OMG!
On the West Coast - especially in the show biz arena - we are all so blase about Ellen DeGeneres being "openly" gay.
Married to a pretty lipstick lesbo?
Who cares!
Not so - in mainstream America - if we're to try to fathom what went down on Family Feud this week.
Even Ellen was a trifle perplexed (miffed?).
Game show contestants were asked to take a stab at a quiz that should have been a snap!
During the segment - "Things that people know about Ellen DeGeneres" - it became quite evident that the guests (a typical middle-class American family) were having a difficult time dealing with the issue of Ellen's "gayness".
I expect the first answer that popped into the fuzzy little heads of the viewers at home was quite obviously one that pertained to the fact that Ellen is "gay!".
Nope.
First answer?
"Ellen has a talk show."
Okay, not bad, but just betcha the next response will focus on her same-sex persuasion (I thought to myself from the comfort on my Hotel suite in San Francisco).
The second answer tripped off-the-tongue of the contestant trippingly, no problem.
"She is a funny lady."
Uh-huh.
Not queer, mind you, just funny.
Golly, the next words to be uttered up would surely have the - "H", "G", or "L" - letters in it (wouldn't you have thunk?).
"Ellen doesn't like this country," the husband hazarded a guess (with a straight face, mind you!).
Huh?
"Ellen takes care of her mother," flunked out too.
Not on the ubiquitous board above the stage!
Finally - gosh almighty - a family member piped up that Ellen's married.
Bingo!
But, the tactful woman stopped short of noting the particulars.
"To a woman, you idiot!"
Needless to say, when Ellen showed the clip on her show earlier today, she was obviously in need of some consoling.
Til now, the perky talk show host - and upbeat friendly Judge on American Idol - must have thought she was the darling of America.
Nope.
Hard to swallow, eh Ellen?
In another surprise moment (when Ellen was setting up a belated April Fool's Day joke) she announced that Simon Cowell was exiting American Idol.
The spirited guests in her audience cheered!
Or was there an applause sign being held up from the sidelines?
Nope.
Ellen was shocked.
"You want Simon Cowell to leave Idol?"
The crowd roared in approval.
Life is full of surprises, isn't it?
