The Ellen DeGeneres Show renewed: watch her finest moments
We don’t know about you, but we were thrilled to learn that The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been renewed until 2020. That means at least another 4 years of that blonde bombshell bringing us hilarious interviews, constant pranks, and all round joy.
First airing in 2003, the show has won a whopping 28 Daytime Emmy Awards and has earned Ellen herself 14 People’s Choice Awards as host. The show is consistently ranked as one of the highest viewed talk shows in the US and Ellen’s unique brand of kind comedy and gloriously warm personality are just scratching the surface of why this show is so successful.
Ellen has the ‘best friend’ quality that a talk show host should have, we all feel like we would get on like a house on fire if only our lives crossed paths. Whilst she doesn’t grill her guests for groundbreaking stories with Nixon-Frost-esque techniques, she does something else incredibly important – she makes people happy.
To celebrate this little Louisanan bundle of joy, we thought we’d take a look at her finest moments over the last 12 years.
A fresh-faced Ellen opens her debut show, on 8th September 2003, with her first ever monologue:
2003 also saw Ellen star in the incredibly successful Pixar film Finding Nemo as the voice of amnesiac sidekick Dory. As shown below, DeGeneres “campaigned” tirelessly to bring the popular character back and finally, we were given the news that Finding Dory will hit our screens this year (June 2016).
Ellen is such a natural in the limelight that when she doesn’t get cast in box office hits like Finding Nemo, she finds her way in anyway. Her cameos vary from fragrance adverts with Matthew McConaughey to shaking her thang with Nicki Minaj. See if you remember this small part she had in Twilight.
Whilst we haven’t personally had the joyful experience of being an audience member for a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, we know that dancing is a big part of the experience. With the immortal words “I’m gonna dance” she glides through the audience with some fabulous dad moves. Sometimes, somewhere, a unicorn grants a wish and her celebrity guests dance with her; this 2008 clip shows Obama, pre-presidency, showing off just how much cooler than George Bush he is.
A child at heart, Ellen is infamous for her pranks. You’re not a true friend of Ellen’s if you haven’t been terrified by her or made to look a fool. Here, recurring guest Justin Bieber dresses up as a security guard and messes with audience members, all controlled by a devilish Ellen whispering in his ear.
Presumably running up a huge bill on costume hire, Ellen has a constant array of creatures and characters jumping out on her guests during interviews. None more so than poor, innocent (pah) Taylor Swift as this near 6-minute clip demonstrates.
Comedy aside for a second, Ellen is also praised for her big heart and willing to help others. She takes real joy from showcasing talent on her show and trying to make some little kids’ big dreams come true. Take 4-year-old Kai for instance, who has appeared multiple times on the show. He got to meet and sing with his hero, Bruno Mars, as well as having the opportunity to serenade Ellen with this ballad.
When she’s not pranking her guests, Ellen’s getting them involved in games specifically designed to embarrass them – and we love it. “Never Have I Ever” is her current go-to to dish the dirt on everyone from Kim Kardashian to Justin Bieber.

Halloween Ellen is my favourite Ellen. Not only does she always regale us with deliciously funny costumes like this interpretation of Sofia Vergara’s Emmy wardrobe malfunction…

…but best of all, she sends her producer Andy Lassner around a haunted house. Sometimes she gives him someone to cling onto, sometimes he braves it alone. One thing is guaranteed though, if you watch even 30 seconds of these videos, you will find yourself ugly cry laughing instantly. Watch all of them, seriously.
Thanks for all the laughs so far, Ellen. Long may you reign.

Find more clips of The Ellen DeGeneres Show on her YouTube channel here.