Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes
Comedy Central July 9 9 p.m.Fans of Dave Chappelle's sketch-comedy series might notice a slight difference in this brief, three-episode season that cobbles together never-seen sketches taped before Chappelle famously broke his multimillion-dollar contract and left the series in April 2005. Hosting duties have been relegated to costars Donnell Rawlings and Charlie Murphy. ''I don't really understand why [Dave] did it and I don't really care to understand why he did it,'' says Murphy. ''It's really none of my business. My whole concern was: Is he okay? I've seen him a few times and he seems to be happy.'' But Murphy is quick to defend his decision to anchor the show in Chappelle's place. ''I think we did the right thing,'' he explains. ''I feel good about what we did and the way that it came out.'' And it's not as if he's fallen out with the onetime host. ''When I see Dave, all we talk about is stand-up comedy. We keep it very shop.''
The result is highly secretive, but Murphy tells EW not to expect any more Rick James impersonations or even his own True Hollywood Stories. What he will say: There's a send-up of one of brother Eddie's recent films — called Mean Daddy Day Care — and Chappelle's signature comedic DNA still encodes the bulk of the sketches. Hip-hop fans, however, might be disappointed to find that the episodes lack the usual musical performances. ''None of this is rehashed,'' insists Murphy, who is prepping to shoot his own pilot for Comedy Central with Rawlings and Chappelle's Show co-creator Neal Brennan. ''It's brilliant. People who have been screaming for Dave are going to get a shot in the arm.''
