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Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes Uncensored
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (12th August 2006). |
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The Show
 Who would have thought that a bit-part supporting comedy player would become one of the funniest people in America? Dave Chappelle was always that guy in the background in the shadow of other comedians, he was in the shadow of Eddie Murphy in "The Nutty Proffessor" (1996) he was in the shadow of Martin Lawrence in "Blue Streak" (1999) he was even in the shadow of Eddie Griffin (Yes I know it may sound like a joke but I'm serious, Eddie Griffin!!!!) in the disaster that was "Undercover Brother" (2002). Chappelle provided small yet memorable performances in these film and soon began to etch a name for himself in the already saturated comedy-actor circle. 2003 proved a great year for the former stand-up, with the debut of his own show on Comedy Central, "Chappelle's Show" was an instant hit. His brand of social commentary and sharp snappy form of comedy pleased viewers and the show garnered a decent fan base. The first season of his show on DVD remains one of the best selling TV shows on DVD with over 3 million copies sold. The second season would send Chappelle into pop culture, coining phrases such as "I'm Rick James Bitch" became the new 'new hot thing to mimic'. Chappelle knew he had hit pay dirt and so did the executives at Viacom (who own Comedy Central) signed Chappelle to a $55 million deal for two more season, grant him the ability to develop other projects and also was given a percentage of the total DVD sales. As soon as the third season started film it was over. Chappelle stunned his fans and the entertainment industry when he left the show citing 'exhaustion'. Chappelle travelled to South Africa where rumors of drug abuse or psychiatric problems surface...all of which were later denied by the comedian and the true nature of his departure was revealed. Chappelle was unhappy with the direction the show was taking. Network executives controlled content and put pressure on him to develop certain sketches. According to a Time Magazine article it was during the film of a 'black face pixie' (he also spoke about this on the Oprah Winfrey Show) sketch that triggered his unhappiness with the show. He was no longer 'sending up stereotypes but merely reinforcing them'. Comedy Central pulled the show, a year later those episodes would see light and were eventually aired on television, these three episodes make up this DVD release, this includes the infamous 'pixie' sketch after the sketch the audience is questioned whether they find that offensive or funny. The audience interaction segments of the show were shot with Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings, both regulars on the show. The three episodes are formatted in much the same was as in previous seasons, each episode featuring around 3 sketches introduced by the hosts. I must admit after watching these episodes for the first time I did not find them all that funny, not the same calibre as seen in the previous two seasons (however, funnily enough Chappelle makes a comment about that in one of the sketches). At first I passed it off, making the excuse that these are in effect incomplete sketches and were completed without Chappelle's involvement. I must admit that "Chappelle's Show" is probably something you should watch with a group of people. The 'pixie' sketch wasn't as crude and offensive as I had imagined it would be, it's no more offensive than the 'Clayton Bigsby' sketch from season one, where Chappelle plays a blind black white supremacist. In fact the 'pixie' sketch wasn't solely directed at African Americans but also Latinos and White people too, exposing the stereotypes and making fun of them, as one audience member put it, 'it's a comedy show and the goal is to make you laugh'. Fans of the show will likely pick this disc up without any persuasion, it's one to own especially if you have the first two season and is an interesting look at the direction that season three would have taken. This is the last we'll see of "Chappelle's Show" which is sad but at least we still have the brilliance captured on DVD.
Video
Presented in 1.33:1 this full frame image is on par with the previous season releases, although those where presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, it's unsure why Paramount chose to release this in fullscreen. The episodes are clear sharp, some pixalization does occur but this is not a major problem, colors are vibrant and blacks are deep. It's a step better than broadcast quality and won't really disappoint.
Audio
Only one audio track is included, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. For a comedy show that's all that is really required a full 5.1 track would have been a waste of space. As one would expect depth is limited however the dialogue is clear and distortion free and that's all that matters really. Optional subtitles are also included in English.
