Chelsea Lately

Chelsea Lately
Genre	Talk show
Written by	Chelsea Handler Tom Brunelle Sue Murphy Brad Wollack Heather McDonald Chris Franjola Jen Kirkman Fortune Feimster Jeff Wild Dean Ward Ian Karmel
Directed by	Jim Yukich
Starring	Chelsea Handler
Narrated by	Mike Rock
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	1048
Production
Executive producer(s)	Chelsea Handler Tom Brunelle Sue Murphy Gary Snoodnian Brad Wollack
Producer(s)	Daniel Isaacson Tyler Spindel
Camera setup	Multiple
Running time	22 to 24 minutes
Production company(s)	Borderline Amazing Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	E!
Picture format	480i (16:9 SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	July 16, 2007 (2007-07-16) – present
Chronology
Preceded by	The Chelsea Handler Show
Related shows	After Lately
External links
Website

Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions. It is taped at Universal Studios Stage 1 in Universal City, California.^[1] In American markets, the show airs at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and 8:00 p.m. Pacific time^[2] but is recorded at 3:30 p.m. PT, usually the same day. Chelsea Lately carries a TV-14 rating due to explicit language, strong sexual situations and suggestive references.^[3]

On November 15, 2011, it was announced that the show's run has been extended through 2014.^[4]

The series has one spin-off, After Lately, a behind-the-scenes mockumentary, which premiered on March 6, 2011.

History

Handler was approached to host her own late night talk show while she was going out with the head of Comcast (E!'s parent company),^[5] but stated she was skeptical of the idea of her own show.^[6] Chelsea Lately premiered on July 17, 2007, at 11:30 p.m.

Chelsea Lately has been renewed through 2014.^[7]

On October 15, 2012, Chelsea Lately relocated from the Westside Media Center Studios in West Los Angeles, a facility formerly used by E! sister network G4 to record Attack of the Show and whose set was adapted to Chelsea Lately with only background changes and the addition of audience seating, to a completely new set in Stage 1 at Universal Studios Hollywood, which had been used by The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien during its short seven-month run.^[8] When the series moved to a new studio, the opening theme was changed to a new version composed by Pharrell.

Episode format

Original Chelsea Lately intertitle

Chelsea Lately is presented in a half-hour format, and is broadcast Monday through Friday at 11:00 p.m ET/PT, although the Friday show is frequently a re-run. Chelsea Lately opens cold and Handler performs a short stand-up monologue. The routine is usually focused on a topic from pop culture or current events, and may include a video clip or other visual aid. Over the opening credits, the announcer presents the topics of discussion and the show's guest, then makes a comment about something totally irrelevant.

After the open, Handler will introduce the round table panel of three guests consisting of some combination of comedians, actors, or staff members. She lastly introduces the show regular, her assistant Chuy Bravo (born Jesus Melgoza)^[9] who sits in his own chair near the edge of the studio's stage. Handler then discusses the goings on in pop culture with the round table members, occasionally including Chuy whose comments are always one-liner jokes. After the round table ends, if there is a sketch in the episode, it plays next. Then, after returning from a commercial break, Handler interviews a celebrity guest (or guests) for about six minutes each show. The show then closes with either another very short monologue (essentially Handler delivering a one-liner) or with a small segment like "Fat Baby" with pictures shown for comedic value. Handler and her sidekick Chuy then usually interact with the audience as the closing credits and music plays.

Handler's "assistant", Chuy Bravo, along with sitting across from the round table, often participates alongside Handler in video segments for the show.

Round table regulars

Ratings

As of 2011, Chelsea Lately averaged 960,000 viewers per episode^[10] and attracts more women aged 18 to 34 than The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Last Call with Carson Daly.^[11]

As of October 2011, the highest-rated episode of Chelsea Lately garnered 1.8 million viewers: this was the October 10, 2011, episode hosted by Ross Mathews featuring Kendra and Hank Baskett, following the Kardashian wedding special.^[12]

It was announced on August 6, 2013, that Lindsay Lohan's guest host appearance on Chelsea Lately' became the most watched episode since October 2012 by acquiring 890,000 total viewers.^[13]

Guest hosts

Due to sickness, injury or holidays, Handler has been unable to host some episodes, calling for guest hosts to stand in. In the past, frequent "round table" panelists Ross Mathews, Josh Wolf and Fortune Feimster have guest-hosted, with Mathews receiving very positive reviews.^[14]

Since July 2012, there have been several celebrity guest hosts during various episodes:

