Chappelle's Show: Season One

While hardly perfect entertainment--among the 12 episodes compiled here from the debut 2003 season shown on Comedy Central, there are too many skits devoted to demeaning and/or scatological humor--Chappelle's Show, featuring Dave Chappelle, a talented comic on a slow track toward possible greatness, does have some notable success in pushing the sketch-humor envelope. Occasionally surprising viewers with fresh ideas coupled with merciless execution, the more clever material here includes Chappelle's "Educated Guess Line," in which the sage comic eschews psychic powers in favor of logically deducing insights about his callers, and a wicked parallel-universe version of MTV's The Real World, in which the usual racial proportions are reversed, thrusting a token white guy into a Hoboken house full of crazy African Americans. Uneven, though a huge hit with twentysomething audiences, this “uncensored” compilation is sure to be a popular addition in more adventurous collections. DVD extras include a 30-minute reel of bloopers, the 20-minute featurette “Ask a Black Dude with Paul Mooney,” and select audio commentaries by Chappelle and series co-creator Neal Brennan. Recommended. (T. Keogh)