The Chelsea Handler Show is an American sketch comedy series that aired on the E! television network. The series starred Chelsea Handler and featured skits that mocked the entertainment industry, spoofed celebrities, television, the elderly, and herself. The show aired Friday nights at 10:30 EST.

Production

The mini-series was green lighted by E! in early 2006 and premiered on April 21, 2006. The cable channel ordered eight episodes of the half-hour project that features Handler, a Tonight Show correspondent and star of Oxygen's Girls Behaving Badly, in taped spoofs, film shorts and field remote pieces, all framed by stand-up segments of her performing before a studio audience. Jay Blumenfield, Tony Marsh, and Mark Schulman served as the show's executive producers.

Episodes

The show originally ordered eight episodes which aired from April 21 to June 9 and was given an additional four episodes starting August 11 to create a 12-episode season. The show finished its run on September 8, 2006.

Reception

Erika Gonzalez of Rocky Mountain News praised Handler's performance, stating, "some of her best bits come from her awkward interview segments. She revealed a bit too much during a massage session with Gary Coleman and passed out while interviewing Mad TV's Michael McDonald." Sun Sentinel comedy columnist Jeff Rusnak called the show "wickedly uninhibited", writing, "Better suited for HBO than basic cable, last week's episode included Handler baring a breast in one skit and later running over a stuffed dog and a baby doll during a driving competition with an octogenarian and a blind man."

Successors and spin-offs

Chelsea Handler began hosting the late-night comedy show, Chelsea Lately on July 16, 2007, also on E!.