ABC TELLS ELLEN: YOU'RE OUT!

By JOSEF ADALIAN

THERE'S more bad news for "Ellen": ABC has decided to keep the lesbian-themed sitcom in the closet - and off the air - until the show's May 13 season finale.

ABC says the unusual move is being made because of the show's low ratings - but an "Ellen" producer thinks the network no longer wants to deal with the show's controversial subject matter.

Whatever the reason, industry insiders are interpreting ABC's decision as another sign that the network has given up on Ellen DeGeneres' show and has no intention of renewing it for next season - even though ABC insists "no decision has been made."

On hiatus since early last month, "Ellen" was scheduled to return to the ABC lineup on Wednesday, April 29. But yesterday, the network said it will keep the surprisingly successful midseason sitcom "Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place" in the "Ellen" time slot - Wednesdays from 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. - through the May ratings sweeps, which begin next Thursday and end May 20.

A star-studded, one-hour "Ellen" finale is still scheduled to air from 9 to 10 p.m. May 13, but two already-taped episodes of the show have been shelved indefinitely.

ABC said its plan to stick with the piping-hot "Pizza" during the critical sweeps period was all about ratings. "The decision ... was predicated on the fact that 'Pizza' is currently the No. 1 midseason program on any network," a spokesman said. "Last week, in only its fifth airing, the show was ABC's No. 1 program among women 18-34 and ranked No. 8 overall among adults 18-49."

But "Ellen" executive producer Tim Doyle thinks ABC is pulling the two episodes because the network doesn't like what's in one of them: A kiss between Ellen Morgan (DeGeneres) and her on-screen gal pal Laurie (Lisa Darr). "There is a kiss in the episode, and I think that was a factor," Doyle told The Post, adding that the kiss is not a simple peck on the lips but a "real kiss." The plot of the "lost" episode involves Ellen and her significant other discussing whether they should have a formal ceremony - otherwise known as a gay wedding - to cement their relationship.

"Pizza," meanwhile, isn't a monster hit, but it has proved to be a tasty addition to the ABC lineup, averaging 14.5 million viewers during its first five airings. That's far better than "Ellen," which was averaging 12.4 million weekly viewers before being pulled last month. More importantly, "Pizza" has held on to a respectable 83 percent of viewers in the key demographic age group of adults 18-49 who watch "The Drew Carey Show" at 9 p.m.

In contrast, "Ellen" has been in a downward ratings spiral ever since last year's award-winning "coming out" episode, in which DeGeneres' character revealed her lesbian orientation. That landmark hour was watched by a whopping 36.2 million viewers - the show's biggest audience ever. An episode which aired a week later also did well, bringing in 18 million viewers.

This season, however, viewers seem to have grown tired of "Ellen": The show was averaging just 10.18 million viewers in the weeks before ABC pulled it from the schedule last month. Some industry insiders believe many viewers were turned off by the show's almost weekly reliance on gay-themed storylines - despite ABC's hope that the show would take "baby steps" in dealing with gay issues.

However, Doyle believes ABC helped contribute to the decline of "Ellen" by not figuring out how to promote the show's lesbian themes. He also questioned whether "Pizza" is really a hit since the show has never aired opposite Fox's "Party of Five," which has been on hiatus.

A spokesman for DeGeneres did not return calls yesterday. However, the openly lesbian comic has publicly stated her belief that ABC won't renew her show. Doyle says DeGeneres is through fighting ABC over her show. "She feels tired and beleaguered," he said. "It's time to close the wounds and move on."

As for the May 13 season finale, DeGeneres and the "Ellen" producers are treating it as the series' swan song - gathering a small army of DeGeneres' celebrity pals for the episode. The plot of the hour has Ellen looking back "at her "50 years' in show business," according to ABC. Using a mock documentary format, journalist Linda Ellerbee interviews Ellen and the "major stars whose lives she has touched."

Taped a few weeks ago, the episode boasts appearances from Helen Hunt, Kathy Najimy, Julianna Margulies, Jada Pinkett Smith, Phil Donahue, Diahann Carroll, Bea Arthur, Jennifer Aniston, Christine Lahti, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Tim Conway and Richard Benjamin. "Seinfeld" regular John O'Hurley (J. Peterman) plays an announcer.

