After her public departure from the E! Network, Chelsea Handler became a hot commodity. The popular host of Chelsea Lately was courted by other networks, but she has decided to blaze her own trail. She will be hosting the first-ever talk show exclusive to Netflix.
This news isn’t entirely surprising, since it was reported back in April that she was in talks with the streaming service. There were reports that she was in talks with CBS to take over The Late Show, but those were later debunked.
However, the Netflix rumors pulled through and the company made the official announcement on Wednesday. It is a complicated deal, which will give Handler an unfiltered platform. She’ll no longer have to deal with the bleeps of basic cable.
“If I was going to continue working in this industry, I knew I had to do something outside the box to keep myself interested,” Handler said in a statement released by the company. “I wanted to sit with the cool kids at lunch so I approached Netflix to make sure they were as cool as I thought they were, and when I confirmed my suspicions, like with any other future lover, I made my move. I’m more excited than I’ve been in awhile, and the team at Netflix is the most forward thinking, alert group I’ve sat down with in ages. No offense to the Shahs Of Sunset.”
The first Handler programming available on Netflix will be a one-hour standup special called Uganda Be Kidding Me Live, which will be up on Oct. 10. It will be taped in Chicago this Friday.
Next year, Handler will have a four-episode docu-comedy series that will get fans prepared for her new talk show in 2016. These programs will be produced with her Borderline Amazing partners Tom Brunelle and Brad Wollack.
In 2016, the talk show will launch globally, becoming the first of its kind show, along with her famous celebrity interviews.
“The Internet has disrupted many of the conventions of traditional television and together with Chelsea Handler, Netflix is looking forward to reimagining the late night talk show for the on-demand generation, starting with the late night part ,” etflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos added.
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