$55 Million & Getting Revenge

Yes, we're all cynical about this "new" season of Chappelle's Show. I understand that, against Dave's wishes, Comedy Central is airing the scraps of material that he had shot before his exodus. Are such actions dishonorable on the part of Comedy Central? That's for you to decide. Politics, business, and preconceived notions aside, this new episode is hilarious.

I'll admit it: I found it very strange that Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings were hosting the show. Their presence, although unsettling at first, became acceptable and even welcome by the show's conclusion. If the hosting torch had to be passed to anyone, I'm glad it was them. Hosting aside, the show was spot-on.

The genius of Chappelle's Show is that Dave's comedic style on the show has evolved as Dave Chappelle the man has evolved as a person. Dave does not pretend that he is still a "street" comedian. On this new episode, he accepts the fact that he is now a celebrity. He has accepted it, and he's ready to move on. By acknowledging his celebrity status - nay, celebrating it - he has voided any discomfort on the part of the viewer. We're on the same page with him, ready to progress forward.

For me the highlight of the show had to have been the "Revenge" segment. With each successive person he crossed off the list, the revenge he exacted became more and more extreme until it reached a bloody climax with the murder of a former, wheelchair bound comedy club owner.

Equally funny was the Tupac segment. Not only did Chappelle make the observation that the music industry has picked Tupac's legacy apart by scrounging up his old recordings and inserting them into new, pre-fab songs, but he's also making a tongue-in-cheek statement that maybe Tupac isn't dead. All of which done in the unique, laid-back style of Chappelle. I also found it quite ironic that the segment would be about a corporate entity cannibalizing the material of an artist who is no longer producing material, when essentially Comedy Central is doing the same thing to Dave Chappelle.

Overall, I'd say these "new" episodes maintain most of the magic of the original two seasons. Knowing that Dave didn't want them to be aired, however, takes some of the excitement out of the experience.

I thought seasons one and two of "Chappelle's Show" were very funny. Some skits weren't as good as others, of course, but most of the material was funnier than any modern "Saturday Night Live" episode.

After Chappelle left, I admired his reasoning - he was smart enough to avoid what a lot of other performers fell victim to: over-exposure. Comedy Central ate up Chappelle's Show after it broke records on DVD (highest-selling TV show DVD ever), and the exposure was beginning to become too much.

So with Dave refusing to reappear for another season, Comedy Central dug into their vaults for skits Dave HADN'T used on previous episodes. Then they hyped up these episodes more than anything I've ever seen before - I've even seen ads for the "Lost Episodes" here on IMDb! Sitting down tonight to watch the first of the "lost" (i.e. "stuff Dave didn't like") episodes, I knew it wouldn't be very good since Dave hadn't approved of the skits (hence why they were originally canned), but I didn't expect it to be quite as bad as it was. To be fair, I laughed at the revenge joke involving the man in the wheelchair getting thrown down the stairs (as cruel as it was) - but the rest was pretty lame. And what was with the commercials? The show was on less than a minute before they had another three-minute commercial break. It's obvious Comedy Central is milking it, fifteen minutes of the episode had passed before they had even aired the third skit of the show! I wasn't expecting much but I still found myself disappointed. They really milked this for all its worth and if Dave doesn't come back for a fourth season (and it doesn't look like he will), then it seems Comedy Central has decided to end "Chappelle's Show" on a low note.