David Alan Grier Presents Chocolate News On Comedy Central

By Kelly West: 2008-10-04 18:49:30

David Alan Grier’s Chocolate News is supposed to “Blow the lid off the urban experience in modern America” but based on the video clips we have from the series premiere, which is set to air on Comedy Central on October 15th, I’m not sure this show will do much more than recycle a lot of the same humor we saw back in Grier’s In Living Color days.

Here’s how the series is describe (as mentioned in a press release):

“Chocolate News will take on a variety of contemporary topics from a decidedly African-American perspective and everyone and everything is fair game. The series stars David Alan Grier who, in addition to serving as the acerbic, all-knowing, in-studio host, will also portray multiple characters within the series' investigative reports, which will be presented by a cast of three correspondents.”

Upon reading that, I found my interest piqued. Considering Comedy Central is home to series like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, South Park, Drawn Together and other series that shed a humorous light on pop-culture, politics and other social issues, Chocolate News sounds like it would fit in nicely there and also bring more of an African American perspective to the network which, aside from some of the stand-up that airs on the channel, is fairly absent. Then I watched these videos:

I remember loving In Living Color back in the day (which I realize was over 15 years ago) but hasn't comedy evolved since then? Do we need another version of that series now? While Chocolate News doesn't appear to follow the same format as the sketch-comedy show, the above videos do seem to fall along the same lines of humor that we often saw in ILC. Granted, these are just two examples of what's in the show but they really do seem to cater to a lot of grossly exaggerated stereotypes. Booty-shaking and jokes about sexual positions from a guy in a leopard print speedo isn't exactly groundbreaking humor.

I'm not saying that Grier needs to approach this comedy series the same way that Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert approach theirs but this new show has the opportunity to shed a humorous light on American culture from an African American perspective to an even wider range of viewers. Why not tackle the issues in a way that's humorous but at the same time, also presents an element of truth about our society from the perspective of black Americans? Or is this humor just going way over my head?

Chocolate News premieres on Comedy Central on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 10:30 p.m.

RELATED: in living color, comedy, david alan grier, chocolate news, comedy central

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Winky Wright Says:
October 7th, 2008 at 04:05
lame show. those clips are terrible. In Living COlor woudn't make it now. THat was like 18 years ago. Humor has advanced. This just looks jigga booish to me,

Jamie Says:
October 14th, 2008 at 01:58
The show looks hilarious. I am from the In Living Color days too. I REALLY hope though, that they DON'T go all one sided political though in it. I hope he follows in Dave Chappelle's shoes and pokes fun at both sides, but without hard political crap. I am tired of the hating BS. Let's have some fun.

shun taylor Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 11:57
A modern day, "Mista Charlie" taking advantage of his freedom by entertaining his audiences on the backs of his antcestors who died in dignity for that freedom all for a quater and a ham sandwich. He's still paddling his career since "In Living Color" trying to find his identity while trying to send us laughing to the floor with a dagger in the back...more pitiful than comical, fortunately, this DOES NOT represent the black community or its place at large.

White American Says:
October 26th, 2008 at 09:53
I kind of like the show, but I hate that image in the background of the USA dressed in African colors! WTF is this country coming to? If it was white people wanting to make a white people's comedy show, it would be "too racial". That's one reason to resent blacks is the favortism they get for being black.

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David Alan Grier Presents Chocolate News On Comedy Central

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