Dave Chappelle

Hot off his success with three standup specials on Netflix, Dave Chappelle is coming back to film, and is set to star, alongside Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, in the remake of A Star is Born.

Dave Chappelle has definitely come back to the limelight over the last year, between SNL hostings and new Netflix specials, but with numbers like these, you’d think he never left. Netflix reveals that Chappelle’s dual standup premieres became their most-viewed comedy specials ever.

Every Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle fan will remember Charlie Murphy; edgier stand-up comedian and source of the famous “True Hollywood Stories” that launched Chappelle’s Show into the stratosphere. Sadly, Charlie Murphy is no longer with us, having passed away at age 57.

Chappelle’s Show has been off the air long enough that you might overlook a connection to Key & Peele, though Dave Chappelle certainly popularized the format of comedians having carte blanche over a sketch show. Now, with Chappelle back in the spotlight for his Netflix special, the comedian reveals how Key & Peele “hurts my feelings,” even as he counts himself a fan.

Dave Chappelle had perhaps one of the hardest SNL gigs in recent memory, to follow the still-stunning upset of Election Night with humor. His monologue in particular set a tone for soldiering onward, for which Chappelle now offers new insight into the SNL writers’ room that week, and the advice Louis C.K. gave him.

Dave Chappelle was looking mighty introspective in a first teaser for his three upcoming Netflix specials, so let’s get back to what he does best. A first official trailer for the March dual-release sees Chappelle tackling everything from O.J. to ISIS, and one of life’s biggest killers.

As if Dave Chappelle turning in three new Netflix comedy specials weren’t news enough, you won’t even have to wait until April for the first two. A first teaser sets a March premiere for the apparently-soulful special, keeping Dave’s trend of dramatic intros.

No one knew quite what to expect from SNL after the 2016 election took a different course than predicted, though Kate McKinnon’s moving cold open and Dave Chappelle’s monologue offered a welcoming return. We even got to see some old Chappelle’s Show faces, but the most famous of all was apparently cut over Trump’s electoral win, says writer Neal Brennan.

If it seemed at all out of the blue that Dave Chappelle would suddenly take on SNL, there may have been an ulterior motive to reclaiming the spotlight. The former Chappelle’s Show star has now locked down not one, but three Netflix comedy specials, some of which will be released simultaneously.

Dave Chappelle practically quit show-business over the endless association with his viral Chappelle’s Show characters, to the point few presumed we’d ever see them again. