Different Title?
Didn't it start out with a different title then they changed it to just "Ellen"? or am I mistaken?
shareI remembered, it was called These Friends of Mine then changed to Ellen later.
share
MovieChat Forums > Ellen (1994) Discussion > Different Title?
"These Friends of Mine". I think they changed it for the 2nd season because it was too similar sounding to Friends that was starting its first season that same september on NBC, but it might have just been a coincidence. They basically retooled the show, changing up the title and ditching two of its principal characters without a word. Neither of them were ever seen or spoken spoken of again. Paige and Spencer were brought in as replacement. Later that season, Adam, the only remaining season one survivor (excepting Ellen of course) was also written out.
What if a squirrel wants a sausage?
Not quite, shrugs. Adam stayed all through Season 2 and left 5 episodes into Season 3. That's when Spence was brought in. Season 3 was also when Audrey was made a regular character instead of recurring. But Season 2 only Paige was brought in to replace Anita and Holly both. I never liked them so no big loss there. I loved Paige's self-centeredness and narcisissm. As for Joe, he was already made a mainstay in Season 1.
BTW: You were right, the title was changed to Ellen to reflect that she now was the main central character as opposed to it being an ensemble show like Friends. Incidentally, I remember critics at the time comparing the two shows, stating that Friends had taken Ellen's original formula and ran with it. Ellen made a couple references to these similarities during Season 2.
.