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'''''Chappelle's Show'''''
After numerous delays, production of the third season of ''Chappelle's Show'' was abruptly ended when Chappelle left the series. Critically acclaimed throughout its run, the series often satirized and examined—through [[Dark humor|dark]] and [[racial humor]]—[[Race (human categorization)|race]], [[social stereotype]]s, [[masculinity]], [[celebrity culture]], and comedy itself. [[TV Guide Magazine|''TV Guide'']] included it on their list of "TV's Top 100 Shows" and it was placed 26th on ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s "New TV Classics" ranking.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=December 20 |first1=EW Staff Updated |last2=EST |first2=2019 at 09:35 AM |title=The New Classics: TV |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/06/18/new-classics-tv/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Format ==
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{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Dave Chappelle]]
* [[Donnell Rawlings]]▼
* Anthony Berry▼
* [[Dominique Witten]]
* [[Neal Brennan]]
* [[Rick Crom]]
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* [[Robert Petkoff]]
* [[Nick Wyman]]
▲* Anthony Berry
▲* [[Donnell Rawlings]]
* [[Mos Def]]
* Max Herman
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==Notable sketches<!--I'm Rick James (film) links here-->==
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 edited in prerecorded laughs, with the exception of the "Dude's Night Out" sketch due to the lack of reaction from the audience.<ref>{{cite video|people=Dave Chappelle|date=January 22, 2003|title=Chappelle's Show|url=http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml|format=television production|publisher=Comedy Partners|location=New York City, NY|access-date=2009-04-27|archive-date=January 10, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110145440/http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* '''A Moment in the Life of Lil Jon''' – Chappelle plays rapper/producer [[Lil Jon]] doing normal, everyday tasks, with a vocabulary consisting of almost nothing but the words 'Yeah!', 'HWHAT?!', and 'O-kay!' The real Lil Jon appeared in one sketch opposite Chappelle's character, with Lil Jon speaking in an excessively dignified accent. The rapper credited the sketch with increasing his visibility.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488068/20040601/index.jhtml?headlines=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040622191853/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488068/20040601/index.jhtml?headlines=true |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 22, 2004 |title=Dave Chappelle: The Reason Grandmas Know Who Lil Jon Is |publisher=MTV |date=January 6, 2004 |access-date=2014-08-13}}</ref> ''Entertainment Weekly'' put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, " We could have filled this list with 100 reasons we miss ''Chappelle's Show'', but the biggest one would have to be his riotous celebrity impressions."<ref>Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84</ref>
* '''Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories''' – [[Charlie Murphy (actor)|Charlie Murphy]] (who also wrote the sketches) retells his encounters with 1980s celebrities, the most popular being the [[Rick James]] story. The sketch features Murphy as himself and Chappelle as James, including incidents such as James slapping Murphy and referring to him as
* '''Frontline''' – A spoof of the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] [[Frontline (American TV program)|series of the same name]], it was hosted by Kent Wallace (played by [[William Bogert]]). {{anchor|Clayton Bigsby}}The first ''Frontline'' sketch, "Blind Supremacy", featured the life of Clayton Bigsby (played by Chappelle), a [[blindness|blind]] [[white supremacy|white supremacist]] who is not aware that he is actually a black man. Grantland.com writer Rembert Brown deemed this sketch the winner of his "Best Chappelle Sketch Ever", beating out the Wayne Brady sketch in his 64-sketch, NCAA Tournament style bracket. This sketch was part of the first episode and garnered attention for its extensive use of the word "[[nigger]]" (mostly spoken by Chappelle's character).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20040127normanp5.asp |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |title=The hilariously dangerous world of Dave Chappelle | date=January 27, 2004}}</ref> The sketch has been compared to [[Racist Word Association Interview|the iconic "word association" ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch]] from 1975 featuring [[Chevy Chase]] and [[Richard Pryor]]<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=May 26, 2006|title=Paul Mooney on Pryor, Chappelle and the state of black America|url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060526/FEATURES/605260651/-1/FEATURES21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413151351/http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060526%2FFEATURES%2F605260651%2F-1%2FFEATURES21|archive-date=April 13, 2014|access-date=2014-08-13|website=|publisher=HeraldTribune.com}}</ref> which received similar reactions for its use of the word. [[Charlie Sheen]] stated that he was hospitalized in 2010 as a result of developing a hernia from laughing so hard upon viewing the sketch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/charlie-sheen-blames-dave-chappelle-meltdown_n_3070968.html|title=Charlie Sheen Blames Dave Chappelle, Testosterone Cream For 2010 Meltdown On 'Conan' (VIDEO)|date=April 12, 2013|via=Huff Post}}</ref> Other ''Frontline'' sketches featured stories of racist animal actors and [[Homosexuality|gay]] versions of everything from the [[Department of Motor Vehicles|DMV]] to the [[Ku Klux Klan|KKK]].
