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threemonkeysThere is a point in the evening when there isn't enough natural light left for reading and the time comes to watch some TV. On some occasions, rather than look at the library of stuff lying around, I turn to what is coming in via the dish attached to the house. You all know the phenomenon that that then triggers - hundreds of channels and nothing to watch. Scan up and down the program guide and there is nothing that catches the eye. On one such occasion I decided, in desperation, to watch Chelsea Lately on E!. I've watched it quite a few times since. It has a compelling quality to it that is a bit like watching a car crash.
If you don't know the show, it consists of the eponymous Chelsea discussing the entertainment news of the day with a bunch of unknown stand-up comedians and the like. Discuss being the polite term for an out of control series of one-lines, insults, interruption and general chaos, probably fueled by significant "hospitality" in the green room. What then follows is an interview with a B-list celeb who is promoting their show/book/album and can't get on any of the good talk shows. The non-sequiturs and sexual innuendos fly everywhere.
You will probably all hate it. The description is accurate and yet misses the point. The show has a kind of raw energy as well as a subversive sarcastic edge that makes it rather endearing. It may be the same thrill at watching a car crash happen that reality shows generate. Yet in an odd way, it is more real than those.
Anyway, I'm not recommending that you watch it. I repeat that you will probably hate it. But there has been something niggling at the back of my brain about this show and I couldn't resolve what it was. Then last night I twigged. Chelsea Lately is a real life Wayne's World. It is E! actually making a show that does what Wayne and Garth did on their public access show in the movie and SNL before that.
I'm glad I got that out of my head. I can go back to surfing channels now.
If you don't know the show, it consists of the eponymous Chelsea discussing the entertainment news of the day with a bunch of unknown stand-up comedians and the like. Discuss being the polite term for an out of control series of one-lines, insults, interruption and general chaos, probably fueled by significant "hospitality" in the green room. What then follows is an interview with a B-list celeb who is promoting their show/book/album and can't get on any of the good talk shows. The non-sequiturs and sexual innuendos fly everywhere.
You will probably all hate it. The description is accurate and yet misses the point. The show has a kind of raw energy as well as a subversive sarcastic edge that makes it rather endearing. It may be the same thrill at watching a car crash happen that reality shows generate. Yet in an odd way, it is more real than those.
Anyway, I'm not recommending that you watch it. I repeat that you will probably hate it. But there has been something niggling at the back of my brain about this show and I couldn't resolve what it was. Then last night I twigged. Chelsea Lately is a real life Wayne's World. It is E! actually making a show that does what Wayne and Garth did on their public access show in the movie and SNL before that.
I'm glad I got that out of my head. I can go back to surfing channels now.