Out-Of-Closet ‘Ellen’ To Keep Door Shut On Shock Scenes

Don’t hold your breath for the heavy breathing on “Ellen” this fall.

Ellen DeGeneres and her producers, who brought her ABC sitcom character out of the closet last season, are looking for comedy to connect with a TV audience, not to shock or titillate it with girl-on-girl necking. In fact, so far, there is no sign of a steady girlfriend.

“The physical aspects of her intimate relationships will be handled very discreetly and with very good taste,” said head writer Tim Doyle, who’s also executive producer with Vic Kaplan.

“I was at the ‘Roseanne’ show when she did the lesbian kiss with Mariel Hemingway. Roseanne’s whole motive was to shock and terrify, to tear down a barrier.

“With ‘Ellen,’ the barrier we’d like to break down is to sort of normalize who and what she is, to make the audience understand that - and not run screaming for the doors.”

With four episodes completed, the writers still haven’t mapped out the rest of the season for “Ellen,” which airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., and premieres next week. Doyle said he couldn’t get specific “because there’s so much in contention. There’s constant discussion.”

“We are seeing Ellen venturing out into a social life and dating - with women,” Doyle said. “This is as new to Ellen as it is to the audience, so she’s very tentative, very vulnerable going in. Our goal is to take the audience along with her.”

At the same time, Ellen finding love won’t be the series’ engine.

“We don’t want this to be revolving-door dating episodes,” Doyle said. “Ellen’s new honesty with herself opens her to all sorts of re-evaluations of her life, a new career and her relationships with her friends.”