Chelsea Handler has lined up her next TV gig and it is the one she’d wanted all along
a talk show on Netflix. After months of negotiations and speculation, the streaming service
has announced a deal with the comedian that includes a talk show, to launch in early 2016,
as well as standup special and four docu-comedy specials.Like her E! late-night show,
which will end its seven-tear run on August 26, the Netflix talker will feature Handler’s
unfiltered opinions on topics of the day as well as guest interviews. It has not been
determined yet what frequency the show will be released with daily, weekly or in-between
with Netflix only noting that it will debut simultaneously in all Netflix territories. “The Internet
has disrupted many of the conventions of traditional television and together with Chelsea
Handler, Netflix is looking forward to reimagining the late night talk show for the on-demand
generation, starting with the late night part….” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
That means that Netflix’s model of delivering content on demand and not tied to a time period
has rendered the late-night label for Handler’s talk show obsolete.
In Handler’s now infamous Howard Stern Show radio interview in March, in which she
called E! “a sad, sad place to live” and “a failure,” Handler suggested that after she leaves
the cable network she would be interested in going to an outlet like Netflix. It was the first time
Handler addressed her plans for the future as her E! contract was coming up, and several
months and a ton of speculation later, she landed at Netflix, giving the streaming service
its first talk show. “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 said. “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 awhile, 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’s very public parting of the ways with E! and as public job search were orchestrated
by well known music manager Irving Azoff, who joined her team, including CAA, in October.
Her pursuit of a new gig got entangled in the late-night changeover at CBS, prompting the
broadcast network to publicly deny that Handler is being considered for a slot. Before she
starts her new talk show, Handler will tape an one-hour stand-up special during the June 20
stop of her tour “Uganda Be Kidding Me” Live in Chicago. It will premiere on Netflix on Oct. 10
Source: Deadline