Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes

There are some hot button subjects that so called polite society refrains from touching. Topics like prejudice and racism are sure to enflame even the most level headed individuals. I have always enjoyed the comedians that took on such sacred cows but exposing the absurd use of language that so often supports racism. From Lenny Bruce to George Carlin and Eddie Murphy, some stand up comedians constantly sought to push the envelop, to lampoon the words that create such negative reactions in most people. As all of these comedians would agree it is not the words that cause damage it is the hatred of the people that use them. The latest in this long line of social commentators that use humor to make fun of such taboo topics is Dave Chappelle. Chappelle didn’t start out as such an acerbic comedian; he paid his dues learning and honing his humorous craft in films that ranged from Robin Hood: Men in Tights to Half Baked. Still, what he would become was in each of those performances in embryonic form. In 2004 when Comedy Central put the Chappelle Show on the air it certainly had an impact. Many people of all races where outright offended. The skits or bits portrayed looked at racism from both sides of the topic and held all involved up to the unblinking eye of satire. The show was a hit in part because many people are tired of the politically correct language that most of us have to use in our daily lives. By the time season two came along Dave Chappelle had finally become a household name and his pay check rose to a reported $55 million. The completely unexpected happened; Chappelle to off to Africa turning his back on the barely started third season. Thus the lost episodes where born. The latest uncensored DVD has the three episodes that where in preparation when Chappelle decided to take his career in a different direction.

In this DVD three episodes are presented. Since Chappelle was no longer associated with Comedy Central or the series that bares his name two new hosts stepped up to provide introductions and a little insight between bits. Donnell Rawlings and Charlie Murphy (brother of Eddie) replace Chappelle in these presentations. They have also been with the show since the beginning lending their talents to the skits and assuming a wide variety of personas. A little note about Charlie Murphy, he has an uncanny resemblance to his more famous younger brother. His wide smile is obviously a family trait as is an impeccable sense of comic timing.

Episode One:

Murphy explains that Chappelle will not be hosting these last episodes. While Murphy is remorseful about the absence of his friend Rawlings is just glad for the face time on television.

"The effects of a $55 million paycheck". Dave finds out that life does not always change for the better when you become incredibly rich. The price of a simple haircut increases from $8 to $11,000.

"Hip-Hop Newsbreak". Dave in white face kicks off a news program as Chuck Taylor, featuring a man assaulted by a famous hip-hop singer.

"Revenge". Now that Dave has over $50 million dollars he is able to finally have his revenge on some people in his past. He revisits an ex girl friend, his former agent and a wheelchair bound comedian.

"The New Tupac record". Here Dave shows the first showing of a new recording by the late Tupac with some oddly modern lyrics.

Episode Two:

Howard Dean". The famous or perhaps infamous rant by presidential candidate Howard Dean is take to the extreme as only Dave Chappelle can do.

"Television during Sex". Here Cappelle takes a simple premise; the television was on during the overly downloaded Paris Hilton sex tape and considers it like having that person in the room. He takes this premise on with the help of some strange guest appearances.

"Gary Coleman". Dave on his knees becomes an angry Gary Coleman over reacting to some situations while working as a security guard.

"Pixies". Little racial pixies on the shoulders of people advise them to just give in to various racial stereotypes. To be fair Dave did give the treatment to many different races. The new hosts then go to the audience for reactions. This skit resulted in so many problems that it was addressed in an interview with Chappelle in Time magazine. According to portions of the article this skit contributed to Chappelle taking time away from his series and rethinking its direction.

"White man in the bathroom". A white is in the men’s room between two black men and discovers one stereotype man be true, actually a part of the Pixies skit.

Episode Three:

"Monsters". Murphy as the Frankenstein monster, Rawlings as the Mummy and Chappelle as the Wolf-man feel that they are discriminated against not because they are monsters but because they are black. Frankenstein is fired at work, the Mummy is in trouble with is parole officer and the Wolf-man is thrown out of a restaurant while on a date.

"Political incorrect newscast". Dave was upset with the use of euphemisms in the language so he substitutes the dreaded ‘N’ word for ones like ‘minority’.

"Dave meets Entertainment". Entertain is a giant head, much like the wizard of Oz, who tells Dave that he needs to have products in order to become truly successful. Included is Chappelle breakfast cereal, a movie spin off of one of his regular characters and a stint on MTV’s Cribs.

These ‘Lost Episodes’ are not as funny as some of the routines in the first two seasons and this divergence from the original intent of the show certainly did add to Chappelle moving away from it. The segments overall are humorous but lack the same degree of insight the previous seasons had. The disc is well done with very good technical specifications. The full screen video is consistently clear with good color balance. The stereo audio is clear and natural. There are a few extras provided. There are commentary tracks by Rawlings and Murphy that are mostly musings over what happened to Chappelle and how the skits where created. Some bloopers and deleted scenes are included but they are not that great. This is for the die hard fan of Dave Chappelle and if you have the other two seasons this caps off the set.

Posted 7/25/06