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Chocolate News (S01E01)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Chocolate News debuted recently on Comedy Central. It's a show starring David Alan Grier with an unapologetically Black perspective on the world, and, quite frankly, it's funny. It's also a much better outlet for Grier's talent than Jumanji.
I've always liked David Alan Grier because he taught me the word "Tofurkey", which I still laugh at to this day. He's also at the helm of a new Comedy Central series called Chocolate News, which, if you aren't learned in ebonics, means news for Black people. I know that usually people hear "news" and think about a continuous timeline of negative events served fresh. But Chocolate News is the good kind of news; the kind that is completely made up and has no connection to the day's events, other than metaphorically.
So yeah, it is more of a sketch show than a news show. But it's a sketch show that feigns seriousness. This is the only reason I can think of to not call this show an attempt at Chappelle's Show part 2, but I'd have to imagine that any sketch show with a Black male lead from now on might (perhaps accurately) be called that.
Obviously, the type of comedy presented in the show is more geared toward a few minorities than your average white citizen, and I don't mean minorities in any negative way. It's stuff like a rapper doing PSAs for kids with scantily-clad women dancing and the usual clichés, a history lesson about the REAL first African-American person to run for President, and a visit with Maya Angelou to sample her speech for Barack Obama.
The real question here is about the host: David Alan Grier. A show is only as good as its host -- unless he/she can make it something more. I do think DAG is creative, funny, and dynamic enough for this role. If you dislike him, you are probably not going to like this show. As good as he is, though, even mid-character, you're still going to know it's David Alan Grier. Becoming the role is not his problem; he can nail the facial expressions and the lines and mannerisms, but whenever he gets excited, he becomes himself again. In my opinion, this isn't that big of a deal. You have to keep in mind that it's his show, and personally, the jokes were funny enough to distract from it.
Basically, Chocolate News is The Onion for Black people. And I love it. If Grier can continue to bring the laughs and maybe be a little more consistent with his portrayals, I could actually see this show taking off.
Chocolate News
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