Daily Crack - “Chelsea Lately” E’s Answer to Late Night
Lately, no pun intended I’ve been tuning into “Chelsea Lately,” starring Chelsea Handler as its host. I love late night TV and find myself flipping through the channels to see who’s on, which are repeats, and who might be discussing a topic I find entertaining that day or night. Recently more than not the 11:30pm slot has been going to the E Network and “Chelsea Lately.”
I can’t quite tell you why, as I’m a big fan of Stephen Colbert, and I’m always curious as to who Charlie Rose is interviewing each night, and of course there are always “Family Guy” reruns, but unfortunately I’ve seen most of them. But for some reason I’ve really been enjoying the wit, humor, and banter of this 11:30pm show on the E Network.
I like her round table of comedians and guests that start off the first 15 minutes or so of the show, listening to their refrains and retorts to the topics she feeds them relating mostly to pop culture and pop culture icons. I enjoy seeing the crazy outfits her sidekick Chuy wears be it his plaid pants or some sort of other festive get up, and the symbiotic relationship they have with one another. I like her irreverence. She’s funny, she’s smart, she’s caustic but she’s not cruel, or terribly cruel. She’s got the timing of an excellent comedienne, knows when to cut someone off, and not only makes fun of others but herself as well, at times doing so by bringing up her Jersey roots, or her Jewish father and Mormon mother, and sometimes her older boyfriend.
The show is very loose. After the round table she usually interviews a guest or shows funny sometimes a little too over the top video’s that she and Chuy have made. When interviewing her guests she is very informal. Her guests seem to genuinely like her, and are comfortable revealing themselves to her. She likes to bait them and they usually go for it.
The show has aired on E for a little over a year and I’m told that E has ordered another 150 episodes. You can also see Chelsea Handler do her standup routine. It’s usually listed on the E Network website under her show or you can link from there to her Myspace page, which also lists her live performances other than “Chelsea Lately.” Chelsea Handler has written two books, the first a sort of memoir entitled, “My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands,” and her latest, “Are You There Vodka, It’s Me Chelsea,” which is a collection of humorous essays. Both books have been on New York Times bestsellers list.
So if you find yourself up around 11:30 one weekday night, and you don’t quite know what to do with yourself, give “Chelsea Lately,” a shot and turn on the E Network. Let me know what you think.