Chelsea Handler has a deal in place with an entertainment company she feels proud to call home. In an interview with Re/code, the comedienne and author revealed how different it is working with Netflix compared of E! Entertainment, and discussed her upcoming talk show with the streaming video company.
For seven years, Handler hosted the talk show Chelsea Lately on E!. Handler said her experience there was like being back in junior high, with “people running around, throwing food, making jokes about celebrities that are stupid. And I’m so much smarter than that show was, and I wanted to be on a show that was smarter than I was.”
After Chelsea Lately ended, the comedienne told Re/code she took three months off to read books and stop using social media. She even considered not coming back to entertainment at all, because she didn’t “want to have to read The New York Post, or pick up a Star magazine to read about Bruce Jenner — I don’t care.”
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But so far, Handler is loving her relationship with Netflix. The host signed on with Netflix in June 2014 to release at least four docu-comedy specials as well as a new talk show for 2016. Handler explained the refreshing nature of Netflix’s conduct and support during the entire production process. “It’s nice to be involved in a show where I do respect their opinions,” Handler said. “It’s like going out with a guy that you’re proud to be seen with.”
Now, Handler and Netflix have been working to develop the format of her upcoming talk show to ensure it’s definitely smarter yet still as funny as E!’s Chelsea Lately. Handler told Re/code there’s no clear idea of what the show will look like yet, but she does know she doesn’t “want it to be just my audience that was at E!. I want to grow up.”
Handler then explained how she’d like her “grown up” Netflix talk show to be something like 60 Minutes but “faster, quicker, cooler.” The comedienne wants to cover topics from around the world, including both global news as well as more local human-interest stories. “I want correspondents going out in the field, getting information,” Handler noted. “And I don’t necessarily need it to be the same thing. It could be three nights a week. We have a lot of conversations about it.”
Handler’s talk show is set to debut on Netflix sometime in 2016. Until then, you can watch her comedy special Uganda Be Kidding Me Live, which debuted on the streaming platform on October 10, 2014.
