The Team Behind Ellen DeGeneres' 1997 Coming Out Episode Revisits Public Backlash

“People didn’t understand, and when people don’t understand, they get scared,” one of the show's executive producers said of the trailblazing series.

As Ellen DeGeneres brings what’s believed to be her final Hollywood chapter to a close, a new documentary is taking a look back at the trailblazing television series that put her on the cultural map.

HuffPost caught a sneak peek at Sunday’s episode of CNN’s “TV on the Edge,” which features an on-camera reunion of the creative team behind DeGeneres’ Emmy-winning comedy, “Ellen,” which ran from 1994 to 1998.

These days, “Ellen” is best remembered for “The Puppy Episode,” which aired during the show’s fourth season in 1997. The episode depicted DeGeneres’ character, Ellen Morgan, coming out as a lesbian. It also coincided with DeGeneres’ public acknowledgement of her real-life sexuality on the cover of Time magazine.

By 2024 standards, “The Puppy Episode” is incredibly tame. But, as some of the “Ellen” team recalled in the below clip from “TV on the Edge,” that wasn’t the case 26 years ago. Not only was the public backlash to the episode significant, but the show’s set was hit with a bomb threat. As for DeGeneres herself, she dealt with an alleged stalker.

Watch a clip from the Oct. 6 episode of “TV on the Edge” below.