History Series / ChappellesShow

Creator/ComedyCentral sketch comedy show, starring comedian-turned-actor Creator/DaveChappelle, in two (or two-and-a-half) short seasons. It is mainly known for spawning a slew of catchphrases (including the above mentioned Rick James quote) and became one of the poster boys for being too good to last.

A stealth hit (Chappelle joked in a season two promo that the show was only renewed because Comedy Central needed a show to fill in time on the schedule until ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'' came back), the series came into its own with its second season, becoming a massive ratings and critical hit. As such, there was much hype and anticipation for the show's third season as Dave signed a massive contract with Comedy Central that granted him a large paycheck and a considerable cut of DVD sales for the show. It was smooth sailing for the show from there on in...

[[WhatCouldHaveBeen Or at least that might've been the case]], as it was reported that Chappelle went missing after filming three episodes worth of sketches for his show, ultimately resurfacing in South Africa, while the season three premiere date came and went with no show in sight.

As fans would find out, Dave Chappelle had become disillusioned with fame and the show: his edgy, in-your-face racial humor was being [[ModernMinstrelsy taken at face value by his now predominately white fanbase]], culminating in him coming to the conclusion that he had become the very thing he was mocking with his racially charged material. Adding to this was [[ExecutiveMeddling Comedy Central, who had given the show free rein for seasons one and two, suddenly sticking their noses into the production of the program]] and Chappelle falling out with Neal Brennan, Dave's partner and co-creator of ''Chappelle's Show'', who was more concerned with keeping the gravy train running than with his crisis (although Neal and others argue that this wasn't the case).

Comedy Central, tired of waiting, ultimately aired the filmed sketches as "the Lost Episodes" with introductions from Chappelle's co-stars, Creator/CharlieMurphy and Donnell Rawlings. This did not go over well with Dave, who felt betrayed since he had told Comedy Central repeatedly that any deal to have him come back would hinge on the sketches he had filmed never seeing the light of day. This effectively ended the series, as Dave has since returned to doing stand-up full time and leaving fans with the memories of the show and what could have been. Meanwhile, Comedy Central has tried to continue the format of minority led stand-up and sketch series, resulting in ToughActToFollow for Chappelle and Comedy Central, and perceived cases of FollowTheLeader for Comedy Central and future shows, whether or not these are accurate.

* BoomerangBigot: The skit "Black White Supremacist" featured a blind black man, named Clayton Bigsby, who grew up in an orphanage, unaware of his own race and became a prominent white supremacist writer and Klan leader. His best friend makes sure he is never seen in public out of his robes and doesn't tell him he's black out of fear that [[DrivenToSuicide he will kill himself just for the sake of having one less black person in the world]]. He does eventually find out that he is black and after a while he comes to accept it, although [[RefugeInAudacity he still divorces his wife for being a "nigger-lover"]].

* DrugsAreBad: Semi-parodied with Tyrone Biggums, who is "the kookiest crackhead in the town." His behavior includes smoking rocks, winning ''Series/FearFactor'' by not being surprised with the stunts, promoting a energy drink made with cocaine which leads him to ''lift up a bus just to get a penny'' and break out of prison through the wall, and stealing someone's lunch money for his crack fix.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Season 1 had a skit where Dave showed the consequences of what would happen if reparations for slavery were actually sent out, i.e. if the black community suddenly found itself quite wealthy. These consequences included chicken shooting up to $600 a bucket, 800 record labels being started in a hour, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and Colin Powell bitch-slapping Dick Cheney]]. The idea was [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] at the same time, however, with Sprint's stock going up after thousands of delinquent phone bills were paid off and the crime rate falling to 0%.

** Rick James (played by Dave), in the third part of the sketch about him, makes a string of ching chong noises after announcing the name of the bar he was at, the "China Club".

* In a skit about the blind, black [[BoomerangBigot white supremacist]] Clayton Bigsby, the character refers to this at one point when talking about Chinese people.
* Rick James (played by Dave), in the third part of the sketch about him, makes a string of ching chong noises after announcing the name of the bar he was at, the "China Club".

* ChingChong: In a skit about the blind, black [[BoomerangBigot white supremacist]] Clayton Bigsby, the character refers to this at one point when talking about Chinese people.

* CapitalismIsBad: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0sh4bzB-2E "WacArnold's" skit]] satirizes some of UsefulNotes/McDonalds commercials by showing a young African-American man named Calvin who gets a job at the [=McDonald's=] erstaz while the narrator explains the benefits of working at the company in a set of commercials. Though with each commercial, it portrays it in a less appealing manner: one woman who had congratulated Calvin had died from eating cheap, high cholesterol foods from [=WacArnold=]'s; his Black majority neighborhood's economic well-being is no better than it was prior to the [=WacArnold=]'s restaurant opening; and Calvin can't adequately care for his family on his minimum wage job.

* DefiantTillTheEnd: Even as he's having both of his legs broken by the Murphy brothers, Rick James ''never'' stops hurling insults at them.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1chappelles_show.png]]

->''"I'm Rick James, bitch!"''

