Ellen DeGeneres' newest gig: short-form web series

Five months after the end of her long-running daytime talk show, comic Ellen DeGeneres has debuted a humorous short-form web series, "Time for Yourself … with Ellen."

"A lot of people have been asking what I’m going to be doing next now that the show is over," the four-time Daytime Emmy Award winner for outstanding talk show host wrote on social media Saturday. "Today I’m giving an answer. It’s crocheting."

On the roughly 1½-minute premiere of the eight-episode series, DeGeneres, 64, stands in a living room, at a table with yarn and crocheted items. "Hey, everybody, how you doing?" she addresses viewers cheerfully. "Y'know, lately I've been taking some time just for myself away from the cameras, and I've been having such a great time I thought I would share some of what I've been doing with you. And so I yelled [to her wife], 'Portia [de Rossi], get the camera,' and so, anyway, thanks, Portia, for doing this. Great job so far."

DeGeneres then goes on to explain she has taken up crocheting, a common fiber craft involving yarn woven in looped stitches with a crochet hook. Throughout the remainder of the video she gathers up a long loose strand of yarn purportedly belonging to a cowl neck sweater she had crocheted but accidentally dropped on the floor and that the viewer never sees.

"After stepping out of the spotlight of her iconic talk show, Ellen is trying something bold and new — being unemployed," a news release for the show described jocularly. "In the wake of the Great Resignation, she's reconnecting with her audience who may also have more time on their hands, and if not, could certainly use some. In this new series shot at her home, Ellen shares her own attempts to try new things and make a little me time in her own very Ellen way."

DeGeneres earlier this year ended her talk show after 19 seasons, with the final prerecorded episode airing on May 26. The series won 11 Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding talk show/outstanding entertainment talk show. Its final two seasons operated under the cloud of a damning report about the show's toxic work environment of sexism, retribution and racist undercurrents, leading to the firings of three producers.