*In the wake of Chris Tucker’s new comedy special on Netflix, the streaming service on Tuesday announced a new Mike Epps stand up special during its opening panel at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills.
“Mike Epps: After Dark,” premiering Friday, Dec. 18, has the “Survivor’s Remorse” star “bringing his unapologetic and raunchy swagger” to a live audience at the historic Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, Netflix announced. Comedy specials from Demetri Martin, Anjelah Johnson, Anthony Jeselnik, John Mulaney and Brent Morin are also in the pipeline.
Former E! darling Chelsea Handler has joined the Netflix family. Her standup film “Uganda Be Kidding Me, Live” is currently streaming, and she’s about to bring four new documentaries to the fold under the title “Chelsea Does”: “Chelsea Does Marriage” (where she attempts to understand relationships), “Chelsea Does Silicon Valley” (where she attempts to understand technology), “Chelsea Does Drugs” (self explanatory) and “Chelsea Does Racism.”
The latter warrants an audio explanation:
Handler, who critiqued pop culture happenings on her E! talk show “Chelsea Lately,” was asked what current hot topics she’d love to pick apart if she hadn’t ended her seven season run.
“”Rachel Dolezal from the NAACP was a very joyful story for me to watch,” she told journalists. “I thought that was beyond ridiculous and the commentary on it was beyond ridiculous.”
Tituss Burgess of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” spoke about the racial backlash that formed against his character, Titus Andromedon, the black, gay roommate of Ellie Kemper’s Kimmy Schmidt. Titus dreams of being a superstar, but is currently broke and taking any “acting” gig with a paycheck.
The chief knock against the character is that his antics are confined to over-the-top racial and gay stereotypes – save for the infamous werewolf episode, where one of Titus’ odd jobs required that he wear a werewolf mask. In walking the streets of New York in the mask, he discovers he is treated far better as a werewolf than as a black man.
“I don’t think those inquiries, or those questions that were raised about our mishandling of racial issues were warranted,” Burgess told EURweb during the show’s panel. “I think we all did a gorgeous job of raising a discussion and putting it to bed.”
Below, Titus says that anyone who had an issue with his character must not have watched all 13 episodes:
During a panel for “Orange is the New Black” it was revealed that season four began filming on June 25. Several cast members, including Emmy nominee Uzo Aduba, reminisced about season three, including that final scene in the lake.
“I thought it was gorgeous in such a like, freeing moment,” she told journalists. “You’ve been watching for three seasons times 13 episodes – like 39 episodes – where you’ve been watching this tension really build of these people who have never been beyond that fence.”
Aduba says more about the lake scene below:
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