent company, Disney, to have Ellen Morgan come out during season four. Word of the secret negotiations leaked in September of that year, sparking a storm of speculation as to whether the character, the actress, or both would come out. The LGBT media watchdog group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) launched a "Let Ellen Out!" campaign, including an "Ellen Watch" website. Disney rejected the first draft of the script, with Disney executive Dean Valentine stating that it did not go far enough. Director Junger reported that Valentine said "'If we're going to do it, let's do it.' Once he said to go as far as we could, it became great fun to write." Once final approval from Disney was secured, ABC announced on March 3, 1997 that Ellen Morgan would be coming out. "The Puppy Episode" went into production on March 7. Guest stars sought to be a part of the project. According to writer/producer Driscoll, "Suddenly all these talented actors were lining up to be in the episode. It had a buzz around it that it would be an historic episode. When Oprah came on—and she was so wonderful and open and giving—it suddenly had this great weight to it."

With word of the episode out, backlash began. The studio received at least one bomb threat and Driscoll received a telephone call informing him he was going to Hell. DeGeneres was followed by car to the studio on at least one occasion by a "suspicious man". Some within the entertainment industry assumed that the coming out was simply a ratings stunt, to which DeGeneres responded, "I did it selfishly for myself and because I thought it was a great thing for the show, which desperately needed a point of view."

DeGeneres began dropping hints in the episodes leading up to "The Puppy Episode" that she was planning to come out in real life and have her character come out as well, including such sight gags as Ellen Morgan stumbling into an actual closet so that she could come out of it. She also invited comment with her off-screen actions, as when she kissed k.d. lang while presenting her with an award at a Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center function in early 1997. DeGeneres finally officially came out in TIME magazine, with an April 14, 1997 cover emblazoned with the words, "Yep, I'm Gay". She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show with then-girlfriend Anne Heche the day "The Puppy Episode" was set to air.

DeGeneres commented on her months of hinting at her sexuality and the media frenzy within the episode itself, giving Ellen Morgan's friends lines like "Ellen, are you coming out or not?!" and "Yeah, quit jerking us around and come out already!" Morgan's therapist comments that if Morgan does not come out she will "continue to have these dreams and then it's going to show up in your waking life as these little clues that get more and more obvious. And eventually tiresome." and that Morgan can not blame her reluctance to come out on the media.