The leading Internet TV service has snagged a monster of a deal via its multi-tiered contract with funny woman Chelsea Handler for a bundle of exclusive content spread over the next two years, including a talk show set for an early 2016 premiere. The talk show will somewhat resemble the star’s current late night talk show Chelsea Lately, the final episode of which will air on E! this August and bring its seven-year run to a close. The new talk show features Handler’s signature guest interviews and “unfiltered opinions on topical entertainment and cultural issues,” but it will end up having an updated format, according to a Netflix statement detailing the agreement.
The release notes that the buxom late night beauty – with her trademark vulgar self-deprecation – has said her desire to branch away from the expected was a primary motivator in approaching Netflix. ““If I was going to continue working in this industry, I knew I had to do something outside the box to keep myself interested,” Handler says. “I wanted to sit with the cool kids at lunch, so I approached Netflix to make sure they were as cool as I thought they were, and when I confirmed my suspicions, like with any other future lover, I made my move. I’’m more excited than I’’ve been in a while, and the team at Netflix is the most forward-thinking, alert group I’’ve sat down with in ages. No offense to the Shahs Of Sunset.”
Handler will kick the deal off on October 10 with a one-hour stand-up act based on her sold-out Uganda Be Kidding Me Live tour – Handler is set to tape the special performance at the Harris Theater in Chicago tomorrow, June 20th. Up next will be four individual docu-comedy format specials, each “featuring her efforts to gain a better understanding on a variety of subjects ranging from NASCAR to politics and from Silicon Valley to the NBA Draft.” The four specials will be spread throughout 2015. And finally, after about a year without the irreverence and innuendo they have come to depend on each weeknight, Handler’s fans will get back the only woman in late night TV when she returns to the talk show format in early 2016.
Netflix and Handler have both been tight-lipped in regards to how the show will air – will the streaming service throw one episode onto the site each week, or will it stay the course and drop a week, a month or a season of the show at a time?
Only time will tell.
[image: Helga Esteb/Shutterstock]
