Ellen DeGeneres is in a ‘happy place’

LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres has a lot of ground to cover in the 19th and final season of her talk show, which she promises will be a “huge celebration.”

She intends to salute longtime viewers, stroll down memory lane to revisit early appearances by fledgling stars such as Rihanna and Justin Bieber and celebrate the show’s achievements.

“This is going to be a ‘thank you’ to everybody, because the show doesn’t happen without the support of fans,” DeGeneres said during a production break on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which returns Monday.

Also to be spotlighted: The show’s philanthropy, which included far more than product giveaways.

“I want people just to really remember what the show has been,” the host said. “It’s been a happy place and it continues to be a happy place. And I hate that it would be remembered in any other way.”

“There are two things she had to deal with,” he said. One was Oprah Winfrey’s status as the queen of daytime talk, the other was a painful truth: Compared to today, more Americans in that period were unaccepting of or hostile toward LGBTQ individuals, on the air or off.

“If you just stay the course, and if you know who you are, then things are going to turn out; things are going to be OK,” she said. “I can’t really control what other people think or what other people say. And what I really can’t control is things that aren’t vetted and that are just said and thrown around. And that hurt.

“But I don’t think I’d be where I am today. I don’t think I’d be as successful as I am if those things were true,” she said.