Chelsea Handler signs with Netflix for 7
Chelsea Handler has left traditional television, joking and streaming.
Netflix confirmed Thursday it has signed comedian Handler to a seven-year deal that starts this fall with multiple comedy specials and launches her new talk show in 2016.
The move had been widely expected since Handler announced earlier this year she would not be continuing her current late-night talk show on E!
Her E! contract expires in December, but once she started publicly bad-mouthing the network, her final show was moved up to Aug. 26.
She will tape her first comedy special for Netflix Friday night in Chicago, as part of her current 'Uganda Be Kidding Me' tour.
It will be released on the streaming service Oct. 10.
She will tape four 'docu-comedy specials' in 2015. Netflix said in a statement they will feature 'her efforts to gain a better understanding of a variety of subjects ranging from NASCAR to politics and from Silicon Valley to the NBA draft.'
The 2016 talk show will also cover a wide range of subjects, said Netflix. Details, including its format and frequency, are being worked out.
It will not be called a 'late-night' show because programs released on streaming services are designed to be watched at the viewers's convenience.
Handler had expressed increasing dissatisfaction with the E! show, saying that the network didn't know how to handle or market it.
By picking up her jokes and leaving broadcast television, Handler joins a small but growing number of producers and performers who are taking their shows to online-only streaming venues.
Netflix has been the most successful streaming venue so far, thanks largely to a pair of popular and critically acclaimed series in 'House of Cards' and 'Orange Is The New Black.'
Streaming services, which also include Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, WIGS and others, hope is that as it becomes easier to access and view online programming, viewers will increasingly see it as a viable alternative to traditional television.
'If I was going to continue working in this industry, I knew I had to do something outside the box to keep myself interested,' the 39-year-old Handler said in a statement Thursday. '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.'
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