Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show that airs on the E! television network, and is notable for host comedienne Chelsea Handler's sarcastic approach to the format. It premiered on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, as a successor to the mini-series The Chelsea Handler Show . It is taped in Los Angeles, California, and the set was formerly used by a show on E!'s sister network G4, Attack of the Show! before G4's move to the E! Building in early 2007.
In March 2009, it was announced that the show's run has been extended into 2012. In mid-February 2009, the network moved up the premiere airing to 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Starting on May 18, 2009, the show moved to taping with new 16:9 cameras and is currently presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio though it still originates in Standard Definition. The High Definition version is up-converted from the Standard Definition feed. Chelsea Lately is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions. It is taped in Los Angeles, California.
Handler was approached to host her own late night talk show after the success and popularity the sketch comedy show The Chelsea Handler Show . Handler stated she was skeptical of the idea of her own show.
Chelsea Lately premiered on July 17, 2007 on 11:30PM, in the series premiere, Handler discusses female "happy endings," the most annoying celebrity couples, reality television, and more. She also talks with guest Steve-O, takes audience questions, and plays "Who Would You Rather Have Sex With?" with people on the LA streets.
The show has been renewed to 2012. The show starts at 11:00PM (eastern) before popular other late night shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live , Late Night with Jimmy Fallon among others.
Chelsea Lately is presented in a half-hour format, and is broadcast Monday to Friday at 11:00 p.m. The show opens with a short monologue by Handler. There is usually a panel of three comedians, actors, etc. who discuss the goings on in pop culture on what Handler refers to as the "round table".
Round table regulars include Heather McDonald, John Caparulo, Jen Kirkman, Loni Love, Brody Stevens, Jason Kennedy, Giuliana Rancic, Arden Myrin, Natasha Leggero, Whitney Cummings, Kevin Hart, T. J. Miller, George Wallace, Conor Knighton, Guy Branum, Jo Koy, Ross Mathews, Josh Wolf, Chris Franjola, Michael Yo, Lavell Crawford, Chris Hardwick, Brad Wollack, Jim Norton, Gary Valentine, Sarah Colonna, Hyla Matthews, Randy and Jason Sklar, Ben Gleib, Kim Coles, Carrot Top, and Billy Gardell as well as a variety of other E! correspondents, such as Ashlan Gorse and Ken Baker.
Handler has an assistant, Chuy Bravo, who sits across from the round table, often interviewing the studio audience and participating alongside Handler in video segments for the show.
Handler is known to have displayed a dislike for celebrities Zac Efron, Tori Spelling, Tyra Banks, Jonas Brothers, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, John Mayer, Melissa Rivers, Joan Rivers, Joey Fatone, Jeremy Piven, Kim Catrall, Kanye West, Sean Penn, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, David Hasselhoff, Brooke Shields, Billy Bob Thornton, Shannon Doherty, and Lindsay Lohan amongst others, as well as non-celebrities Snooki,Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Nadya Suleman and Heather Mills. In mid-2009, she stated that she would no longer refer to Spencer Pratt or Heidi Montag by name, and instead calls them "Herpes 1" and "Herpes 2." Sometimes, however, celebrities who she often jokes about appear on the show and are credited for "being a good sport", such as Lisa Rinna, Aubrey O'Day, Michael Lohan, Denise Richards, Antonio Sabato, Jr., and Daisy de la Hoya (the last of whom Handler had once stated she never wanted to see again until she was booked as a guest on the show). Handler has also made fun of Miley Cyrus, but has now confessed to being a fan of hers after a controversial dance Cyrus did on the Teen Choice Awards.
Handler's assistant, Chuy Bravo participates in many of Chelsea Lately segments and sketches. He usually has a starring role or costars with Chelsea. Others who are in these popular sketches include round table regulars.
There have been occasional in-set performances. These include Ray J performing his hit song "Sexy Can I" and Natasha Bedingfield performing "Pocketful of Sunshine".
There have also been animals brought in on set when Handler interviewed Animal Planet personality Dave Salmoni and Australian park ranger Stacey Thomson. In both instances, Handler reacted in fear to the reptiles both guests brought on the show, which included a Burmese python and a juvenile saltwater crocodile.
The show 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, as well as the show's guest.
After the open, Handler will introduce the round table panel of three people, usually comedians, who discuss topics from popular culture. Then, Handler interviews celebrity guests for about six minutes each show.
The show closes with another monologue, where Handler delivers a one-liner or story, and presents small segments like "Fat Ass Baby," with pictures for comedic value. The show ends with Handler and Bravo interacting with the audience.
Chelsea Lately has various recurring comedic segments that follow the round table and precede the guest interview, or are incorporated into Handler's opening monologue.
Impersonations and skit characters that are done by Handler are usually people or characters that receive a large amount of fame or appear in pop culture an large amount of time. Such impersonated characters include Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan among others. These characters are used in
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