Ellen DeGeneres is back on television with a message of gratitude for all those helping others during the coronavirus pandemic and the aim of raising everyone's spirits during a trying time.
DeGeneres, who suspended production of her show on March 13 due to the outbreak, returned on Monday with a show from the living room of her California home.
"I've always wanted to have this show as a distraction, as a break for whatever's going on out there that may be unpleasant, so if you're feeling down I want to lift you up, if you're feeling trapped I want to set you free, if you feel like you're going in the wrong direction, I want you to back that thing up,'' she said. "It is a strange time, and this is what we have to do right now."
DeGeneres has joined talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert in deciding the show must go on by filming it from her home. She decided to use her living room because "all of the other rooms in my house are filled with toilet paper."
"Hi everyone, thanks for not being here,'' she joked. "This is crazy, I wasn't supposed to be doing my show from my house until next season."
She also gave a shoutout to nurses, doctors, hospital staff, first responders, supermarket employees, truck drivers and everyone else pitching in to help during the pandemic.
And just like how TODAY's Savannah Guthrie put husband Mike Feldman to work behind the scenes while she co-anchored the show from home, DeGeneres had her wife, Portia de Rossi, serve as the director and camera operator.
DeGeneres said she hopes to bring some positive vibes to people during a time when it's really needed.
"I want to spread light where there's shade, I want to bring a glow where it's gloomy, I want to stick a candle where the sun doesn't shine,'' she said. "Hmm, I don't know about that (last) one."