Ellen’s last comedy special aired on HBO back in 2003. Now, 15 years later, she’s back with something brand-new: an Ellen Netflix stand-up routine called “Relatable.”
Ellen signed a deal with the streaming service in May 2017.
“I got a tweet from the people at Netflix, and I have good news and bad news,” she said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the time. “The bad news is they wouldn’t tell me what happened to Barb on Stranger Things. But, the good news is they asked if I was interested in doing a stand-up special.”
“I said, ‘I’m gonna have to think about it,’ and then 30 seconds later I said yes,” Ellen quipped. “And now each one of you, you get to Netflix and chill with me. How ’bout that?” (Sounds like the best night in ever.)
Then, Ellen announced the official release in September of this year.
“I mentioned that I worked a lot over the summer,” Ellen said on her show. “What I did was I went back to stand-up. I didn’t do stand-up for 15 years and I decided… I just all of a sudden was like I miss stand-up, I want to do it. So I made a deal with Netflix.”
“It was so much fun, I loved it so much,” she continued.
Excited yet? Here’s everything you need to know about the Ellen Netflix special.
Ellen Netflix special: About Relatable
This Ellen Netflix special was filmed at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, which was one of her stops on a three-city tour. It’s directed by Joel Gallen, who also directed her 2003 special, as well as fellow comedian Tig Notaro.
“In her first special since 2003, Ellen revisits her road to stardom and details the heartfelt — and hilarious — lessons she’s learned along the way,” reads the show’s Netflix page.
The tagline tells it all: “She won’t be using her daytime voice in this one.” Ellen will talk about coming out and subsequently losing her ’90s sitcom, show us some stellar dance moves and surely give us lots of laughs.
Ellen Netflix special: Relatable trailer
The trailer for the Ellen Netflix stand-up special debuted this week.
It starts with a clip of Ellen telling audience members how she came up with the title for the show: “A friend of mine was at my house and I told him, ‘I’m going to do stand-up again.’ And he said, ‘Really?’ And I said, ‘Yeah…’ And he said, ‘Well, do you think you’re still relatable?’ Just then, Batu, my butler, stepped into the library.”
“I have an issue with all the emotional support animals that people are flying with now,” Ellen jokes in another scene. “You’re walking down the aisle to your seat, which is 10B or whatever it is, it’s like Noah’s Ark: There’s a woman with a ferret; there’s a man with a mongoose; there’s a lady with a donkey. I say 10B … does the plane go back that far? I’ve never been back there.”
Watch below:
Ellen Netflix special: Relatable release date
The Relatable comedy special is premiering on Netflix December 18.
Netflix tweeted an announcement, seen below, back in September.
Call everyone you know! Ellen is coming to Netflix with her comedy special, Relatable, streaming December 18! @TheEllenShow pic.twitter.com/R15u9PMhTL
— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) September 4, 2018
Get ready to Netflix and chill with our girl Ellen.