Extras
First up we have three audio commentaries one for each episode from the series regulars and hosts of these episodes Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings with writer/director/executive producer Neal Brennan. The first commentary sees the participants talking about the taping of the show and some jokes that Brennan pitched to Murphy and Rawlings that didn't quite fly. The track covers how Murphy and Rawlings became the guest hosts to these episodes, they also provide some background for the sketches and share some stories with the viewers about how these sketches all reflect real life incidents. One thing that took me by surprise was that Charlie Murphy actually talks like a hardcore gangster, which seems like a put-on voice for many of the characters he portrays on the show. In the second commentary the three guys talk about the new opening credit sequence, as well as how they developed sketches for the show and what eventually gets improved and what is scripted. This track has a few quiet moments in the middle but certainly picks up once the infamous 'pixie' sketch comes up and the tone shifts to a less jokey atmosphere as they try to explain the sketch and what they were trying to achieve by it. The third and final commentary culminates with the Brennan admitting that they don't actually have anything else to talk about, but they try to provide the usual background for the sketches shown in this episode and also poke fun at some performances and mistakes made during the filming. Much like the last there are some quite moments but the track picks up. Overall there is some informative material in these tracks and it is also entertaining to listen to these three as they comment on the last ever episodes of "Chappelle's Show" fans should check these out at least once. Next up are a collection of 5 unaired sketches, you can view these individually or with a 'play all' function, each of these sketches includes a brief introduction at the start. It's not hard to see why these were not aired, most are only moderately funny at best. The sketches include: - "Daddy Day Care" which is a trailer to the sequel starring Charlie Murphy and runs for 2 minutes 47 seconds. - "Presidential Candence" sees Dave getting away with a lot just by talking a certain way, this clip runs for 5 minutes 7 seconds. - "Virgun Mobile" a parody of some Virgin Mobile ads that ran in the U.S. and runs for 1 minute 42 seconds. - "Courtroom Thriller" is an unfinished Michael Jackson sketch that runs for 1 minute 39 seconds. - "Maximize Me" is a parody of the film "Super Size Me" that runs for 3 minutes 54 seconds. Next are a series of 5 deleted scenes that are cut together into a reel that runs for 7 minutes 23 seconds, it's easy to see that these scenes were cut for time as some of them are quite humorous, the scenes are mainly extensions to ones that already appear in the final show. The scenes included are: - "Hip Hop News 2" which is a bulletin about the release of American criminals in the African country of Zamunda. - "Showbiz" here the almighty showbiz pitches the idea of Chappelle ring tones and an appearance at the Republican National Convention. - "Hip Hop News 3" is a Dr. Dre Bulletin. - "Grudges" here Dave visits the Donut shop. - "Hip Hop News 4" Chuck raps some lyrics. Following that are a series of bloopers also cut into a reel that runs for 24 minutes 47 seconds, this clip includes a series of line flubs, mistakes, crack-ups and lines that just make people laugh. This clip gets boring really fast, and doesn't really have anything in it worthy or multiple viewings. The bloopers are from the following sketches: "Money", "Hip Hop News", "Grudges", "Daddy Day Care", "Scandal Proof", "Pixies", "Presidential Candence", "The Monsters" and "Showbiz". "The Fabulous Making of Chappelle's Show Season 3ish" is a featurette that runs for 20 minutes 37 seconds. This is a candid look at the making of these episodes, from the editing of the infamous 'pixie' sketch to the filming of the new opening credits and the taping of the wraparounds with the audience. The clip goes behind-the-scenes and provides the viewer with a rough idea how these episodes were finally produced. The disc also includes 2 musical performances: - "Ordinary People" as performed by John Legend - "Hip Hop" as performed by the rap group Dead Prez Much like other Comedy Central offerings this disc also includes a collection of promotional material such as the 4 Comedy Central Quickies, these are short highlights from other shows from the network that are: - "South Park: The Pack Leader" which runs for 2 minutes 9 seconds. - "Reno 911: Sweet Booty" which runs for 2 minutes 22 seconds. - "Mind of Mencia: More Love Songs" which runs for 1 minute 27 seconds. - "The Colbert Report: Truthiness" which runs for 2 minutes 37 seconds. Rounding out the extras are a series of bonus trailers for: - "South Park: The Passion of the Jew and Season 8 DVD" which runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. - "Reno 911 Season 3" which runs for 1 minute 15 seconds. - "Mind of Mencia" which runs for 1 minute 30 seconds. - "Strangers with Candy: The Complete Series" which runs for 1 minute 35 seconds. - Totally Awesome" which runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds. All these trailers are start-up previews and play before the main menu, to skip just press the menu button on your remote.
Overall
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