Ellen
Lobster Diary
TV Flash files “Lobster Diary” as hour 53 of 109 in the TV Flash guide — Ellen (1994–1998) on ABC, season 3, episode 18, aired 1996-02-21, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E18: listed hour 53 of 109 in the Ellen guide, hour 18 of 27 in season 3. It aired 1996-02-21 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Ellen: With Child” (S03E17). Next is “Two Ring Circus” (S03E19).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Ellen tries to save a 65-year-old lobster from a restaurant's pot---an act that mirrors a real-life effort by Mary Tyler Moore (who appears as herself).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Lobster Diary sit in the Ellen guide?
S03E18 is listed hour 53 of 109 — hour 18 of 27 in season 3, season 3 episode 18.
When did Ellen S03E18 air?
Lobster Diary aired 1996-02-21 and is listed at 30 minutes.
What is The Puppy Episode?
The 1997 landmark coming-out storyline — event television in which the lead's onscreen and offscreen closets opened in the same cultural moment.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Before the talk-show empire, this was a bookstore sitcom that detonated the closet on primetime. Watch not only for the Puppy Episode as event television, but for DeGeneres finding a comic rhythm that could no longer pretend. History, sitcom craft, and the aftertaste of a network that wanted the ratings without the honesty.
ABC, 1994–1998: a quirky L.A. bookstore sitcom that detonated the closet on primetime. Ellen DeGeneres starred as Ellen Morgan. Carol Black, Neal Marlens, and David S. Rosenthal in the creator file. Joely Fisher, David Anthony Higgins, and Clea Lewis populated the friend-com orbit. "The Puppy Episode" (1997) was a landmark coming-out hour as event television; DeGeneres came out publicly around the same cultural moment. First time a major U.S. sitcom lead came out as gay — onscreen and off — as appointment TV.…
Filed against
- Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan
Ellen DeGeneres detonated a bookstore sitcom as Ellen Morgan on Ellen — the Puppy Episode as event television, a comic rhythm that could no longer pretend, and primetime's closet as a network earthquake. History and sitcom craft in the…
- Joely Fisher as Paige Clark
Joely Fisher’s Paige Clark sat beside Ellen DeGeneres on Ellen — a bookstore sitcom that detonated the closet on primetime, the Puppy Episode as event television, and a comic rhythm that could no longer pretend. History, sitcom craft,…
- David Anthony Higgins as Joe Farrell
David Anthony Higgins’s Joe Farrell kept Ellen’s bookstore staffed — a 1990s sitcom that detonated the closet on primetime, DeGeneres finding a comic rhythm that could no longer pretend. Puppy Episode as event television; Joe as the…
- Clea Lewis as Audrey Penney
Clea Lewis played Audrey Penney on Ellen — before the talk-show empire, a bookstore sitcom that detonated the closet on primetime. Watch not only for the Puppy Episode as event television, but for DeGeneres finding a comic rhythm that…