Chelsea Handler has been gracing us with her presence on screen since 2006, now she’s cemented her place online with a new Netflix series.
Starting out with a one season stint as a sketch show star she quickly made the transition to late night talk show host on E! with Chelsea Lately. The 20 minute series combined round tables, celebrity guests and controversial monologues. With 7 seasons under her belt in 2014 Handler exited the television world, wrote a quick book, did an international comedy/promotion tour for Uganda be Kidding Me and surprisingly got straight to work negotiating deals with Netflix.
The change in platform was a surprising move for self professed technophobe Handler, however the $10 million deal would secure her a four-part documentary series (Chelsea Does.. Premiered in January of this year) and a late night-eqsue talk show that would air three times a week internationally. The latter first became available last Wednesday, following up the next two days with new episodes. The vague nature of the show is evident from the get go, simply titled ‘Chelsea’ there was many speculations about what the half hour series would entail.
“I’m finally getting to do the exact show that I’ve always wanted to do. […] What that show is, I have no idea.”
Even after the first weekly installments have aired there are still questions surrounding the appeal and longevity of the series. Similar to the documentary the idea is to educate, both the audience and Handler herself, though the format of the show strikes a love or hate reaction from viewers. Similar to her old talk show the time is split between segments, pre-filmed tutorials, mock advertisements and on stage guests. The viewer hesitancy comes from what is meant to be the show’s strong suit, Handler’s learn on the job mentality.
Just when you think the show is delving too far into the entertainment trap (merciless self promotion and gimmicks) it takes the turn that is assumed to be the point of the show. Gwyneth Paltrow and Tony Hale spend more time talking politics than commercial endevours and the cast of Captain America: Civil War turn anecdotal dinner party conversation into a real conversation regarding equality in Hollywood. These turns seem to be the saving grace for Chelsea, well that and the on stage presence of her dog Chunky. Chunky hangs out and lets guests pat him so let’s keep the ‘When in doubt, pan to Chunky’ mentality because that’s a good time for everyone.
We’re expecting the show will veer away from it’s explanation that it’s not ‘Your usual Talk show’ as the weeks go on, allocating more time to hope that celebrities and Handler will continue to segue into the real conversations we’re craving (before their PR representation become savvy to what is happening and ban them from making appearances)
Chelsea airs every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night on Netflix. It’s introduction to the online platform will also be an interesting investigation into the broadcast timetable, the streaming service known for launching entire seasons in one go.