* TokenWhite: When Chappelle brings up how ''The Real World'' always puts one black guy around six of the craziest white people the show can find, he decides to reverse the roles in a sketch titled ''The Mad Real World.'' ([[{{Joisey}} Trenton!]]) True to form, Chad, the sole white guy in the house is terrorized to no end by the blacks living with him; including but not limited to having his girlfriend stolen from him and his dad getting stabbed.

-->"NO I CAN'T STOP YELLING, CAUSE THAT'S HOW I TALK! HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN MY MOVIES?! [[{{Juice}} JUICE?!]] THAT WAS A GOOD ONE! [[Film/DeepBlueSea DEEP BLUE SEA?!]] THEY ATE ME, A FUCKING SHARK ATE ME! DRINK, BITCH! [[Film/JurassicPark JURASSIC PARK?!]]"

[[quoteright:300:[[Creator/SamuelLJackson https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sam__jackson_01.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"Good muthafuckin' choice, muthafuckers!"]]

Comedy Central, tired of waiting, ultimately aired the filmed sketches as "the Lost Episodes" with introductions from Chappelle's co-stars, Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. This did not go over well with Dave, who felt betrayed since he had told Comedy Central repeatedly that any deal to have him come back would hinge on the sketches he had filmed never seeing the light of day. This effectively ended the series, as Dave has since returned to doing stand-up full time and leaving fans with the memories of the show and what could have been. Meanwhile, Comedy Central has tried to continue the format of minority led stand-up and sketch series, resulting in ToughActToFollow for Chappelle and Comedy Central, and perceived cases of FollowTheLeader for Comedy Central and future shows, whether or not these are accurate.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Dave comments after his first "A Moment in the Life of Lil' Jon" skit that Music/LilJon does this when the song "Get Low" plays on the radio, since it contains the word "skeet".
--> '''Dave:''' And you know what the most dope thing about "skeet" is? White people don't know what it means yet. When they figure it out, they're going to be like, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "My God, what have we done?"]]
** Also, after the "Ask a Black Dude with Paul Mooney" segment, Dave laughingly claims, "Nigga, I'm gonna get canceled for sure!" Sure, the show wasn't actually ''canceled'' per se, but considering all of the factors contributing to Dave's CreatorBreakdown and him leaving the show, it almost seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy...

* CapitalismIsBad: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0sh4bzB-2E "WacArnold's" skit]] satirizes some of UsefulNotes/McDonalds commercials by showing a young African-American man named Calvin who gets a job at the [=McDonald's=] erstaz while the narrator explains the benefits of working at the company in a set of commercials. Though with each commercial, it portrays it in a less appealing manner: one woman who had congratulated Calvin had died from eating cheap, high cholesterol foods from [=WacArnold=]'s; his Black majority neighborhood's economic well-being is no better than it was prior to the [=WacArnold=] restaurant opening; and Calvin can't adequately care for his family on his minimum wage job.

* IdenticalGrandson: Referenced in the Time Haters skit, when Silky Johnson, Buck Nasty, Beautiful, and Phiuck Yu go back in time to an 1800s plantation, complete with slaves. Then again, it was Charlie Murphy ActingForTwo...

* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Rick James makes a comment about ruining Eddie Murphy's couch that very easily comes off this way, though he might have meant that he did it with purpose rather than just as "something to do". Either way, it sounds ridiculous enough to get a RewindReplayRepeat treatement.

* EmergencyPresidentialAddress: Chappelle mocked ''Film/DeepImpact'' by having his black president give a "SoLongSuckers" speech (in response to a headline of "Asteroid Coming... Black President's Fault") to the nation [[Main/ScrewThisImOuttaHere as he beamed off the doomed Earth]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: Season 1 had a skit where Dave showed the consequences of what would happen if reparations for slavery were actually sent out, i.e. if the black community suddenly found itself quite wealthy. These consequences included chicken shooting up to $600 a bucket, 800 record labels being started in a hour, and Colin Powell bitch-slapping Dick Cheney. The idea was [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] at the same time, however, with Sprint's stock going up after thousands of delinquent phone bills were paid off and the crime rate falling to 0%.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Dave finds a few excuses to do this in several sketches, and a cut scene from ''It's a Wonderful Breast''(available on the DVD) shows one of the company executives doing this.

* BlackBestFriend: Inverted with Neal Brennan, Dave's white best friend.
** So, played straight with Neal Brennan, his BlackBestFriend, Dave.

* ExcrementStatement: Because one could not parody R. Kelly without one at the time.

* ParodyCommercial: A staple of the show--"The Love Contract," "Samuel L. Jackson Beer," ''Series/{{Roots|1977}}'' on DVD with "[[HilariousOuttakes outtakes]]"....

** This is also true of Charlie Murphy's ''True Hollywood Stories''. While the tales themselves are over exaggerated to the extreme for the show, many of the actual events mentioned in Charlie Murphy's monologues were confirmed by both Prince and Rick James in interviews (Rick James even confirmed the Prince story in unreleased interview footage from his episode).

"Go sell some medicine, bitches!"