Eight months after TV Guide reported that Ellen Morgan, the character played by Ellen DeGeneres on the ABC sitcom aptly titled "Ellen," would reveal herself as a lesbian, and two weeks after Ms. DeGeneres herself appeared on the cover of Time magazine, announcing "Yep, I'm Gay," the coming-out episode of the troubled 39th-place show finally appeared. At the same time, Ms. DeGeneres's girlfriend in real life, actress Anne Heche, also took the opportunity to come out as a lesbian. Newsweek even reported that Jill Lessard, an ABC network publicist who helped cultivate the event, came out on the set after "getting swept up in the moment."

After the show was finally canceled, executive producer Tim Doyle commented, "Episode by episode, scene by scene, 'Ellen' was the smartest, funniest show on network television, and anybody who says otherwise is a bigot reaching for an excuse to condemn her. Period. Case closed."

[Ed.: Ms. Heche later became engaged to marry Coleman Laffoon, a cameraman she met while filming a documentary on Ms. DeGeneres. No more details on when the coming-in party is scheduled.]

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