Anais Gutierrez
Chelsea Handler is leaving her talk show to focus on activism, the comedian announced on Wednesday. While ‘Chelsea’ won’t return for a third season, new episodes will stream each week until next year.
As for Netflix, the streaming giant is dedicating to create original content. Focusing on a new talk show hosted by David Letterman, which is planned for next year.
No more ‘Chelsea’ on Netflix
Chelsea Handler took social media to announce she’s leaving her eponymous talk show on Netflix to pursue political activism. The comedian posted a note explaining her decision via Twitter. Handler cited Donald Trump’s presidency as a prime motivating factor for her decision.
She explained the presidential election, and the dramatic events that followed shook her and persuaded her to focus on political activism.
“My goal is to be better informed, raise my voice, and participate in a more meaningful way.”
Handler said she’s planning to travel the country in order to visit places and people she doesn’t know, to get a better understanding of U.S politics. The comedian said she also has a documentary in the works at Netflix as part of her ongoing partnership with the streaming network.
In the documentary, “where I’ll engage with people I don’t talk with enough — people of different ethnicities, religions and political philosophies,” she said. The comedian launched ‘Chelsea’ on Netflix last year after a seven-year run on E! hosting the nightly ‘Chelsea Lately,’ which ended in 2014.
‘Chelsea’s first season consisted of half-hour episodes released three times a week. The second season consisted of an hour-long weekly episode. ‘Chelsea’s ratings are impossible to know since Netflix doesn’t release ratings.
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) October 18, 2017
Handler’s political turn
Chelsea Handler wasn’t really popular for being a political public figure, however, this changed since Trump’s campaign and subsequent presidency. From that point, the comedian has become more and more vocal about political issues, especially those surrounding women, LGBT rights and gun control.
“I’ve become a better person, and I’m more informed. I’m learning, I have the Trump family to thank for that,” she said to CNN. “I just feel a sense of responsibility, I think, more than anything else, to help people understand,” she said about her show.
“I know I certainly didn’t understand politics as much as I do now. I have a lot more to learn.”
Then Handler wove some of her renewed political activism into her Netflix show, mixing guests such as Amy Schumer with political leaders including, Democratic strategist James Carville and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D.
She also teamed up with Rock the Vote, a nonprofit aimed at getting young people to the polls. According to reports, the organization registered more than 400,000 voters in 2016 through its online voter registration tool.
Handler then took her vocality to another level, and discussed abortion on her show, she had already done it on the show.“Like millions of women, I can live my life without an unplanned child born out of an unhealthy relationship because of Roe v. Wade,” she wrote in a Playboy essay.
“At least five states – Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming – currently have only one clinic left within their borders.” She took part of the Women’s March in January and donned a”pussy hat” and took the stage to address the crowd.
“Don’t sit down and don’t be quiet. Get up, and you scream, and you yell, and you use rights. Because this is . . . bad. This isn’t the country I want to live in,” she said at the March.
She also discussed Planned Parenthood on the show. “I’m not Muslim. I’m not Mexican. I’m not black. I’m not gay or I’m not transgender,” she said.
“But I know this country is based on inclusiveness, on welcoming people, on loving people that are not like you, on not worrying about how something impacts your life personally, but how it impacts all the people around you and all the people that aren’t around you.”
“And I will fight for it,” Handler added.
Bringing on the original content
In case you’re worried about Netflix’s crazy initiative to cancel shows might lead to a drop in content, have no fear, the company just announced that is coming back stronger in 2018.
The company announced a $8 billion budget for new content, which marks an extra $1 billion from the previously announced budget.
Also, subscribers can expect the number of original films on the streaming service to jump as Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer, announced that by the end of the year the company will have produced 80 new movies.
This year marked the first time a streaming service competed on the Cannes Film Festival, and it was no other than the streaming giant with its successful film ‘Okja.’ The news comes as no surprise considering the company’s success in recent years, including several Emmys for its original series ‘Big Little Lies‘ and ‘Stranger Things.’
Source: The New York Times
