Comedy fans are in for a treat. Dave Chappelle is bringing his early 2000s Comedy Central sketch show, Chappelle’s Show to Netflix NFLX -5.6 percent in the US this weekend.
Starting from November 1 iconic bits like Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories, Tyrone Biggums, and the rac!al draft will be available on the streaming service.
The multi-sketch format comedy show, co-created with fellow comedian Neal Brennan, technically ran for just two seasons (the third season of previously unseen footage consisted of only three episodes and was released without direct involvement from Chappelle).
But it was enough time to cement the show as a cult classic and turn the comedian into a household name. It also brought further relevance to Comedy Central, which was best known at the time for airing Saturday Night Live reruns and its foul-mouthed animated sitcom, South Park.
Chappelle’s Show averaged 3.1 million viewers and was the top-rated program in its time slot for men 18-34.Chappelle famously walked away from the series at the height of its popularity after re-upping with Comedy Central in a deal worth upwards of $50 million, sp-arking rumors of dr*g problems and me-ntal instability.
He denied these hints in a 2006 interview with Oprah Winfrey, where he explained to the talk show host that stre-ss was the overriding factor in his decision to abruptly leave for South Africa mid-production.“I felt in a lot of instances I was deliberately being put through stre-ss because when you’re a guy who generates money, people have a vested interest in controlling you,” he said.
Chappelle also took issue with what he thought was a tox!c work environment.“I would go to work on the show and I felt a-wful every day, that’s not the way it was,” he said. “I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I’m going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.”
Over the past few years, Chappelle has found a new home with the streaming giant. In 2016, he inked a lucrative deal with Netflix for what was initially three stand-up specials — two never-before-seen specials from Chappelle’s personal comedy vault, The Age of Spin and Deep in the Heart of Texas, and one original named Equanimity. A fourth, The Bird Revelation, filmed at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, was released together with Equanimity in December 2017.
Another special, Sticks and Stones, followed in 2019. During this run, Chappelle won three Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album and three Emmys for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. He also won an Emmy for hosting the first Saturday Night Live episode post-election in 2016.
That episode earned an overnight 6.2 rating among households and a 3.9 rating among 18-49 which was the best showing in the key demographic since Jimmy Fallon’s Christmas episode in 2013. Most recently Chappelle partnered with both Netflix and YouTube to release 8:46, a stand-up special filmed only 12 days after the mu*der of Flo-yd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer during an arr-est. The notoriously private comedian is also a guest on the third season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman.
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