ICONIC EPISODE: ELLEN PROPOSES ON-AIR TO SAME-SEX PARTNER
Arsenio Hall
SCREEN MATCH!
Sally Jessy Raphael
Ellen DeGeneres striped suit ensemble (bottom left) and white Van’s sneakers (not pictured) that she wore when proposing to her same sex partner on The Ellen DeGeneres Show ; Arsenio Hall purple suit ensemble (top right) from The Arsenio Hall Show; Oprah Winfrey khaki suit (bottom center) from The Oprah Winfrey Show; a nd Sally Jessy Raphael signature red eyeglasses (bottom right) from Sally Jessy Raphael. Acquired from Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey & Sally Jessy Raphael.
Ellen DeGeneres
Oprah Winfrey
SCREEN MATCH!
SCREEN MATCH!
CURATOR’S NOTE: “A number of years ago, I appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Everything I brought with me had to pass through an airport-style metal detector, and I was intimately wanded. The producer who met me started going through rules, the first being if you saw Oprah in the halls, in make-up or anywhere else, do not speak to her unless she speaks to you first. During a commercial break, upon reflecting on the di ffi culty of trudging to Chicago in the dead of winter, I decided to ask her a question anyway: ‘Oprah, if fans want to collect something of yours, does it feel fetishistic to you?’ In a very friendly tone, she said: ‘good question, let me think about it,’ then went on to tape the next segment. At the next commercial break, something incredible happened; Oprah walked over to me to chat: ‘I was thinking about what you asked, and I do understand the connection we have to celebrities. Diana Ross was the first time I saw someone who looked like me on TV, and if something of hers came up from the early days, I’d probably want to know about it.’ At the end of the show, sitting on the edge of the stage, Oprah asked me on camera, ‘How much would you sell that Andy suit for?’, to which I playfully responded, ‘I wouldn’t…but make me an o ff er!’ She laughed, and while the end credits rolled and the audience clapped, she shared that she grew up watching The Andy Gri ffi th Show and wished Andy was her parent, and ‘The first time I truly felt like a celebrity was when Andy Gri ffi th sent me a holiday card. I still have it.’ Entertainers are just as connected to their favorite shows and performers as the rest of us—maybe even more so.” - James Comisar 98
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog