Chappelle gets the last laugh

Dave Chappelle is an idiot. No, his comedy isn't stupid; in fact it's quite intelligent. But, $50 million?!? Come on man, how do you pass that up? On the other hand Comedy Central is quite smart for releasing "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes" and milking the Chappelle teat for all it's worth.\nIt seems production on the show's third season didn't get very far before Dave took off, so the disc only contains three episodes. And they're measly at that. Without commercials there's about only an hour's worth of footage, but what's there is damn funny. Chappelle has said that one of the main reasons he bailed was the pressure (yeah $50 mil is a lot of pressure) to maintain the show's quality. And while these episodes don't quite measure up to the first two seasons, if they had aired with a full season, viewers probably wouldn't be outraged in disappointment. Several times throughout the first episode Chappelle references his situation and the giant amount of money (and jokes about getting his own cereal and attempting to turn the L'il Jon sketch into a full length movie), so at least the audience is aware that he realizes what rests on his shoulders. So Dave, you were doing fine, why not finish? Oh well, the complaining of a college paper writer isn't going to bring him back…\nSome of the skits of the first episode are pretty short and feel unfinished but that's all solved on the next two episodes. The disc's highlights include a skit where the "new" TuPac single plays in a club and references current events. In a parody of MTV's "Cribs" instead of having an extensive closet, Dave shows off his built-in sweatshop complete with migrant workers. He also spoofs former presidential candidate Howard Dean (his cry of BYAHHH would be the "I'm Rick James, bitch" of this season). Then there's "The Racist Pixie" skit in which members of different races try not to confine to the stereotypes of their race in front of other people. It's extremely offensive and extremely funny. Chappelle told Time Magazine that he felt this and other skits weren't necessarily commenting on racism but were beginning to reinforce negative discriminations. To cover the show's ass and make it seem like the latter is false, there's an open audience discussion (which occasionally sounds scripted) about the repercussions of the skit. \nAside from the show footage, Chappelle is understandably absent from the disc. The episodes are hosted by costars Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings (hopefully these guys continue to get work). Special features include a few more unaired sketches, bloopers and deleted scenes from what made the cut. Christopher Flockton of Vh1's "The Fabulous Life Of…" series narrates a feature called "The Fabulous Making of Chappelle's Season 3ish" that showcases more of the postproduction and editing process than the actual filming. The audio commentary is more interesting and gives some insight on to what happened and how the rest of the crew reacted. It's clear that the show that this is the end of the line for "Chappelle's Show" but Dave, thanks for the hilarity over the last three years.