Ellen DeGeneres shocked the world in 1997 by coming "out of the closet" on her sitcom Ellen. The "Puppy Episode" (the nickname for the coming-out show) aired on April 30, 1997, and featured a number of stars including Oprah Winfrey, Demi Moore, K.D. Lang, Melissa Etheridge, and Ellen's mother -- Betty DeGeneres. The episode caused a national frenzy -- some of the show's advertisers even pulled their ads -- but the genie was out of the box, and Ellen DeGeneres had become the first gay lead character of a network show.