* '''Racial Draft''' – A parody of modern-day pro-sports drafts. Various multiracial or multiethnic celebrities such as [[Tiger Woods]] (Chappelle), [[Lenny Kravitz]], the [[Wu-Tang Clan]] (playing themselves), [[O. J. Simpson]], [[Eminem]] and [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] were "drafted" into a (potentially) entirely different race, based on their perceived ethnicity or some other cultural appropriations in their act or lifestyle. [[Elián González]] was recertified as Hispanic, after being culturally appropriated by white America. Lenny Kravitz was declared 100% Jewish, the Wu-Tang Clan 100% Asian, and Tiger Woods 100% black. Chappelle also played the white announcer/representative, while rapper [[Mos Def]] played the black representative; radio personality [[Angie Martinez]] played the Hispanic representative.
* '''WacArnold's''' – Chappelle gets a job as a young man at a fast-food restaurant that portrays itself as providing a community service by offering jobs to disenfranchised, poor youth. A scene-by-scene mock of a 1990 [[McDonald's]] commercial is followed by Chappelle slowly realizing the job is embarrassing and he does not make enough money to support his family. He gets robbed and harassed on his way to work. During one encounter in the last scene of the sketch, a thug (played by Donnell Rawlings) quips, "Hey Calvin! It's a fine line between [[fries]] and [[Milkshake|shakes]]!" before he breaks into song, "The leanest [[Hamburger|burger]] in the world, could be the meanest burger in the world, if you cook it that way!"
* '''Wayne Brady's Show''' – After Dave Chappelle quits the show in an opening segment that coincidentally mirrored the contract negotiations for the aborted third season, [[Wayne Brady]] (portraying himself) takes over as host and is asked to [[emcee]] the remaining episodes of the series since Chappelle had already filmed the remaining sketches. Regretting the decision to leave the show, Chappelle returns and confronts Brady. The ensuing confrontation leads to the airing of a flashback to a night of misadventures involving the two that portrays Brady (contrary to his friendly public image) as a murderous, [[pimp]]ing, and seriously disturbed [[sociopathy|sociopath]] in the mold of [[Denzel Washington]]'s character Alonzo Harris from the film ''[[Training Day]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-08-02-chappelle_x.htm |work=USA Today |title=Chappelle: Laughing all the way to the bank |first1=Gary |last1=Levin |date=August 3, 2004 |access-date=April 28, 2010}}</ref> Brady had trouble filming the sketch, finding it difficult to say the line "Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?".<ref name="IndieWire"/>
* '''When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong''' – A documentary style sketch, it serves as a [[cautionary tale]] about when not to "keep it real" (be completely honest). The sketch depicts events in which a character is just minding his business until someone else says or does something that the first character does not like. The character is given a choice: ignore the alleged provocation, or "keep it real" (get confrontational and be antagonistic with whoever provoked him), with the character going with the latter, all the while boasting about how they "keep it real". Eventually, the character's decision backfires severely on him, thus ruining his life, while the person who provoked him is having the time of his life, and the character's friends shun the character's choice to "keep it real".
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* '''Chuck Taylor''' (played by Chappelle) – The lead "white" anchor on the fictitious "News 3", he is played by Chappelle in whiteface makeup and a blonde wig. Taylor has appeared in a few sketches, the first of which was the "Reparations" sketch from season one.
