Monday, December 12, 2005

A Dave Chappelle "Wake"?

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(image via college publisher)

You've got to give Comedy Central some credit. Dave Chappelle turned out to be a lemon, but they're making lemonade with what's left of the whole fiasco. The audience reaction at Comedy Central's "Last Laugh" was fairly enthusiastic about the trailer of the abbreviated Chappelle season. According to New York Magazine's Intelligencer:

"Dave Chappelle is still very much alive, but since he�s on the lam from his TV show, Comedy Central plans to treat him as if he�d tragically expired. Last week, the network announced that it was going to stitch four new episodes of Chappelle�s Show out of the roughly 75 minutes of sketches completed before the star abruptly halted work on the series. But since Chappelle�s usual from-the-stage introductions to the skits were never filmed, the network is hoping to tributize them. 'If Dave does not come back to do his normal intros, the goal is to get Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, the biggest comedians, whatever, to do a wake for the show,' says a person familiar with the planning."

Well, the biggest African-American comedians, they mean. More:

�'Dave�s missing; these are his last four remaining episodes. They�ll grieve and roast and toast. Those will be the new bumpers.' The source says that the new sketches�bits of which were shown Sunday on Comedy Central�s Last Laugh �05�are 'absolutely hysterical.'"

Well, not really. The Susan Sarandon sleeping with Lil Jon seems a bit dated. So does the Gary Coleman security guard fight riff. But the parody of Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me," entitled "Maximize Me" looks somewhat promising:

A Bloated Chappelle: May I have two half-pounders with cheese? (Cut)

Indian Doctor: ... f you do this movie, you may die .. (cut)

A Bloated Chappelle: I need more ketchup ...

Sassy McDonald's worker: Aint no more Ketchup.

(A bloated Chappelle in purple sweatsuit bum-rushes the McDonald's counter)

Intelligencer continues:

"Standout skits include a werewolf bit and a parody of MTV�s Cribs in which Chappelle shows off an enormously gaudy Miami mansion while wearing a '400-pound fur coat.' A Comedy Central spokesman says, 'I�ve heard the wake idea. I have not heard those specific names.'"

Intelligencer

Comedy Central Season 3 2006 Chappelle Trailer here.

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