so last year Dave Chappelle got $50 million to re-up with Comedy Central. the new season was supposed to start in February.
nothing happened
network says: don't worry, new season (season three) will air late May for Memorial day. Comedy Central then literally anchors their spring schedule around new Chappelle shows.
on Monday, Comedy Central announces the new season has been 'suspended indefinitely'.
Clearly things aren't going well in the Chappelle camp. His spokesman says that there is major pressure on Dave to be extremely funny and carry not just Comedy Central... but black comedy in general. This is pretty much true.
Then, yesterday, a press agent says (out of nowhere) "this has nothing to do with drugs or rehab. Dave Chappelle is fine"
Then about 6 hours ago comes news that Chappelle has flown to South Africa for treatment
My thoughts are the same as yours, folks. Get well Dave, America needs you.
*oh, and for fuck's sake I have just supplanted four American Idol pieces. For shit's sake man... is this ALL you are watching, America? This totally underscores our need for Chappelle!
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Berlin
I always found Chappelle very hit-and-miss, thought that's the nature of sketch comedy. But when he hit... man, there was nothing better.
Pop Copy is one of the loopiest, funniest, most right-on sketches in the history of time.
"Where's the manager? Yo, I am yo manager *****!"
2 - lono
my favorite is 'the niggers' which was a sketch about a mailman (chappelle) in the 50s who is friendly with and delivers mail to a crisp white stereotype family called 'the niggers'. Also, the bit about 'if the Internet were a mall' is freakin' genius.
3 - visualsimplicity
My favorite was his parody on R. Kelly's "Ignition" called "I'm gonna (pee on you)". That was brilliant right there, it was even coupled with a remixed version. Prime stuff. Oh and the blind KKK black man.
P.S. Eric, I also loved that Pop Copy one too. Reminds me of Kinko's.
4 - Eric Berlin
Tell me you weren't muttering "white power" in Chappelle's old white southern accent and interjecting inapprpriately for weeks after seeing that one!
R Kelly was pretty good as well. Chappelle at his most disturbingly funny. Bro does like to push a line, doesn't he?
The Real World stuff is a great example of this as well.
5 - kenya
I love Chapelle and his show. He has a god given talent, not man made, and the pressure put on him to "be" funny inteferes with his ability to be funny naturally. Let the man do his thing.
I pray for him and his family, I believe he will come out of this just fine. He just needs a break thats all/
peace.
6 - R Jones
I think the guy is a genius. I have always been a fan of sketch comedy and I think that Dave is better at it than SNL and really surpasses what Robert Townsend was doing back in the late 80s.
If there is pressure on him it is because he has set the bar so high for himself. He has to remember that even if only 1 out of 4 skits are bust gutting laughs, he is still doing as well as SNL. I think the guy thinks that every skit is gonna hit everyone, but they just won't. Hang in there Dave, we miss you.
7 - Jay-Zeee
wtf man he is just an actor get the f*** over it. Stop "praying" for his black ass and pray for things that really matter. Yeah he is funny but you think he gives a F*** about you? NO of course not so why would you care about wtf he is going through. Get a life people.
8 - majikwah
"I'm Dave Chappelle, Bitch."
It sounds like fame is taking its toll and perhaps the pressure is too great. He needs some serious couch time with Dr. Phil, or perhaps Dr. Drew, the head shrink of the stars and all will be well. Meanwhile what did the $50 million go towards? That is a lot of weed, man.
9 - "Radical" Russ
The Chappelle skit that had me ROTFLMAOWTAICA* was the Sesame Street send-up with the Snoop Dogg puppet with the massive schlong, the heroin junkie, and the singing VD puppets. We're talkin' tears of laughter.
Of course, the Niggars was great, and Clayton Bigsby (the blind black white supremacist), too. "I'm Rick James, bitch" will live forever, but I preferred Black Bush's "Mars, bitches!"