While DeGeneres hasn't talked much about her future plans, she has signed on to appear in next month's season finale of NBC's "Mad About You." She'll play a caterer who ends up as the leading candidate to become the nanny for baby Mabel. Doyle says he and DeGeneres have also talked about teaming up on future TV projects.

ELLEN EXPLAINS WHY ABC CANCELLED HER SHOW:
'YEP, IT'S BECAUSE I'M GAY'
By JOSEF ADALIAN
ELLEN DeGeneres is coming out swinging against her ABC bosses - claiming the network cancelled her show because she's alesbian. "I was fired basically because I'm gay," the sitcom star charges in an interview appearing in next week's issue of Entertainment Weekly. DeGeneres is on the cover of the magazine, which sports the headline, "Yep, She's Too Gay" and hits newsstands tomorrow. "I think ABC got pressure from all these groups of people, and they collapsed," DeGeneres adds. "They basically sabotaged the show." ABC confirmed last week that it was cancelling "Ellen," and that a one-hour episode of the series set to air on Wednesday, May 13, will be the final installment of the show. Two episodes which had been scheduled to air last night and next Wednesday have been shelved.
Demonstrating just how bad the relationship with DeGeneres and ABC has become, ABC Entertainment Chairman Stu Bloomberg - the network's top programming executive - tells Entertainment Weekly that DeGeneres and her lover, actress Anne Heche, verbally assaulted him at a Hollywood party held earlier this month following the end of production on "Ellen."
"It's really hard for me to throw my arms around you when you've really hurt me," DeGeneres told Bloomberg and his colleague, ABC Entertainment President Jamie Tarses. The star then asked Bloomberg to talk to her about what had gone wrong with hershow. During that conversation, Bloomberg says he was repeatedly called an "a--hole'," the magazine reports. The ABC exec "finally threw up his hands and declared, "OK, I'm an a--hole. I don't want to deal with this here.'" Heche then shot back at Bloomberg, telling him, "That's a copout ...I haven't wanted to deal with my wife coming home every nightcrying." Bloomberg defends ABC's handling of "Ellen."
"We put the show on and truly supported it in the midst of tremendous pressure, because it was funny," he tells the magazine. "But as the show became more politicized and issue-oriented, it became less funny and the audience noticed."
But DeGeneres says the ratings collapsed because, in her opinion, ABC didn't give the show enough promotional support. "They advertised 'Spin City,' 'Dharma & Greg,' 'Drew Carey,' and I would get "followed by 'Ellen,' like anybody's gonna watch that," DeGeneres whines. In addition, the openly lesbian actress believes her show was not compatible with "The Drew Carey Show," which aired before "Ellen" on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. "I always compared it to having Mariah Carey and Sinead O'Connor on the same bill," DeGeneres snipes.
In her interview with Entertainment Weekly, DeGeneres also speaks out for the first time about the controversial comments made earlier this year by Chastity Bono, the spokeswoman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Bono told a magazine she believed DeGeneres' sitcom had become "too gay." "I called Bono as soon as I heard that," DeGeneres says. "I said, 'What's up? What're you doing?'" DeGeneres says Bono apologized and claimed her comments were taken out of context, an explanation the sitcom star says she believes. "I think you have to be really careful, though, if that's your job as a spokesperson, to word things in a way that someone can't misconstrue them," DeGeneres said.
Entertainment Weekly also reports that some former "Ellen" writers and producers are upset at DeGeneres for not giving them proper credit for the show's success. "We all felt underappreciated," one ex-staffer says. "We won her an Emmy and this season she said, "Now I have my dream writing staff.'"
Meanwhile, DeGeneres has found another - and somewhat unusual - outlet to air her grievances against ABC. Next Wednesday, she'll appear with Heche on ABC's "PrimeTime Live" to rehash her "assertions that the network did not support her ... and a double standard was at work," ABC announced yesterday. Sawyer plans to talk to ABC President Robert Iger about DeGeneres'comments.