Update

Ellen Tapes During Strike, But Gives Shout Out to Writers

By Kate Stroup and Kristin Boehm

UPDATED 11/09/2007 at 11:30 AM EST • Originally published 11/09/2007 at 08:30 AM EST

Video courtesy Warner Bros.
Ellen DeGeneres continued to press ahead with her show Friday as the Writers Guild strike continued, sending her "love" to the picketing scribes.

DeGeneres opened her show sans monologue, instead giving a nod to her writers and explaining the situation to her audience.

"It's sweeps," DeGeneres said, "Which is a very important time in television because that's when you do your best shows, your funniest material. You pull it out and do everything you can because you want everybody watching. And now we're in the middle of a strike – a writer's strike."

She conceded, "This is a strange show for me to do ... it's a weird show," and tried to fill the empty time with extra minutes of her signature dancing.

The comedienne first defended her decision on air Thursday (see the clip on The Huffington Post).

"I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I'm not going to do a monologue," she's quoted as saying. "[But] people have traveled across the country. They've made plans. They're here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show."

Ellen is not the only syndicated program to go on with the show. The View, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Regis & Kelly, among others, have also continued to air new episodes.

To read more and post comments about Ellen, visit Fall TV Watch.