Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
This week, the week of May 9, 2016, is a glorious one. Do you know why? This is the week that comedy goddess and slow-burning source of the internet’s hate machine Chelsea Handler is finally returning to late night comedy. Tomorrow marks the premiere of Netflix’s first-ever talk show, the appropriately titled Chelsea. Netflix, if I could hug you, I would.
Chelsea will release new episodes three nights a week — Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday — and will stream in 190 countries, furthering Netflix’s global focus. Because of this release strategy, the talk show won’t be live, but it will be filmed in front of a live audience. Episodes will be released 12 hours after filming, and Netflix will reportedly be releasing 90 episodes per year. Not only is this Netflix’s first time diving into the world of talk shows, this is the most internationally focused talk show to exist in America in recent late night history. Giving the notoriously outspoken and offensive Handler a global audience may seem like a bad idea at first glance, but it’s actually a brilliant gamble. As her docu-series Chelsea Does has shown, this isn’t the hardened Handler of her E! and Chelsea Lately years. This more inquisitive, more vulnerable, yet still acerbic Handler is the late night critic we need right now. And she’s not going to hold back.
In a way, every comedian’s work shows us a picture of our society, but that role is heavily amplified when it comes to the reporting and commentating hybrid that are our late night hosts. As I’ve mentioned before, late night hosts are the ones responsible for looking beyond our surface level understanding of news to expose our society’s deep and ugly flaws. Personalities handle that responsibility in different ways, from Samantha Bee’s angry quips to Trevor Noah’s disbelief-laced rants. However, even when Handler was covering the superficial world of celebrity fashion faux pas and rumors that E! lives for, she was always brutal. Likewise, Handler’s style — apathy mixed with burnt out anger, sharp comedy, and an arched eyebrow game that makes it instantly clear when she’s unimpressed — reflects our flawed society as she sees it. The picture that Handler presents isn’t pretty. It’s rarely softened by light-hearted comedy jabs and Instagram filters. It’s all dark circles, weird hair angles, blemished faces, and cracked lips — America the morning of a really bad hangover.
That’s exactly the type of comedy we need right now, especially because during this elect5ion year — someone barbed and unafraid to land punches. Our official elephant and donkey haven’t even been chosen, and already this election season feels insane. I want my comedy to mimic my frustration and the growing exhaustion I feel oozing from every human around me. I don’t want Saturday Night Live’s kiddy-glove take on the election season, nor do I want Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, or yes even Trevor Noah’s at times brand of fun-not-funny humor. I want John Stewart or Colbert Report-era Colbert or John Oliver ranting about politics 24/7. I want my political commentary to be biting and divisive. If the novels of criticism about Handler are any indication, then Handler has that part locked down.
Then there’s Chelsea’s international focus, which shouldn’t feel as refreshing as it does. Late night television and even the news can be so USA-focused, it feels constraining. Handler’s wide-eyed approach to the discovering how the world works — both stateside and abroad — isn’t just an interesting take for a talk show. It’s insightful. We, as a global world, are now more connected than we’ve ever been in the past. Instead of pretending like that’s not the case, why not embrace our stronger international connections and explore them? We might learn something.
If you hate Chelsea Handler, then I’m going to guess that you’re going to hate her return to the world of talk shows. That’s fine. There are a lot of late night hosts out there; you’re not required to like all of them. However, if you’re like me and you’re a fan of Handler’s but worried she may be too offensive for an international audience or even just a larger stateside Netflix audience, I think it’s going to be OK. Handler has expressed several times that this talk show is going to be different than any other talk show out there, and as her docu-series has proven, Handler is willing to suspend her very funny but judgmental quips if she believes the topic is worth exploring. If Handler’s announcements and interviews for the show are any indication, she believes Chelsea is worth exploring. And, as we’ve seen through Handler’s dynamic past, if Handler thinks something is worth doing, then it’s going to be unique, funny, and raunchy, yes, but it’s also going to be great. Welcome back to late night, Chelsea. We’ve missed you.
Stream Chelsea on Netflix starting tomorrow, May 11, at 12:01 a.m.
