"Lost Episodes" Last Hurrah for Chappelle's Show

It's hard to imagine walking away from a fifty million dollar paycheck for what you do naturally, but that's just what comedian Dave Chappelle did in May of 2005. With the funniest and most successful comedic show on television already with two years to its credit, Chappelle signed a two year deal with Comedy Central worth the aforementioned fifty million beans to produce seasons three and four of his hit series. And then, just like that, in the middle of production, he walked away. No one was able to pin Dave down on the exact reasons for his departure, but it seemed to go a little something like this: success led to money and fame, money and fame led to more responsibility and more pressure. The weight of the show and the direction/perception of its racially charged content became too much for him to deal with, so he jetted off to South Africa to collect himself. Rumors of mental illness and/or drug abuse ensued and were met with strong denials. Whatever the cause for the departure, the bottom line was that his fans were utterly crushed.

Over a year later, it's pretty clear that Chappelle has no intentions of his resuming his television series whatsoever. So Comedy Central did the right thing, in my opinion, and decided to piece together the remaining three episodes' worth of finished sketches into the "Lost Episodes" of the Chappelle Show, which are airing this month on the cable network.

The first two episodes underscore that the show was on course for more big laughs and social satire in season three. Skit topics revolve around Howard Dean's public outburst and meltdown (just hilarious), the bizarre timeliness of Tupac Shakur's rap lyrics (dead-on), the consequences of newfound mega-wealth for Dave (scary) and a racially stereotypical pixie (not nearly as controversial as Chappelle apparently believed). Though the humor is once again on point in most of these skits, you can practically see Dave struggling with himself in front of your eyes over the creative future of his show.

Former co-stars Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings sub for Dave in the on-set intros to the skits, but neither is a match for Chappelle's natural timing and flair. To their credit though, the two cast members do their best to pay homage to the work and skills of their absentee colleague. Ultimately I do think it leaves a better taste in most people's mouths having two people split the fill-in duties rather than just leaving one person to do it. (Again, no public comment from Chappelle or his representatives on any of this.)

In the end, the "Lost Episodes" are a final glimpse of 21st century comedic gold before the reserves ran out. They're must-watches for diehard fans and probably nothing more than mildly interesting to anyone else. But you have to give Comedy Central credit for trying to give the hardcore fans a going away present. Chappelle has resumed his stand-up career with an on-again/off-again tour of the country, and it's great to know that one of the smartest and funniest talents of our time is still putting his global views out there, but now it's on a much smaller and lower key scale than it was before. Maybe that's just the way Dave wants it, but the fact remains that it's hard not to feel cheated of something truly special and great by the show's early demise.

My grade for Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes: B-



-JAB