Ellen DeGeneres Produces Idina Menzel TV Series, Celebrates Birthday With Maddie Ziegler And Sia [Video]


Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t just help celebrities promote their upcoming projects by interviewing them on her daytime talk show — she also creates jobs for them. Frozen actress Idina Menzel is the last lucky star to benefit from the creation of Ellen’s A Very Good Production company.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. TV and Ellen DeGeneres’ production company are developing a half-hour sitcom titled Happy Time. Idina Menzel has been cast as the lead in the single-camera comedy, and it sounds like the role is perfect for an actress who did such an incredible job portraying a Wicked woman.

“‘Happy Time’ is described as a comedy about a woman (Menzel) in the public eye who’s ready to stop pretending she’s so damned happy all the time,” Deadline reports.

Happy Time isn’t the only sitcom with “Happy” in the title being produced by Ellen DeGeneres. As the Inquistir previously reported, her company also backed the upcoming comedy One Big Happy. It stars Happy Endings actress Elisha Cuthbert as a lesbian who decides to have a baby with her male best friend (Nick Zano). Their modern-day family gets really mixed-up after Zano’s character falls in love and gets married to a sexy bartender (Kelly Brook). One Big Happy premieres March 17 at 9:30 ET on NBC.

Ellen DeGeneres is also executive-producing and starring in a reality competition in the same vein of Project Runway. On the HGTV series Ellen’s Design Challenge, furniture designers are tasked with creating the next big thing in home design. The show airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.

DeGeneres might be busy with tons of new projects, but she still has time to chat with celebrities on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. All week long, Ellen’s guests have helped her celebrate her birthday, and they definitely made her 57th a memorable one. On the final day of DeGeneres’ birthday week, Sia and Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler stopped by to perform “Elastic Heart.” According to MTV News, the surreal performance was followed by an announcement that Sia will be performing at the Grammy Awards.

Ellen DeGeneres’ birthday week also included appearances by Joe Biden, Kanye West, Sam Smith, Justin Bieber, and Jimmy Fallon. According to the Hollywood Gossip, Ellen commemorated her birthday by posing for another epic celebrity selfie. However, it didn’t feature as many famous faces as her historic Oscar photo starring Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and a slew of other stars. This time, DeGeneres had to settle for Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Sam Smith.

Are you excited about any of the new TV series produced by Ellen DeGeneres, or are you just going to stick to watching her talk show?

[Image credit: Ellen]

Share this article: Ellen DeGeneres Produces Idina Menzel TV Series, Celebrates Birthday With Maddie Ziegler And Sia [Video]
More from Inquisitr