Chelsea Handler To End Talk Show in August
Come August 27, there will be no female late-night talk show hosts on U.S. TV. In a press release, E! announced Chelsea Handler's vehicle Chelsea Lately will end with an "hour-long live event" on Tuesday, August 26.
The release included this reliably dry commentary from Handler:
I myself am more surprised than anyone that I was able to hold down a job for seven years, and it was a fantastic seven years. I will always look back at my time on E! as most people look back at their time in college. I'm glad I went.
Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter published a story saying that Handler, who'd been "vocal about her dissatisfaction with the network," was preparing to leave E! when her contract was up at the end of the year.
Say what you will about her comedy, but Handler is a good TV interviewer insofar as she routinely refuses to kiss her guests' asses. She is also capable of occasional heroism. She will be missed, although maybe not as much as if she had done this earlier — in March, when that Hollywood Reporter story came out, her viewership was down to 572,000 a night (compared to 839,000 in 2010).
[Image via Getty]