{television} ellen; season five (1997)

In the final season of this landmark series, Ellen (Ellen DeGeneres) is out of the closet and relationship-ready. Or is she? The laughs continue as Ellen and her eccentric pals (Jeremy Piven, Joely Fisher, Clea Lewis, David Anthony Higgins) continue to deal with whatever life throws at them. Highlights include Ellen taking up mountain climbing to impress a cute spinning instructor and a stint in boot camp during a Civil War reenactment.

ireviewnetflix.com rating: ***** This was her best season yet. She was out, proud, and obviously loving every minute of it. There were great jokes, great moments, and great laughs. The series finale was also a great two-part end to a great show. However, while this series contains some of the best episodes of the show, the best episode of the season (and perhaps the entire show) is the episode , "It's A Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World" where the roles are reversed and everyone is gay and it's hard for Spencer to come out as a straight man. The second best episode is "Emma" which features Emma Thompson afraid to come out not only as a lesbian woman, but also as a "Yank!" Hilarious season.