MartinHafer While "Chappelle's Show" was occasionally uneven (which is true of any skit comedy show), the successful skits easily predominated. But the reason I liked the show so much was because it was so brave and honest--particularly when it came to race. Chappelle's program was the only show on television that talked openly and honestly about race--something ALL folks need to do in this ultra-politically correct world. But even more importantly, these supposedly offensive skits were hilarious and worked. Plus, no one I know felt offended by them--particularly the wonderful skit about the blind black man who hated blacks because he didn't realize he was black! Another great one was his getting the seemingly white bread Wayne Brady on his show for an insanely funny skit! Brave...and insanely funny. Probably NOT a show for kids but wonderfully entertaining.

sthapns247 Comedy Central is usually hit or miss. Sometimes they have shows that start out very good, but lose their lust along the way (RENO 911). However, once in a while they strike gold, and this was one of those shows. Up until this show Dave Chappelle had little fame. Sure, he was in Half Baked, but not that many people have even seen Half Baked. At any rate, he is now probably one of the most famous people in America, and for good reason. He and co-writer Neal Brennan have created a show with a formula that allows them to do just about anything they want whenever they want and it is as close to genius as a modern TV show has come.These two comedians have accomplished more in 2 seasons than South Park accomplished in 6. Outside of a few near misses, this show is funny with everything it does. It is a political, social, racial, and every other comedy out there; it parodies everything almost perfectly. I do not think you can find a kid anywhere in America who doesn't know what, "I'm Rick James, bitch!" comes from. The only parts I do not like are the musical guests, but that is because I am not a hip-hop fan, but it is very easy to ignore.9/10 Brilliant!

michael_the_nermal I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of this skit comedy show. Chappelle is an okay comedian who occasionally make me laugh hard, but the yuks are mostly wanting in this particular program. The worst skit is ironically the most popular: "The Rick James Story." Chappelle looks and sounds nothing like Rick James, and his catchphrase has become overused ad nauseum in the real world. Other unfunny skits include the crack addict, Popcopy and the racist TV animals. This is not to say the show is a total loss. Paul Mooney's "Negrodamus" monologues are pretty funny, and I sort of liked that "blind, black KKK member" skit. One inspired bit was having the vanilla Steve Harvey play some creepy crook. For the most part, "Chappelle's Show" is a below-average skit comedy with some inspired moments. I will say that it is far superior to other swill that Comedy Central sees fit to broadcast, such as Adam Carolla's talk show, The Man Show, Crossballs, and the worst of the bunch, reruns of the putrid MAD TV.Paul Mooney, one of the writers, has done better work on the excellent skit comedy show "In Living Color." He should write for and bring his "Negrodamus" skit to "Saturday Night Live." I'd watch it then.

liquidcelluloid-1 Network: Comedy Central; Genre: Sketch, Comedy; Content Rating: TV-14 (for strong language, strong sexual content and graphic scatological humor); Available: on Uncensored DVD; Perspective: Cult Classic (star range: 1 - 5); Season Reviewed: 2 seasons Dave Chappelle walks out onto stage to the exuberant cheering of an audience already in the palm of his hand. From the very beginning we see Chappelle is a comedian in his element. He has done it. He's tamed the sketch comedy series and made it his own - a genre that has eaten alive the most talented comics from Dana Carvey to Cedric the Entertainer. A genre that the rotating casts of "SNL" and "Mad TV" has never quite been able to generate excitement for. He's not just tamed it, he's made it cool.The reason "Chappelle's Show" is such a rousing success is as simple as the title. This is his show in every facet, done his way. With a combination of Chappelle's own wit, a network giving him the freedom to do what he wants and a short 18 minute running time, "Chappelle" brings the comedian's warped vision to life. It is laugh-out-loud, catch-your-breath funny. As unflinchingly provocative, viciously scatological and anti-PC as comedy should be, Chappelle pokes the critics again and again, daring them to scream "racism".From the stage, Chappelle introduces pre-produced sketches, some of which are so elaborate that a single bit spans the entire length of the episode feeling like a series itself. Where "SNL" just tires out after a while and other sketch shows can be wildly hit and miss, nearly every sketch in "Chappelle" finds the funny somewhere. Even the more typical sketches, like relationship jokes and a very funny "Pop Copy" instructional video, hit the nail on the head.But the silver bullet in the chamber is the show's take on racial politics. "Chappelle" is thick with the classic "White People Do This/ Black People Do That" joke, only stretched a thousand different directions and re-invented for the new millennium. Chappelle's material has more layers than an onion, a monumental leap over the type of "Cops are always pulling me over" lines that lamer comedians are always falling back on. Chappelle and co-creator Neil Brennenn shape the show into a sharp comic dagger and aims it right between the eyes.Is Chappelle angry? You better believe it. And not just at white people. In the same breath he can make the case for why black people should get reparations and then shows us all the ways black people would just waste the money on, He takes a razors edge to a sacred media subject, flips it inside out and shows everyone how silly everything is. We get the sense Chappelle really believes every point he makes, but just as the sketch is about to roll into something harsh or more real, Chappelle sidesteps into gaffes and sex jokes making everything so convoluted you're mind might spin searching for his agenda.Many points about racial relations get muddled in the pursuit of great comedy, such as a bit showing if President Bush was black or the lengthy "The Mad Real World" bit - a "Real World" parody where a house of black people spend the entire time acting like prison thugs and torturing a white boy. A few of the bits are just duds, namely the drug jokes and Chappelle's attempt to launch crack-head Tyrone Bigguns as a recurring character.My biggest complain with "Chappelle" is the way it fills out seasons with "Mix Tape" Best Of episodes and fills episodes with musical guests - granted the jam sessions are put together in ways new enough to keep me reaching for the remote. But for the most part the sketches are cleverly written and unfold to a clear purpose. The show has a higher hit/miss ratio than any others.Chappelle himself gives an effortlessly smashing performance, immersing himself in a variety of characters for each sketch. He's helped by a roster of great guest stars and cameos from the likes of Arsenio Hall and Jamie Foxx. None better than Wayne Brady, who pokes fun at his squeaky clean image in a classic sketch.The series opens with Chappelle as black blind Klansman, Clayton Bigsby. The sketch builds to one of the most raucous climaxes you can imagine. Other favorites include "Ask a Black Dude" with a hysterical Paul Mooney, a vulgar riff on the "Jamie Kennedy Experiment", the "Racial Draft" where races pick celebrities to represent them (you'd just have to see it), hilarious outtakes from "Roots", a fantasy of Chappelle impregnating Oprah Winfrey several jokes about R. Kelly's infamous videotape.The show hits a high unlike any I've seen - ever - recreating in "E! True Hollywood Stories" fashion the adventures of staff writer Charlie Murphy, whose association with his brother Eddie led him to several run-ins with celebrities back in the 80s. One, a game of basketball with Prince (Chappelle) in which Murphy (in a cheap afro wig) calls the game between "the shirts and the blouses". Then there is that little comic virtuoso about a feud between Murphy and Rick James, featuring James himself, that has becomes such a deserving classic. An entire episode, the sketch recreates with slow-motion seriousness every inane conflict between the two that which includes a couch, a slap-fight and a Bruce Lee jump-kick. It is one of the most insane and consistently fall-down funny half hours of TV in recent memory.This young, boundlessly energetic, high-pitched screaming comedian has done things with this show I didn't think where possible before. "Chappelle's Show" is a runaway juggernaut that hits it into the rafters. When it all ends, Chappelle is back on the stage to get an applause and standing ovation from a crowd that rightly senses that they are in on something great here.* * * * ½ / 5