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I
was flipping thru the channels the other night and noticed
that 'Inside the Actor's Studio' was a two hour special.
I thought maybe they were doing a retrospective
of great actors or maybe a tribute to one person in particular.
After all, this organization is such a well respected mainstay
of the acting community.
Well I was half right. It was two hours of Dave Chappelle.
Now come on!! Oh sure, there are a few ripe moments in
his Comedy Central show that made me laugh, but other than
that, what has he done to deserve this attention? Let's
see ... he was Ahchoo Son of Asneeze in 'Robin Hood: Men
In Tights'. And yes he played a few other sidekick parts
many of which, quite honestly were characters that he later
rehashed for TV. One of the more subtle roles was as the
friend of Tom Hanks in 'You've Got Mail'.
Speaking of Tom Hanks; this man has won countless awards
including back to back Oscars. He has starred in some of
the most respected films of our times. Yet his 'Inside
the Actor's Studio' feature was only one hour long. I think
it's a travesty when most of the great actors that have
been on this show only get one hour and someone like Chappelle—whose
career is not nearly as illustrious—gets two.
In one excerpt from Chappelle's appearance, the audience
breaks out into a roaring laughter as he lights a cigarette.
That's all it takes? I
really feel that people laugh at him because they feel
like they're supposed to think he's funny.
Maybe they need to snuff out their joints and dump their
forties before listening or watching again.
What really
pisses me off is how serious everyone talks about his 'running
away' and his 'breakdown'. I know there are a bunch of
reasons for this that have floated around. Some that were
initiated by Chappelle himself. Personally, I still think
it's because the man came to realize that he
was not worth the hype. It is a hard pill to swallow when
you're handed $50,000,000 and told to save a network.
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