A whole new family

By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media

I t’s been 18 years since Ellen DeGeneres’ character came out of the closet in her sitcom “Ellen,” shortly after the actress herself came out to the public in the real world. The groundbreaking “The Puppy Episode” has been credited with being one of television’s most influential gay moments and with blazing a trail for LGBT-centered shows that followed, such as “Will and Grace,” “Modern Family,” “The L Word” and “Glee.”

Now, the comedian and muchloved talk show host is producing “One Big Happy,” a sitcom focused on a single lesbian and her male best friend who decide to have a baby together. The series kicks off Tuesday, March 17, on NBC.

Canadian-born beauty Elisha Cuthbert (“Happy Endings”) plays

Lizzy, a young woman who, at 30, is ready to move into parenthood, despite being single. Luke (Nick Zano, “2 Broke Girls”) has been her best pal since childhood, and as kids, they both went through the difficulty of their parents’ divorces. Neither is in a relationship but both want to start a family, so, since they’re practically family anyway, they decide to have a baby together.

It sounds like a great plan, until Luke meets stunning bartender Prudence (Kelly Brook, “Smallville”), who’s due to return to her native England in a couple of days. Instead, the two fall head over heels in love and embark on a whirlwind romance, and just when Lizzy finds out that a bun is officially in the oven, Luke and Prudence announce that they’ve tied the knot.

The co-parenting scenario was an unusual one to begin with, but now the three of them are, well, sort of a couple.

It’s not an all together unheard of state of affairs, though. In fact, the show is loosely based on creator Liz Feldman’s own life. Feldman, whose writing and producing credits include “2 Broke Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland,” was heavily influenced by DeGeneres’ coming out in 1997. She met the ac-