Chappelle's Show: Season Two - DVD Review

You've probably heard of a little sketch show named after its perfectionist, occasionally reclusive star, Dave Chappelle. Really, if you haven't at least heard of one of the biggest pop culture icons of the last decade, I'm surprised you found your way to the internet. They have DSL under rocks? Seriously though, we all know how much of an impact Chappelle's Show, and its original DVD had on the television comedy marketplace. That 50 million dollar deal for the show's namesake was largely due to the success of the first season's DVD. The first season was such a hit, becoming the highest selling TV DVD in history that it bumped up the popularity of the show on Comedy Central. The popularity of original broadcasts of television shows have naturally influenced sales of their DVD sets but with Chappelle's Show, the popularity of the DVD set impacted the cultural status of a show still on the air. It has arguably changed the market forever with DVDs coming faster and faster on the heels of current shows, trying to get viewers to tune in every week.

Luckily for all the Chappelle fans, who have already made this the TV DVD with the highest opening day sales in history, Paramount, Comedy Central, and Dave himself do not disappoint. With a show this popular, it would be easy to just throw the episodes on to the discs and wait for loyal fans to scoop it up. But the team behind Chappelle's Show: Season Two took their time and went all out with audio commentaries, deleted scenes, extra stand-up, and even a few more stories from Charlie Murphy (the man whose memories of Rick James changed comedy last year). Chappelle and co-creator feel easy and relaxed on their audio commentaries, enjoying the show again and commenting on what they were going for. Considering the rumors that it was Dave's perfectionist attitude that led him to run away from Season Three of the show, it's odd to hear him so laid back and yet still confidently funny. You want to shake him and say, "don't worry so much, you've got a natural gift."

Regardless of the nice extras on this package, that natural gift really shines through on the sketches over anything else. The deleted scenes are funny at points but get a little tiresome and Charlie Murphy's stories are much funnier with reenactments. As with the best of television, the meat of this package isn't in the extras. No one's getting wasted this weekend and watching extra Chappelle stand-up or bloopers but hundreds of college kids will be enjoying Prince making pancakes, the racial draft, and Lil Jon impressions all Sunday long. Re-watching season two, you realize that it's even better than you remember. The pacing is crisper without the Comedy Central commercials to interrupt things and you realize just how many risks Chappelle was taking with his writing. Watch an episode of another current sketch comedy series like SNL or Mad TV before you sample this DVD and the contrast will blow you away. Like any comedy pioneer, Chappelle takes chances. They don't always work (no sketch comedy show in history always works) but the risk is worth it for the occasional reward.

In between the laughs, there's a tinge of sadness watching season two of Chappelle's Show. Reports are that Dave may never come back to the Comedy Central fray. This could be it. If it is, the legend of the show will undoubtedly grow into pop culture mythology, as all things are that end too soon. Audiences never got a chance to grow tired of Chappelle. If this is truly the end, the show will be put on an enormous pedestal, strengthened by the ideas of what could have been (something that happens all the time when musicians leave us too soon or bands break up too early). It will truly be sad if something this smart and edgy doesn't fill the void left by Mr. Chappelle soon, but even if we're forced back to typically cookie cutter comedy television, we'll always have this DVD to keep us laughing.