Chappelle' yuks yanked for now Comedy Central's hit laffer put on hold By DENISE MARTIN Less than 24 hours after its upfrontupfront presentation to Madison Avenue, Comedy CentralComedy Central has yanked this month's third-season premiere of its marquee series "Chappelle's Show" and halted production on the skeinskein. Comedy Central offered no explanation for the move, instead issuing only a brief statement noting production has been suspended "until further notice. All parties are optimistic that production will resume in the near future." Industry insiders familiar with Comedy Central's decisionmaking process indicate the net's announcement was prompted by the need for star Dave ChappelleDave Chappelle to seek treatment for unspecified personal issues. A Comedy Central spokesman declined comment as did a spokesman for Chappelle. Last August, cablercabler signed Chappelle to a deal valued at $50 million -- one of the richest pacts in basic cable -- to keep his red-hot "Chappelle's Show" around through 2006. Much of that coincoin was to have come from advances on DVD sales of the show's third and fourth seasons. If those seasons don't materialize, Chappelle (and others associated with the show) stands to make much less money. Delay in the third season comes as both a surprise -- promos and commercials directing viewers to the premiere were still airing on the cabler Tuesday evening -- and a major blow to Comedy Central, which was counting on a media frenzy for the return of the satirical sketch comedy. Less buzz, fewer bucks Cabler is still going strong with "South Park," reruns of "Chappelle's Show" and new animated hit "Drawn Together," but latest batch of originals -- from Wanda Sykes' "Wanda Does It" to "The Hollow Men" -- haven't generated much in the way of ratings or buzz for the channel. With most of the advertising time for "Chappelle's Show" already sold, timing is particularly poor for Comedy Central, which now instead stands to lose big bucks as a result of the delay. "Chappelle" was slated to bowbow May 31, and sources said material for at least five of the 10 original episodes had already been shot. Production on the third season of "Chappelle's Show" has been troubled from the get-go. In December, Comedy Central pushed the premiere of season three to spring, from February, because Chappelle reportedly had been battling pneumonia. Separately and shortly thereafter, Chappelle's deal to pen an autobiography with Hyperion fell apart. Success rewarded After the second cycle grew into a critical and popular success, Comedy Central prexyprexy Doug Herzog agreed to reward Chappelle with a handsome contract for 26 fresh episodes. Herzog inked a similarly rich agreement with the cabler's other headlinerheadliner, Jon StewartJon Stewart, who agreed to keep news satire "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" going through 2008. Chappelle's rich pactpact with the cabler also included a deal for the comedian to star in an adaptation of Rick James' autobiography for Viacom sister company Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures, the status of which is unknown. Second season of "Chappelle's," which ran through spring 2004, averaged a robust audaud of 3.1 million; a year after the last new episode aired, repeats of the half-hour continue to attract well over 1 million viewers per episode. The first season is the bestselling TV series DVD to date. In addition, show was nominated for a trio of Emmys, including outstanding comedy series. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117922148?categoryid=14&cs=1&s=h&p=0
I was wondering why it was taking so long for his new stuff to come out...I stopped watching his old stuff after the first 10 reruns or so. Cmon Chappelle! Get through this crap and get on with the show!!!
It might get old, but the first time you see it, it's some of the funniest laugh-out-loud stuff I've heard in a long time. I hope he comes back in top form....
I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I don't even know you and I hate your guts. I hope all the bad things in life happen to you and nobody else but you.
Toro, just wait and see if he starts a chain of cheap Movie Theaters... OK, this is weirder than my posts. Someone explain Rudgaer's post to cable-less me. I have seen episodes of Chapelle none.
That line is from The Playa Hater's Ball. I haven't found an online clip of it. EDIT: Here's the player haters ball, but you need real player: http://www.dslextreme.com/users/dashkinetix/player_hater.ram This is the Rick James stuff. On the 2nd season of the show, they had these skits called Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories. Charlie Murphy is Eddie Murphy's brother and he always tells these great stories about celebs from the 80s. They decided to make it into a sketch. Murphy tells the story, and then Dave Chappelle acts it out. The first one was about Rick James and it's in 3 parts. Part One Part Two Part Three More Chappelle Stuff.
I thought the 2nd Season DVD was out, but in the article, it said it wasn't...Hell, this guy is hilarious...I still Tivo the show and laugh my ass off every time...
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050511/ap_en_tv/tv_chappelle_suspended_2 Chappelle Reportedly Checks Into Facility NEW YORK - Comedy Central star Dave Chappelle has checked himself into a mental health facility in South Africa, the magazine Entertainment Weekly reported on Wednesday. The comedian's whereabouts and condition have been unknown since Comedy Central abruptly announced last week that the planned May 31 launch of the third season of "Chappelle's Show" had been postponed and production halted. Chappelle flew from Newark, N.J., to South Africa on April 28 for treatment, said the magazine, quoting a source close to the show it would not identify. Entertainment Weekly said it had corroborating sources for its story. "We don't know where he is," Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said. "We've heard about South Africa. We don't know. We haven't talked to Dave." Chappelle's spokesman, Matt Labov, would not comment on the magazine's story. "It seems like the issues he's contending with are really quite serious," said Dade Hayes, a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. "It isn't a case of him spending a weekend someplace recuperating from exhaustion." The magazine's sources say Chappelle is still in the facility, which was not named, Hayes said. Chappelle's representatives have denied that the comedian was abusing drugs. Chappelle reportedly signed a $50 million deal with Comedy Central for two more seasons of his show, a payday made possible because of the explosive sales of the show's first season DVD. The magazine said Chappelle had shot four to five episodes' worth of sketches for the new season, but none of its onstage introductions.
"It seems like the issues he's contending with are really quite serious..." _______________ This seems obvious now for some reason...
