Bye-bye, Oprah. Hello, Ellen

September serves up a buzz-worthy daytime-TV swap: one talk-show queen for another.

The gaping hole left by Oprah Winfrey's departure -- the last of the iconic host's beloved couch chats was filmed in May -- is one void comedian Ellen DeGeneres said she is ecstatic to fill.

Premiering Sept. 12 on WCCO, Channel 4, in the Twin Cities, the ninth season of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" leaps in most markets nationwide from 9 a.m. to the 4 p.m. spot once anchored by Winfrey.

"Oprah has been sort of a fixture on daytime television for 25 years," DeGeneres said during a Minneapolis visit last week. "It's an amazing time slot."

Locally, about 60,000 households tuned in to "Ellen" last season, compared to 110,000 for Winfrey --"not 'Oprah' numbers but still pretty solid," said KSTP research director Tom Glynn.

What should those fans expect as DeGeneres prepares her show for a presumably larger audience?

"We're gonna keep everything that works," she said. As for adjustments, producers will experiment with the show structure, creating episodes revolving around a single theme.

DeGeneres was fresh off her Aug. 7 win of Choice Comedian at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards -- a three-peat honor -- when she and her wife, actress Portia DeGeneres (formerly de Rossi), visited the Twin Cities as part of a publicity tour for her show. But that award is small potatoes, considering the 34 Daytime Emmy Awards her talk show has won.

"I finally found something where I could be completely myself," she said of the show. "I feel really lucky that I got to find such a perfect fit."

Reflecting on her three-decade career, she said she's been able to sustain her success because it wasn't handed to her at the beginning.

"I feel like I've worked really hard," she said.

Not all laughs

After years in stand-up comedy and then film, she moved to the small screen in 1994 for a part in an ABC sitcom that eventually was retitled "Ellen" and earned her Emmy nominations for best actress. In the highest-rated episode, her character confessed her homosexuality to a therapist -- played by Winfrey. DeGeneres then appeared on "Oprah" to discuss her real-life sexuality. Ratings declined, and the show was canceled in 1998.

"It certainly would have been nice if it was easy," she said, but those hard times were clarifying.

"When I lost my career for three years, it forced me to look at myself and really become aware of who I am without success," she said. "It refocused me to be more honest in everyday life."

In 2001, she debuted a new sitcom, "The Ellen Show," which was followed by the launch of her current talk show in 2003. During this time of rebuilding, she won back her popularity with humor, hosting the sensitive post-9/11 Emmy Awards in 2001 and giving her voice to Dory, the lovable but forgetful fish friend of the title character in "Finding Nemo."

DeGeneres said when "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was being developed, she felt restricted by guidelines imposed by producers.

Now, she said, the simple concept that you can be funny without hurting someone else's feelings attracts a diverse audience.

"I'm very proud of the fact that my demographic is everybody," she said. "It's old people, it's teenagers, people in every ethnicity or religion. I love that it reaches that many people."