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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Chappelle's Show-Season 3: The Lost Episodes (2006)

Chappelle's Show-Season 3: The Lost Episodes (2006) (NTSC)

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Released 6-Jul-2010

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Audio
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Additional Footage-5 bonus sketches with introductions
Featurette-Making Of
Music Video-2x live performances
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2006
Running Time 68:28
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Rusty Cundieff
Andre Allen
Neal Brennan
Scott Vincent
Studio
Distributor
Comedy Central
Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring None Given
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Jared Gutstadt
Ahmir-Khalib Thompson


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement Yes, blatant enough to be funny in itself.
Action In or After Credits Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle made history when he signed a deal for $55 million to carry on his hit TV show for two more seasons, it's third and fourth. Shortly into production of the first season on that lucrative deal, Chappelle disappeared. Weeks later he re-emerged and for reasons he would immediately share with the world he would not be completing the show. Depending on who you want to believe, he either was kidnapped late at night by Oprah Winfrey and forced to give up on edgy, race related humour or had a bit of a breakdown about how the wider public were receiving his humour and jetted off to Africa to meditate. To recoup some of the loss and fill a big black hole in their schedule, Comedy Central brought in Chappelle’s sidekicks Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings to host three episodes cobbled together from whatever they could put together of material shot for the series (much to Chappelle’s dissatisfaction).

     The resulting episodes are, unsurprisingly, a lot sketchier (woeful pun intended) than the first two seasons. There really is two episodes worth of material dragged across three episodes, making for one great episode (the first, which collates all the sketches lampooning how much money Chappelle was making), one decent but drawn out episode (the third), and one dud (the second, coincidentally the one all about the sketch Chappelle had cited as his breaking point - and by "all" I mean the episode comprises the sketch and ten mind-numbing minutes of audience interviews letting the audience members talk about how the sketch made them feel). Also notably absent from these episodes are live musical performances to cap off episodes, as was the format of the first two seasons (although two feature as extras on the disc).

     Watching the series does feel a bit like picking over a corpse that isn't quite dead yet. There is some very funny stuff in there, particularly in the first episode, but the "pixie sketch" second episode seems crudely exploitative of both Chappelle and the audience. This lot is a must-watch for fans, just don't ever expect to be on Dave Chappelle’s Christmas card list!

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The show is presented in its original 1.33:1 full frame aspect in NTSC.

     The show looks reasonable for a cable TV sketch/variety show produced a few years ago. The image is reasonably sharp and clear. There is a decent level of detail in the shadows. The colours are vibrant and bold. Minor aliasing is noticeable throughout the show, particularly in the live introductions to the sketches. Occasional mild pixilation is also noticeable, but never really bothersome.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) audio track is present. The audio is basic, but of good quality. The dialogue is clear and easy to discern. There is no discernable surround usage and modest subwoofer-level bass in the mix.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     A decent swag of extras, which handle Chappelle’s departure with a reasonable degree of sensitivity.

Unaired Sketches (15:12)

     5 unaired sketches with introductions from Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. The sketches are in various stages of completion and generally in need of either a bit more filming/editing or seem like they were there to fit an incomplete show theme. Well worth a look.

Deleted scenes (7:22)

     Alternate takes and different versions/bits from sketches that made the cut somewhere along the line.

Bloopers (24:47)

     A lot of padding and one or two genuine laughs. Most people would do best to skip it, skip it real good.

Making Of (20:29)

     A making of that largely focuses on pulling the show together after Chappelle’s departure, including a fairly sincere justification of their involvement from Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings; essentially, the show was going ahead with or without them, so they may as well do their best to present the material they were heavily involved with in its best light and they may as well be the chumps to take the paycheque for it happening.

John Legend "Ordinary People" Live Performance (3:29)

     A performance filmed for the show but left on the cutting room floor.

Dead Prez "Hip Hop" live performance (2:39)

     A live performance of the show's opening theme.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This Region 4 release appears to be identical to the Region 1 release, right down to the NTSC formatting.

Summary

    A sad end to a great variety show. Dave Chappelle had some great material in this lot, although only enough for two episodes - and unfortunately this series was drawn out to three.

     Video and audio quality are decent. The extras are quite worthwhile and good in number.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Adam Gould (Totally Biolicious!)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Review Equipment
DVDSony Playstation 3, using HDMI output
DisplayOptoma HD20 Projector. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderPioneer VSX2016AVS. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX2016AVS
Speakers150W DTX front speakers, 100W centre and 4 surround/rear speakers, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub

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