Chappelle's Show, the Complete Series - DVD Review

More interesting than the actual series collection of Chappelle's Show on DVD is the story behind it. For those yet unaware, in 2005, after completing two seasons of the show, Dave Chappelle walked away from a $50 million dollar contract to produce further seasons (despite having completed the filming of sketches for season three which were showcased in "The Lost Episodes"). The DVDs of Season 1 of Chappelle's Show were among the best-selling of the time. What happened to make Dave walk away from that?

I'm getting ahead of myself. I enjoyed Dave Chappelle's style of humor and enjoyed watching the seasons of his show again. I found his recurring characters funny such as Tyrone Biggums and Lil Jon (recurring characters are a formula for success as evidenced by other sketch shows including SNL) and his humor always seemed to return to topics of racism, sexism, drugs and money (topics everyone can relate to). Hell, I've liked Dave Chappelle since Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

A lot of Dave's humor came from behind-the-scenes fictions, such as him getting overcharged by his barber and car repairman when they learned he was a millionaire or him getting back at people who did him wrong as he climbed to the top of the entertainment food chain. My personal favorite was when Wayne Brady took over the show and the audience learned what a badass Wayne Brady actually was despite his pleasant, outgoing demeanor.

The series collection is simply a repackaging of the DVDs that have already been released (Season 1, Season 2, and The Lost Episodes) and contain no new material (and since Dave wasn't involved, why would they?). Season 1 contains commentary for five of the episodes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Season 2 contains audio commentary, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and the uncut Rick James interview, part of which was used in the famous Rick James sketch. I found this interesting because upon watching the uncut interview, you realize how much of the interview was taken out of context for the purpose's of the sketch's humor. Not that Rick James was the sanest of people while he was alive. But I digress...

The Lost Episodes has commentary by cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings and co-creator Neal Brennan and the usual gag reel and deleted scenes. All the seasons are uncensored so if you're put off by excessive profanity and adult humor, buy a Disney DVD or something.

I liked the commentary because it highlighted the good chemistry between the cast members which undoubtedly contributed to the fun feeling of the sketches. You even learn such tidbits such as the character Chappelle played early on in a Kinko's store parody who became the model for recurring crackhead character Tyrone Biggums.

Unless Chappelle opens up, it's unlikely we'll ever know what made Dave surrender his success. Was he afraid of corporate interference? Was he too stressed? Was he afraid of success? At least we have this compilation of his show to enjoy. Happy Holidays, bitches!