* '''Leonard Washington''' (played by Chappelle) – Washington first appeared in the first-season sketch "Trading Spouses", wherein he acted as the patriarch of a white family for a month. Notably, when entering rooms unfamiliar to him, Washington looks out the windows to see if he is being followed. He also expressed his displeasure that many white families do not use washcloths when taking a shower or bath. One of the only things that can make Leonard Washington back down is being shot. When asked for his hometown in the "World Series of Dice" sketch, Washington replied, "Where I'm from? A little town called none ya goddamn bidness." He has a wife and a son, T-Mart. He is seemingly unaware of white culture, unknowing of [[Renée Zellweger]] (as he stated in "Trading Spouses" after reading ''White People Magazine'').
* '''Ashy Larry''' (played by [[Donnell Rawlings]]) – A shirtless black man with flaky-white skin and chapped lips, he is always seen wearing a pair of white boxer shorts. He appeared in the "World Series of Dice" sketch, in one of Chappelle's daydreams during a boring dinner conversation, and was seen holding Chappelle's $50 million check in one of the lost episodes. Ashy Larry is also one of the names Wayne Brady calls the PCP he gives to Dave in the Wayne Brady sketch. Rawlings briefly reprised his role as Ashy Larry in the sketch comedy show, ''[[In
* '''Robot Dancing Man''' – Set designer Karl Lake did the [[Robot (dance)|robot]] dance in random places, including a barbershop, club, and a courtroom (in a deleted scene). In the sketches, he is generally not acknowledged, despite the out-of-place behavior, nor does he acknowledge anyone. A few exceptions to this rule have occurred. One of them is during the "Slow-Motion" sketch, in the club, when Dave acknowledges him by saying "The Robot", and emulating him. Another is when Wayne Brady "takes over" the show, during one of the commercial break introductions; Wayne is looking at Robot Man's moves, and proceeds to dance with him. Also, in the opening theme for season three, Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings have hogtied and taken the place of the two men who start off the show. Robot Man is seen in the background doing his dance and the harmonica player yells out "Robot, help us!", but to no avail.
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|RTitle = February 26, 2003
|Aux1 = [[David Broom]]
|Aux2 = Third World [[Girls Gone Wild (franchise)|Girls Gone Wild]], The Dave Chappelle Story, Ask a Gay
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== Third-season delays and ''The Lost Episodes'' ==
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:
{{cquote|You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you're not smart enough to get what I'm doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong. You people are stupid.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dave Chappelle lets rude crowd have it, sticks up for Cosby's comment.|work=[[Sacramento Bee]]|first=Jim|last=Carnes|date=June 18, 2004}}</ref>}}
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 [[influenza|flu]] (Chappelle later told [[Oprah Winfrey]] that this was untrue and that [[Stress (medicine)|stress]] had caused him to leave).<ref>[
▲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 [[influenza|flu]] (Chappelle later told [[Oprah Winfrey]] that this was untrue and that [[Stress (medicine)|stress]] had caused him to leave).<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/02/03/chappelle-oprah-return.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014141923/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/02/03/chappelle-oprah-return.html|date=October 14, 2007}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Denise|date=May 4, 2005|title=Variety.com – 'Chappelle' yuks yanked for now|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2005/scene/features/chappelle-yuks-yanked-for-now-1117922148/|access-date=}}</ref> 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 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.<ref name="complex">{{Cite news |last=Ogunnaike |first=Lola |date=May 14, 2005 |title=Unforgiven: A Timeline of Dave Chappelle's Falling-Out With ViacomCBS Over 'Chappelle's Show' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/arts/television/with-star-absent-network-says-chappelle-is-over-for-now.html |access-date=September 17, 2024 |publisher=[[Complex Network]]}}</ref> ''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."<ref name="complex" /> 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.<ref name="complex" />
Nonetheless, on December 11, during Comedy Central's ''Last Laugh '05'', a promotion for the third season of the show was aired.
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.<ref name="complex" /> 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.<ref name="complex" /> 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.▼
▲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.
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 (actor)|Charlie Murphy]] and [[Donnell Rawlings]]. Advertised as the "
▲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 (actor)|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:
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