DATE: Wednesday, April 30, 1997             TAG: 9704300054

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LARRY BONKO

                                            LENGTH:   88 lines

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: ELLEN'S REVELATION OCCURS DURING THE MAY SWEEPS

AS THE end-of-the-season sweeps roll on, there is nothing subtle about how Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan lets the world know she's gay tonight at 9 on ABC.

She uses the public address system at Los Angeles International Airport to make the announcement.

The hour-long episode of ``Ellen'' is as historic as it is exploitive. Primetime TV has seen homosexual characters - they have approximately 20 roles on six networks today - but never before has a lead actor in a series come out of the closet.

It has Hampton Roads talking.

From a reader, Donald Spitz of Virginia Beach: ``Not everyone is filled with delight about homosexuality being piped into our living rooms at primetime. Some of us do not want our children indoctrinated into that lifestyle.''

From 18-year-old Tatyana Ali of ``The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,'' who was in Norfolk recently to take part in the Tim Reid Celebrity Weekend: ``I don't have a problem with what Ellen is doing. It's the real world. I believe in freedom of speech. How can you isolate one person's view of life? Parents know their children. If they don't think they can handle this, they should step in and say, 'Don't watch.' ''

From Richard J. Keilty, general manager of ABC affiliate WVEC: ``We never had second thoughts about airing this episode of 'Ellen.' We've heard from people on both sides on this issue - those who want to see it on the air and those who do not. I'm not concerned about the episode. It's really quite innocent.''

From another reader, Kelly Hardison in Suffolk: ``What's the big deal? What Ellen is doing is not wrong. She's helping people who are not gay to understand her lifestyle. I'll be very interested to see how she comes out of the closet.''

From Jackee Harry, co-star of ``Sister, Sister,'' also a participant in the Tim Reid fund-raising weekend at Norfolk State: ``It takes a lot of guts for Ellen to do what she's doing. I'm sure she feels a lot of personal freedom. But I wonder what happens from now on. Will she be real and say on the show that she doesn't like men? Will she kiss another woman? I like Ellen, but I don't want to see her kissing another women on TV. I don't want to see a man kissing another man on TV.''

From another reader, Ginger Dixon in Chesapeake: ``It's not proper for ABC to expose us to homosexuality in primetime.'' (I asked for comments on Infoline, 640-5555, press 2486).

From Faizon Love of the sitcom ``The Brother Hood,'' also a participant in the Tim Reid weekend: ``After this show is on the air, parents should be prepared to hear a lot of questions from their kids, such as, 'What does that mean?' Personally, I don't understand why a TV character has to come out and say he or she is homosexual. I've never come out and said on TV that I'm heterosexual. This is all about ratings. If it isn't, why did Ellen wait until the sweeps to come out with this?''

Indeed, this is the May sweeps, which actually started April 24. This is when advertising rates for the next six months will be determined by the Nielsens - a ratings game worth billions.

The game is played on local TV news, too. If it weren't, would a local station do a special report about the dangers of fingernail fungus?

It is the May sweeps, and that is why Ellen will bolt out of the closet, Donna on ``Beverly Hills 90210'' will lose her virginity, NBC and ABC will toss 3-D gimmicks at the viewers, everyone from Colin Powell (``Touched by an Angel'') to Debbie Reynolds (``Roseanne'') will appear as guest stars on series, and a small kid out of a Stephen King novel is terrorized by his deranged father in ``The Shining.''

Tonight's ``Ellen'' in a nutshell: Old boyfriend named Richard visits and wants to get cozy with Ellen, who finds herself attracted to Richard's lesbian colleague, Susan, played by Laura Dern. Ellen discusses the attraction with her therapist (Oprah Winfrey). Ellen later finds Susan in an airport, and lets it all hang out.

I share Faizon Love's cynicism about DeGeneres' coming-out party taking place during the May sweeps. Not only did ABC schedule the great revelation episode during sweeps, the network also had DeGeneres appear on ``20/20'' last Friday, one day after the ratings' period began.

It was a compelling interview conducted by Diane Sawyer in which DeGeneres admitted she twice had sex with men, and hated it both times; was told to move out of her parents home when she told them she was gay; sees no exploitation of gays in tonight's episode.

``You won't see so much as a kiss,'' DeGeneres said. If her ratings aren't triple what they usually are, I'll be surprised.

With ratings off by 11 percent, the networks will make use of everyone from gays to virgins to children to get the numbers up this time of the year. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

ABC

Laura Dern, right, plays Ellen DeGeneres' new friend tonight on

ABC's ``Ellen.''

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