Chelsea (TV series)

Background

Chelsea was part of a deal Handler made with Netflix in July 2015 that also included a stand-up special titled Uganda Be Kidding Me Live and a four-part docu-comedy special called Chelsea Does. On March 16, 2016, Handler announced on Twitter that episodes would be released at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, three times a week, with holiday periods allowing for banked episodes or a reduction to two per week. That same day, she submitted a hand-written memo to herself noting the premiere date of May 11th.

Regarding the show's title, Handler stated that after two to three hours of work with a Netflix team and some children from various countries, they arrived at the name Chelsea. The show was not aired live but was filmed in front of a live audience; Handler explained that feeding the program into 190 countries prevented a live broadcast, so episodes were taped and streamed about twelve hours later. She expressed a desire to avoid the typical late-night format, saying she did not want to come out singing and dancing every night.

In October 2017, the show was cancelled after two seasons. Handler announced the decision via social media, taking ownership of it and mentioning a new documentary focused on national politics, though sources speculated that poor reception played a role.

Reception

Chelsea received mixed critical reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 41% approval rating with an average rating of 4.4 out of 10 based on 22 reviews, with the critic consensus stating that the show fails to innovate the talk show format and frequently lacks intelligence or humor. Metacritic gave the first season a score of 50 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. The Decider described the show as riddled with execution problems and uncertain whether it wanted to be timely or evergreen.