the executive producers are degeneres, mary connelly, ed glavin, andy lassner, and (until his death in 2012) jim paratore. the writing staff has included karen kilgariff (former head writer), karen anderson, margaret smith, and degeneres. margaret smith left the show to work on her own projects, including her first book, "what was i thinking? how being a stand up did nothing to prepare me to become a single mother" (crossroad publishing, 2008). amy rhodes, a former writer for the program, regularly appeared on camera during various segments.