And Jay-Zeee, lighten up man. Sure, this ain't Halliburton getting bonuses while soldiers get crap, or genocide in the Sudan, global AIDS pandemic-level tragedy, but in the context of television comedy, it's serious. I think we all understand it's just TV and just a comedian, but it IS the most influential television comedian of the young 21st century we're talking about.
*Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off while typing annoying internet chat abbreviations.
10 - somedude
Chapelle is very funny, no doubt about it. I agree some of his sketches are hit and miss.
It has been pretty obvious to me that he is often "lit" while taping his monologues and sketch intros. We will probably learn later that he had a drug/alchohol problem (I'm guessing drugs.)
Guess he is doing his Richard-Pryor-years thang.
At any rate, please enough of the "pressure" excuse nonsense. It's a crap excuse. Last time I checked he breathes the same air as I do.
What pisses me off is that comedy central canned Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn so they could give Chapelle a few extra million.
11 - steve
charlymurpheeeeeeeeehh!
12 - Lono
But he lives on a farm in Iowa. Certainly after I learned that I figured he was the most grounded celeb on the planet. Guess not. He has a kid too, so I hope he isn't gone too long.
13 - BR
Dave Chapelle is hilarious. I don't think I will get any argument on this one here.
As far as drugs go, he does seem to be high during many if not all of his sketch intros. It looks like weed or hash to me. You think somebody who doesn't smoke can write a movie like Half Baked??
In any case I hope he gets better soon. His is one of the only shows on TV that are watchable. If Jon Stewart goes off-air too I will have to sell my TV.
14 - WRS
I just got the following email from a friend who knows his brother well:
You might not believe me, but I just spoke with Dave Chapelle this afternoon about the rap rally, and the news media coverage of this is all crap. Total crap. He is out of the country, but not for drugs or mental health reasons. He is having contract issues from what I understand. This is the real scoop . . .
15 - Ashton kutcher
It's a Publicity Stunt! You all just got punkd!
16 - hu?
hay! hay charlie! what did the hand, say to the face?!
what?
SLAP!!!!
17 - Lono
contract issues? What's the issue... you got $50 million dollars to do some sketch comedy, negotiation over. You won.
18 - gongodr
I'm rich bitch! What could be funnirer than Charlie Murphy telling a story about shooting hoops with Prince. I hops this whole rehab things is just a BS publicty stunt..I hope your punking us Dave we miss you ..... Want some pancakes?
19 - My hairy nut sack
You know your body got bigger over time but your head stayed the same size!
Im rich bitch!
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
Im rich bitch
20 - cherie
Some people say cucumbers taste better pickled.
21 - John Bolton
Even if they never make another show, chapelle show will have to go down as the funniest sketch-comedy show since the flying circus. Probably funnier to most people.
22 - somedude
I just heard from my second cousin who is best friend's with Dave Chappelle's hair stylist, Felipe. He sent me the following email from his T-Mobile account at Starbucks:
...
Dave isn't on drugs or criminally insane at all. He is really in South Africa under deep cover. See, this whole $50M show deal is really just a ruse, a pretense really, to get him into Mozambique. He's been CIA this whole time! What a class act, huh? That Dave is something. Don't pass this on to anyone else, ok? We wouldn't want General Mohatu Umbalaya to get word.
...
Then my second cousin went on about some personal stuff that I really shouldn't post on the internet.
Man, I have a whole new perspective on Dave. Boy was I wrong.
23 - MG
Dave, hurry back so I can take my tv off e-bay!
24 - frank
dave is awesome. its not a publicity stunt you retards. go
25 - Adam
"Oil?...Who said somethin' about oil bitch, you cookin'?"
Black Bush is one of the funniest things I have ever heard in my life.
And what about the sketch where he and John Mayer go around playing guitar and the lady just rips her bra off in the conference room?
I'm not stretching it to say that Dave Chapelle's comedy is life-changing. He has really affected culture, and really brought people together by pointing out their differences...sounds cheezy I know, but Chapelle is a legend.