• Comedian/actor Wanda Sykes guest-hosted on July 30, 2012, while Handler was in London.
• Comedic actor Kevin Hart guest-hosted on July 31 and August 1, 2012, while Handler was in London.
• Actor/comedian Dax Shepard guest-hosted on August 2, 2012, while Handler was in London.^[15]
• Australian comedic actor Rebel Wilson guest-hosted on September 7, 2012. Wilson's time as guest host was not due to Handler's unavailability to shoot the episode, but rather at Wilson's request to host. Handler reversed her role and was the celebrity guest interviewed by Wilson on this episode.
• As part of the show's "Celebrity Guest Host Week", the first week of December 2012 had episodes guest-hosted by television personality Amanda De Cadenet, actress/singer Kristin Chenoweth, comedic actress Casey Wilson, and musician Dave Grohl.^[16]
• In February 2013, Grohl returned to host for a week that included an interview with Elton John.^[17]
• The three Kardashian sisters, Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé, and their mother Kris Jenner guest hosted on April 8, 2013. This was a planned event, though it's unclear if it was arranged by Handler and the Kardashians or by the mother network where they all work.^[18]
• Actress Lindsay Lohan guest-hosted on August 5, 2013, only 6 days after being released from her court-ordered 90-day incarceration period.

Specials and spin-offs

After Lately

After Lately is a semi-scripted parody of a reality show (in the vein of shows such as The Larry Sanders Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm) in which the various cast members, writers, crew, and even 'hangers-on' of Chelsea Lately are shown bickering and arguing over mostly trivial and petty matters, and competing for show air time and personal approval from Chelsea. Handler herself usually appears in very few scenes of the program and is always portrayed as having open and utter disdain for everyone beneath her. The series premiered on March 6, 2011, and consisted of eight episodes.^[19] After Lately was renewed for a second season on May 5, 2011,^[20] and for a third season on April 27, 2012.^[21]

Comedians of Chelsea Lately

A special titled Comedians of Chelsea Lately premiered on August 14, 2009 and lasted four weeks. The special consisted of Chelsea Lately round-table regulars such as Loni Love, Jo Koy, and others performing their comedy standup routines. The standup routines lasted for about 6 to 9 minutes in length. The first airing of the special had round-table regulars Guy Branum, Sarah Colonna, and Chris Franjola performing.

Chelsea Lately Bloopers

A Chelsea Lately special entitled Chelsea Lately Bloopers aired on December 22, 2009. It featured new bloopers, deleted scenes, and outtakes from the round table and guest interviews.

Controversy

During the June 20, 2011, episode, while discussing Amy Winehouse's poorly received performance at a concert in Belgrade, Handler read a statement by Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac calling Winehouse's performance a "shame and a disappointment". Handler then stated, "Well, so is your country".^[22] The comment has since drawn criticism, with requests for Handler to apologize for the comment. A Facebook page and change.org petition have also been created calling for a boycott of Handler and E! until a public apology is given. Handler has yet to officially comment on the matter, but has on a number of occasions acknowledged on the show that she is no longer well received there.^[22]

On June 25, 2011, Serbian Ambassador to the United States Vladimir Petrović sent a letter to Bonnie Hammer, president of NBCUniversal Cable (which oversees the E! network), describing Handler's act as "inappropriate, distasteful, and just plain bad humor".^[23]

According to an E! rep, a false request was reported in January 2013 claiming Comcast (which owns NBC and E!) warned Handler and the show's staff not to make any more jokes about the Today hosts.^[24]

International broadcasts

In contrast to the rest of Europe, the UK version of E! shows Chelsea Lately on a daily basis. The E! feed to the UK also includes same day productions The Soup and the full 30 minute version E! News which are not shown elsewhere in Europe.

Chelsea Lately is also broadcast daily on the E! Network in Australia, and New Zealand. Chelsea Lately was broadcast in Canada on E! Entertainment System through September 2009 and beginning in November 2010, on CTVglobemedia's Star! Network.

Region	Network(s)	Regional Title
Arab world	E!	Chelsea Lately
Argentina	E!	Chelsea Lately
Australia	E! Australia	Chelsea Lately
Brazil	E! Brazil	Chelsea Lately
Canada	E! Canada	Chelsea Lately
Chile	E! Latino	Chelsea Lately
Colombia	E! Latino	Chelsea Lately
Ecuador	E! Latino	Chelsea Lately
Europe	E! Europe	Chelsea Lately
Ireland	E! Ireland	Chelsea Lately
Israel	E! Israel	Chelsea Lately
Mexico	E! Latino	Chelsea Lately
New Zealand	E! New Zealand	Chelsea Lately
Peru	E! Latino	Chelsea Lately
Poland	E! Poland	Chelsea Nocną Porą
Serbia	E! Serbia	Chelsea Lately
South Africa	E! South Africa	Chelsea Lately
United Kingdom	E! United Kingdom	Chelsea Lately
United States/Puerto Rico	E!	Chelsea Lately

Awards

See also

• The Chelsea Handler Show
• List of late-night American network TV programs
• Feaster

References

External links

• Official website
• Chelsea Lately at the Internet Movie Database
• Chelsea Lately at TV.com