According to TVSeriesFinale.com, we've seen the last episode of Chocolate News, and as you can tell, I'm pissed.Unless Comedy Central is slashing its budget, the move makes little sense given the show's respectable ratings. The 2.2 million that watched the premiere surpassed the brilliant Colbert Report's debut by about a million. Why Comedy Central would cancel Chocolate News after a mere 10 episodes is beyond me. What was it expecting? Instant smash hits like South Park and Chappelle's Show are few and far between.
David Alan Grier's over-the-top, in-your-face style isn't for everyone. Occasionally, I find it a bit overbearing as well. Admittedly, I didn't think Chocolate News was as good as Chappelle's Show, the show it's most often compared to, but there was enough goodness there to warrant a spot on my coveted DVR schedule. Sure, there was a healthy amount of sophomoric humor, but there was plenty of intelligent satire as well.
Who knows what Chocolate News could have become if given a chance? I'll never understand why TV people think spending lots of time, money, and effort developing a show and then canceling it after six or 10 episodes is a good business model. Seinfeld struggled in the ratings initially, but someone at NBC decided the show was funny and deserved the benefit of the doubt. What if NBC canceled it after 10 episodes? It would have cost itself enormous amounts of money and forever changed the course of comedy history.
DAG is one of the most under-appreciated talents of the past 20 years, and the saddest part is it appeared he finally found a forum to best showcase his considerable abilities. He can do just about any voice imaginable, he has done stand-up, he can sing and dance a little bit, and unlike many comedians, I found him equally if not more funny off-the-cuff than scripted.
I'm not saying Chocolate News was going to be as influential as Seinfeld, but in a crowded TV landscape where, not one, but two guys who were in celebrity sex tapes (Bret Michaels and Ray J) have their own reality dating shows, there should be plenty of room for Chocolate News. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the show's cancellation is yet another sad commentary on how dumb most of our popular culture is becoming.
