SMELLEN

ELLEN
1994-1998 ABC

SMELLEN
MAD # 346, July 1996
w: A. J. Marley (Arnie Kogen)
a: Sam Viviano

The sitcom, originally called These Friends of Mine, starred Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan, proprietor of Buy the Book. Her friends were Paige (Joely Fisher), Spence (Jeremy Piven), Joe (David Anthony Higgins), Audrey (Clea Lewis), and Adam (Arye Gross). Her parents (Steven Gilborn, Alice Hirson) were recurring characters. Jeremy Piven had previously starred on The Larry Sanders Show.

Ellen's parents were always trying to convince her to get married. They thought she was a heterosexual, but that wasn't a premise of the show. She thought she was too.

They joke about similarities to Friends, but the similarities are exactly why they changed the name of the show.