Hosted: December 15, 2001 When Ellen Degeneres hosted in 2001, she was in the midst of starring in a largely forgettable sitcom- The Ellen Show- on CBS. Sure, she had been a successful comedian before then, and the news of her coming out as a lesbian was still keeping her in the news. But she really wasn't doing that much to justify her role as host in 2001. But since then, she's: hosted her own successful talk show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, which has won four Daytime Emmy awards; starred in Finding Nemo as the voice of the always-forgetful Dory (who is soon to be starring in her own Pixar sequel, Finding Dory); hosted the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards, the Academy Awards (twice), and served as judge on American Idol; and given several commencement speeches at colleges around the country. Finding Dory is scheduled to be released in 2016; that would be the perfect time for Ellen to return. Hopefully Degeneres will return while Kate McKinnon is still on the show; Kate's impression of Ellen is a fun exaggeration of Ellen's mannerisms, and seeing the two interact (perhaps with Ellen playing her own wife, Portia de Rosa) would make the entire episode.