Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22, 2003, on the American cable television network Comedy Central. The show ran for two complete seasons. An abbreviated third season of three episodes aired in 2006, compiled of previously unreleased sketches. After numerous delays, production of the third season of the show was abruptly ended when Chappelle left the  show. TV Guide included it on their list of "TV's Top 100 Shows" and it also was placed at number 26 on "Entertainment Weekly"s "New TV Classics" list. Throughout its run, the show was critically acclaimed. Format. The show opens with Chappelle being introduced over the instrumental from the song "Hip-Hop", from the album "Let's Get Free" by Dead Prez. Chappelle performs a short stand up in front of a live audience. The focus then shifts to a prerecorded sketch. The show is notorious for its handling of the topic of sexuality and Chappelle's casual usage  of racial epithets. Chappelle performed sketches that premiered intricate cultural topics, such as prostitution, the entertainment industry, gun violence, numerous drug references (particularly marijuana, alcohol, PCP, crystal meth and crack cocaine) and music. The show sometimes ends with a musical performance by a hip hop or soul artist. Notable sketches. Rather than acting out sketches in front of a live studio audience, the sketches were prerecorded with the audience reaction usually used in lieu of a laugh track. According to Neal Brennan in the season-two DVD commentary, the production team never edits in prerecorded laughs, with the exception of  the "Dude's Night Out" sketch due to the lack of reaction from the audience. Frequent or notable guest stars. Many guest stars have appeared on the show, including "Half Baked" co-stars Guillermo Díaz, Jim Breuer and Snoop Dogg; RZA, GZA and Method Man of the Wu-Tang Clan, Rick James, Damon Dash, Redman, Ice-T, Arsenio Hall, Wayne Brady (the only guest to appear on stage), Mos Def (who was also a musical guest), Eddie Griffin, Susan Sarandon, Q-Tip, Rashida Jones, Jamie Foxx, Carson Daly, Ron Jeremy, Star, Bill Burr, Patrice O’Neal, Rich Vos, Spike Lee, Michael  Rapaport and Joe Rogan. Musical guests include De La Soul, Ludacris, Robert Petkoff, Talib Kweli, Fat Joe, Wyclef Jean, Killer Mike, Big Boi of OutKast, Anthony Hamilton, Kanye West, Common, DMX, Busta Rhymes, Slum Village, John Mayer, Questlove, Cee-Lo Green, Vida Guerra, Erykah Badu and Lil Jon. Third-season delays. 2004. During a June 2004 stand-up performance in Sacramento, California, Chappelle left the stage due to audience members interrupting the show by shouting, "I'm Rick James, bitch!," which became a catchphrase from the popular "Rick James" sketch. After a few minutes, Chappelle returned and continued by saying , "The show is ruining my life." He stated that he disliked working "20 hours a day" and that the popularity of the show was making it difficult for him to continue his stand-up career which was "the most important thing" to him. He also told the audience: 2005. The third season of "Chappelle's Show" was scheduled to premiere in February 2005. This date was pushed back to May 31, 2005, when production fell behind schedule in December 2004 because, according to Comedy Central, Chappelle had fallen ill with the flu (Chappelle later told Oprah Winfrey that this was  untrue and that stress had caused him to leave). On May 4, 2005, just weeks before the anticipated premiere, Comedy Central announced that "Chappelle's Show" would not be ready by the announced date and that production had been suspended "until further notice". No reason for the delay or suspension was given and no response was given by Chappelle. One week later, it was reported (most notably by "The New York Times" and "Entertainment Weekly") that Chappelle had flown to South Africa on April 28 to stay in an undisclosed psychiatric facility. On May 14, "Time" announced that one of  their reporters, Christopher John Farley, had interviewed Chappelle in South Africa, and that no psychiatric treatments were occurring or necessary. Chappelle returned shortly thereafter and quelled rumors of psychiatric or substance-abuse problems, and emphasized that his trip was a "spiritual retreat" intended to keep his sense of reality outside the bubble of intense pressure and fame and to keep his humor fresh. On July 14, Comedy Central president Doug Herzog announced that Chappelle was welcome back any time, but that the comedian had said he was still not ready to return. Herzog put a positive spin on negotiations, but  conceded that he did not expect "Chappelle's Show" to return in 2005. "The New York Times" also reported that Chappelle explained to Herzog, over dinner, that his success was getting to him and that "he wanted to be wrong again sometimes, instead of always being right." In August, with Herzog and Chappelle having reportedly not spoken since their June 3 meeting, "TV Guide" featured an interview with Charlie Murphy, in which he stated, ""Chappelle's Show" is over, man. Done... It took me a long time to be able to say those words, but I can say it pretty  easy now because it's the truth." Around the same time came confirmation from Comedy Central that co-creator Neal Brennan had left the show. Nonetheless, on December 11, during Comedy Central's "Last Laugh '05", a promotion for the third season of the show was aired. 