Dave Chappelle: The Lost

Dave Chappelle the lost episodes returned to television tonight. It was funny but not as funny as if Dave was on the show. The skits seem empty without him joking with the audience in between them.

It was appropriate that there was a Tupac skit that made fun of how often Tupac songs come out, and how many think they are relevant to today’s times. I say appropriate because the Dave Chappelle Lost Episodes Season was a lot like the Post death Tupac albums. It is a hallow imitation of the once brilliant artist that could be lost to us in that medium. Sure the old stuff still stands as excellent but it seems like the magic is gone without the benefit of their physical presence. It helps you to understand the actual gravity that personalities like the late great Shakur, and now Dave lent to their material. Dave was an affable guy, whose stand up gives you the impression that he just walked up to you in the supermarket and started telling jokes. His stage routine is like sitting around and playing video games with your best friend whose commentary is spot on hilarious. Without Dave in the room the show just seems like the dropping he left behind. It is like Puffy carving up Biggie outtakes just to squeeze a few more bucks out of a lost legacy. It is sad, and on the one hand I feel like I will take what I can get, but on the other I feel like I am selling the good memories short by continuing to follow this pap.

So, I caught the show. I would review it but I just don’t want to. I remember the first time I found out that Dave was going to have a show. Nicole was living in the apartment in West Wood, the one with the tremendous view of the city. I have loved Dave Chappelle since Robin Hood Men in Tights, which is a glaringly awful movie, but saw him interview for it when it came out and I thought, hey that guy is funny. My friends and I all have running gags from his whole stand up routines like “sprinkle some crack on him and let’s get out of here.” When I heard he was going to have a comedy show I knew I was in for the long haul. I remember hearing those old guys belt the anthem at the beginning and Chappelle walked out and I knew I was in for something magical. The first season rocked, the second season rocked, kicked aysh and then drove me to the hospital and paid for the damages. This illicit third season seems like a bad third date that makes you wonder why she’s acting this way after some really stupendous time together. I know it's not like the guy is dead, but there was this part of him that he was willing to share with us for this brief moment and now it's kinda gone, and we aren't likely to get it back. I hate losing things like that.

I have said it before, but I hate losing things. I really hate losing shows that I am in love with when it is wholly unnecessary for them to be cut down in their prime. I have a limited understanding about why Dave left. I have made my peace with that pain. The new episodes only drudges that pain up for one last kick in the crotch. And, as Rollins and Shatner say on Has Been: “I can’t get behind that.”

I guess I'll stick with my season 1 & 2 DVD's