Decades ago, “The Puppy Episode” aired on ABC, in which Ellen Morgan and Ellen DeGeneres came out as gay.

It took months of planning and negotiations leading up to that moment, but was met with controversy.

Advertisers such as JCPenney and Chrysler pulled their ads, and right-wing figures like Jerry Falwell spoke out against the episode.

A group called Media Research placed a full-page ad in Variety, claiming that ABC was “promoting homosexuality.”

In a 1998 interview with Diane Sawyer, DeGeneres said, “The subjects that we dealt with were the subjects that any other show on television deals with. You know all these things you go through when you feel something for another person. So, you know, I guess if that’s gay because it’s the same sex that I’m dealing with, then it’s gay.”

Despite the high viewership and subsequent media attention, the next season of Ellen was not well-received.

ABC President Robert Iger attributed this to the fact that the show “became a program about a lead character who was gay every single week, and I just think that was too much for people.”

He also mentioned DeGeneres’ “powerful inner passion that made it absolutely impossible for her to slow down.” The show was canceled after the fifth season.

DeGeneres told Sawyer, “The comfort level of the audience is never going to say ‘Come on, give some gay stuff. We’re ready for it now.’ When I’m accused of being political, I’m showing love. How is that political? How is that political to teach love and acceptance?”

Despite winning an Emmy and a Peabody Award for “The Puppy Episode,” ABC did not fully support Ellen’s final season.

The network barely promoted it and placed viewer discretion warnings before each episode, despite the show being relatively tame compared to other sitcoms.

DeGeneres said, “It just felt so degrading. It’s my life. It’s how I live my life. I love someone, and because of who I choose to love, I get a warning label.”

At the time, she was dating Anne Heche, who accompanied her to red carpet events. However, their displays of affection were met with criticism from news outlets like The New York Times.

Ellen DeGeneres faced criticism for being “too gay” on her TV show, according to the comedian herself. In a 2015 interview with Oprah Winfrey, DeGeneres revealed that she received hate mail and wasn’t offered work for a year following the airing of the infamous “Puppy Episode” in 1997, which saw her character, Ellen Morgan, come out as gay.

Oprah Winfrey, who played Morgan’s therapist on the show, also received hate mail, as did actress Laura Dern, who played Morgan’s love interest. Dern revealed that there were even bomb threats during the episode’s filming.

Burned by the experience, DeGeneres returned to stand-up comedy. In 2001, she starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom “The Ellen Show,” which was critically panned. Her character, Ellen Richmond, was also a lesbian, though it was rarely mentioned. CBS canceled the show after just 13 episodes (even though five more had been shot).

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to work again,” DeGeneres told Out magazine. “Time is a strange thing. I was at rock bottom and out of money, with no work in sight. But one step at a time, it gets better.”

It wasn’t until 2003 that DeGeneres began to bounce back, voicing Dory in “Finding Nemo” and launching her self-titled talk show that same year. The Ellen DeGeneres Show soon became a hit, with her empathy, humor, and star quality finally on full view, just as America was becoming more accepting of the LGBT community.