2006. On January 24, 2006, the program premiered uncensored on the UK's FX, starting with the second season. The first episode featured the "Slow Motion" sketch, one of the most famous in the United Kingdom, popularized by the Internet. It was well received by critics, with outspoken TV critic Gary Naysmith declaring  it, "The finest piece of television I've seen all year." On February 3, 2006, Chappelle made his first television interview since production ceased on season three, on "The Oprah Winfrey Show". He stated that burnout, losing his creative control, and a work environment that was uncomfortable, were some of the reasons he left the show. He also stated that he would be open to producing the remainder of season three (and perhaps a season four) only if his demands were met, one of which was to ensure that half of the proceeds of future "Chappelle's Show" DVD sales  would go to charity. Chappelle claimed that if Comedy Central aired the unaired episodes, the show would be finished. After that announcement, Comedy Central stopped advertising the release of the third season for a period of time. The "Lost Episodes". In April, the network wrapped up production of the third season, taping the live studio audience segments for three episodes. In place of Chappelle, the last episodes were cohosted by regular cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. Advertised as the "lost episodes", they began airing on July 9, 2006. The third and final episode aired on July 23, 2006 . The DVD collection of the lost episodes was released on July 25, 2006. When asked if he felt guilty about carrying on with the lost episodes without Chappelle, Rawlings replied: Broadcast. Reruns have frequently aired on Comedy Central and VH1 in the US. The series also airs around the world, with episodes airing on MTV in Germany, Comedy Central in Brazil, The Comedy Network and MuchMusic in Canada, SBS, NITV (sister channel to SBS), The Comedy Channel and 7mate in Australia, and FX in the United Kingdom. The series was also shown on WGN America and was syndicated to various  television stations across the US, including MyNetworkTV. Streaming. The series is available to be streamed on the Comedy Central app and website. The series is also available to stream on Paramount+, Netflix, and HBO Max. It is free to digitally rent with select public libraries in the United States through Hoopla. On November 1, 2020, the series became available to stream on Netflix and HBO Max. However, less than two months later, the series was removed from both services following Chappelle's commentary concerning his lack of royalties from the show during his appearance on "Saturday Night Live". On February  11, 2021, Chappelle announced that he had renegotiated his deal with ViacomCBS, and the show returned to the services the following day. Despite the renegotiated deal, Season 3 (the "lost episodes") were not reposted to Netflix, and has also been withdrawn from other platforms where it was available previously like Crave in Canada. Home media. The DVD sets for seasons one and two of "Chappelle's Show" have sold extremely well since their release. As of 2005, the first-season DVD was the best-selling TV series set of all time, beating out other popular shows such as "The Simpsons  (the first season of which held the record beforehand), American Dad!", "Family Guy", "Friends", and "Seinfeld". The episode "Music Jump-Off" which featured Chappelle visiting his old high school, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, intercut with previously unaired sketches and musical performances, did not make either DVD set. On October 11, 2005, the first half of the first season was released on UMD. On May 23, 2006, the first uncensored season was made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store, and on June 20, the second uncensored season was also made available on iTunes. On June 5 , 2007, Comedy Central released a compilation DVD titled "The Best of Chappelle's Show" which highlights 25 of the most popular sketches in all seasons. On November 20, 2007, Comedy Central released a boxset with season one, season two, and "the Lost Episodes" titled "Chappelle's Show – The Series Collection". All box sets were released by Paramount Home Entertainment (under the Comedy Central banner).