Since the beginning of college, the two things that have provided me with the most quotes (and, depending on who you ask, were the most annoying additions to my arsenal of everyday speech) were:
1. Anchorman
2. The Chappelle Show
I was a minor Chappelle fan, stemming back to his small part in The Nutty Professor- and then later, as he grew in popularity- Half Baked, and his stand-up comedy. But it wasn't until The Chappelle Show debuted that I became obsessed with him. It was only a half-hour long show, usually with only 3-5 skits, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one that wasn't hilarious (as opposed to shows like SNL or Mad TV, which are 90 and 60 minutes, respectively, and most of it is rubbish. I'll take the quality over quantity.)
It's incredible how many hilarious skits are piled into just two seasons. There's the Mad Real World, the Racial Draft, When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong, Wu-Tang Financial Group, Wayne Brady, Trading Spouses, being a juror for the OJ trial....seriously I'm just gonna stop listing them because I could go on forever and it's meaningless if you haven't seen them.
For a stretch of a couple years, if I was pregaming at Culligan, then I was watching Chappelle Show. Even now, if I pop in any of the DVDs, I feel weird watching it without a beer in my hand.
And while most people were devastated when Chappelle had his mini-breakdown and took off to Africa, canning the show in the process, I was strangely comfortable with it. Too often, shows stay on the air far too long for the sake of money, and by the end of its run, it is just a shell of its former self (Beverly Hills 90210, I'm looking in your direction. Once Brandon was gone, that should've been the end of the series. He was the fucking man.)
But Chappelle went out on top, went to Africa and faced his demons, and came back a better man. Now, when I think back to Chappelle Show, it's all good memories, not anything like "Wow, the first couple seasons kicked ass, but it totally fell apart after that." If Chappelle was unhappy with the direction the show was headed, then it's good he got out when he did, instead of pumping out crappy episodes in order to fulfill his contract.
Besides the obvious influences that Chappelle had on me (all the catchphrases; I now enjoy Wayne Brady, Rick James, and Howard Dean...John Mayer still sucks though) there are more subtle ones, as well. So many everyday things I hear or encounter are influenced by Chappelle now that I've lost track. It's already pretty easy to get me giggling, and now I can't even stretch out on a couch, hear the words/phrases "Oprah", "Unity" and "All right", or hear someone order a Sam Adams without giggling or making some kind of comment.
As is often the case when I'm talking about something I really enjoy, this post has truly been an incoherent piece of crap. So I'm gonna end it the only way I can, with my top 5 favorite Chappelle skits:
5. Slave Reparations (part 2)
4. Oprah's Baby Daddy- couldn't find a link for this one- damn you, Oprah!
3. Mad Real World
2. Black Bush
1. Rick James
1. Anchorman
2. The Chappelle Show
I was a minor Chappelle fan, stemming back to his small part in The Nutty Professor- and then later, as he grew in popularity- Half Baked, and his stand-up comedy. But it wasn't until The Chappelle Show debuted that I became obsessed with him. It was only a half-hour long show, usually with only 3-5 skits, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one that wasn't hilarious (as opposed to shows like SNL or Mad TV, which are 90 and 60 minutes, respectively, and most of it is rubbish. I'll take the quality over quantity.)
It's incredible how many hilarious skits are piled into just two seasons. There's the Mad Real World, the Racial Draft, When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong, Wu-Tang Financial Group, Wayne Brady, Trading Spouses, being a juror for the OJ trial....seriously I'm just gonna stop listing them because I could go on forever and it's meaningless if you haven't seen them.
For a stretch of a couple years, if I was pregaming at Culligan, then I was watching Chappelle Show. Even now, if I pop in any of the DVDs, I feel weird watching it without a beer in my hand.
And while most people were devastated when Chappelle had his mini-breakdown and took off to Africa, canning the show in the process, I was strangely comfortable with it. Too often, shows stay on the air far too long for the sake of money, and by the end of its run, it is just a shell of its former self (Beverly Hills 90210, I'm looking in your direction. Once Brandon was gone, that should've been the end of the series. He was the fucking man.)
But Chappelle went out on top, went to Africa and faced his demons, and came back a better man. Now, when I think back to Chappelle Show, it's all good memories, not anything like "Wow, the first couple seasons kicked ass, but it totally fell apart after that." If Chappelle was unhappy with the direction the show was headed, then it's good he got out when he did, instead of pumping out crappy episodes in order to fulfill his contract.
Besides the obvious influences that Chappelle had on me (all the catchphrases; I now enjoy Wayne Brady, Rick James, and Howard Dean...John Mayer still sucks though) there are more subtle ones, as well. So many everyday things I hear or encounter are influenced by Chappelle now that I've lost track. It's already pretty easy to get me giggling, and now I can't even stretch out on a couch, hear the words/phrases "Oprah", "Unity" and "All right", or hear someone order a Sam Adams without giggling or making some kind of comment.
As is often the case when I'm talking about something I really enjoy, this post has truly been an incoherent piece of crap. So I'm gonna end it the only way I can, with my top 5 favorite Chappelle skits:
5. Slave Reparations (part 2)
4. Oprah's Baby Daddy- couldn't find a link for this one- damn you, Oprah!
3. Mad Real World
2. Black Bush
1. Rick James
Peanut butter and crack sandwich!
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