Talk show host Ellen Degeneres has been refused access to clips from her own former sitcom. The comedienne asked ABC/Disney bosses to let her show a segment from her old program, which featured a guest appearance from actress Mariska Hargitay - and was told the footage was off limits.

DeGeneres, who hit the headlines a decade ago when she 'came out' as a lesbian on the sitcom and in real life, was hoping to use the clip to show Hargitay when the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star made her debut on the Ellen show on Friday.

"She was a guest star on my original sitcom and it was a hilarious scene... I wanted to show it today... but Disney will not let me have any clips of my show to show, unless we pay a whole lot of money. It was my show... We'd be advertising it, it would help them."

Instead Ellen showed a clip of Hargitay in soap Falcon Crest, acting alongside the late Jane Wyman, who died earlier this week.

I saw that episode of Ellen's Talkshow, and I think it's Stupid that she can't even play clips of her OWN Sitcom.

VERY stupid. :crazy:

That's Disney for you, They guard their precious copyright to no end. I read a story a few years ago where a daycare or school wanted to put Disney characters on their walls and they sent Disney a letter requesting permission to do so.

They got a none-to-nice reply telling them that they could not use images of their characters because they had to protect their valuable copyright. Joseph Barbera heard about this and contacted them to let them know that they could put all the Hanna-Barbera characters on their walls that they wanted to. He said If Disney won't let you use their characters, You can use ours.

Well, the thing is, she doesnt OWN the show and those who do, have all the right to ask her to pay for the clips, and she has the right to pay for them, if she really wants them.

That's Disney for you, They guard their precious copyright to no end. I read a story a few years ago where a daycare or school wanted to put Disney characters on their walls and they sent Disney a letter requesting permission to do so.

They got a none-to-nice reply telling them that they could not use images of their characters because they had to protect their valuable copyright. Joseph Barbera heard about this and contacted them to let them know that they could put all the Hanna-Barbera characters on their walls that they wanted to. He said If Disney won't let you use their characters, You can use ours.
That was dumb! Why not just put the characters on the wall? Why did they write a letter? :crazy:It's not like the Disney police are roaming the schools in America to see who got permission and who didn't. :rolleyes: :crazy:

That was dumb! Why not just put the characters on the wall? Why did they write a letter? :crazy:It's not like the Disney police are roaming the schools in America to see who got permission and who didn't. :rolleyes: :crazy:

My thoughts exactly. :)

Gee thats wrong, like they havent got enough money already. :mad:

I saw this clip too, I thought it was so stupid. While Ellen was popular in stand-up circles, it was the sitcom that made her famous in the first place.

She has used clips of her show before on her talk show. When she had Jeremy Piven as a guest, she had an old clip of Spence from the sitcom, and she used clips from The Puppy Show when Oprah was a guest.

If Disney cares so much for "Ellen", then why did A&E release the damn DVD's instead of Buena Vista? Of course I'm glad A&E did it, we saw what BV did to Boy Meets World, which is probably more popular than Ellen anyways, at least A&E finished the series.