Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval

She is generally quite funny. I Always had a soft spot for Ellen. But she has lost any meaningful content or insightful observation. She became extremely boring and monotone through the years, losing touch with the world. In this totally pointless show, she Talks about irrelevant things like parking a car in front of a restaurant. The only fun joke I can remember is about pigeons. "I am disappointed in you piegeons!" ... The rest is not that it is unrelatable, is Ellen that doesn't relate to anything outside her narrow, very boring and uninspiring (by the sound of it) millionaire life. She does the same character she know well to do, but without any life or wit. Perhaps it is good that this was goodbye.

There are far too many applause breaks for moments that aren't particularly funny or noteworthy. The narrative about being 'kicked out of' show business doesn't land when she's literally here on Netflix with a multi-million dollar deal. Clearly, despite the controversy, companies still willing to pay for her work, it's ultimately within her power to remain in or step away from show business.

I was hoping to hear her side of the controversy, or at least how she would weave it into her routine, but instead, she skims over the issue without offering much insight or depth. The constant jumping from topic to topic with no clear link makes the special feel disjointed and unfocused. It lacks the depth or insight that I expected, leaving the entire show feeling more like a ramble than a cohesive stand-up performance.

Yes, the show was entertaining but it was not much of a stand up comedy show. It was more like a humorous TED Talk. I actually stopped it and checked to see if it WAS a TED Talk.

I did find that the audience responded more with cheers and clapping than they did with laughter. It almost seemed like they were wanting to encourage her and make her feel better. Thankfully you are able to skip past the long winded standing ovations because, as others have commented, it did get to be pretty annoying.

That being said...I didn't mind her stories and I was able to do other things while I was listening to her talk.

I have no idea what the idea behind this program was? Did Ellen want to show that she had some self-distance and was able to face what had happened to her career? Admit to certain things and take responsibility for them? If so, it has failed because it is clearly superficial and insincere. There is still a tone there that suggests that she had to suffer all this because of her gender and s. Orientation.

The comedy aspect itself is even worse. The jokes are flat and completely unfunny. This is a completely amateur level. This is only emphasized by the reaction of the audience, which had to be carefully selected from among her fans, because their hysterical reaction to her every joke, even the weakest, seems simply artificial and far-fetched to those watching at home. And I watched it with three other people. One of them, a woman, used to be very fond of Ellen. We all watched it with straight faces almost the entire time. A slight smile may have crossed our faces a few times. Not good for such a long performance. Not good. Not good at all.

Ellen wanted to leave with great pomp, but it turned out to be a dud. Maybe because of her limited comedic skills? Or maybe it's because she can't be truly honest, either with herself or with the audience. At one point he says that "if you tell someone that all their stories should be 50% shorter, you lose 100% of their friendship." I think she could apply this principle of brevity to her own jokes as well. Instead of repeating the same thing over and over again.

Instead of finalizing her career as a comic with something irreverent or groundbreaking, she chose a stale recounting of the last 2 year's headlines. Nothing special & no way to end your groundbreaking career. Ellen has always leaned into her dry approach to comedy but I don't think it suited her here. Yes, we know people called you mean, and if that's not true, that's terrible. One retelling would have sufficed. Ellen carved her own path & she doesn't technically need comedy like most standups, but I sure wish she had gone out with a bang since this is her last special.

It seems she needed this adoration more than she needed the laughs.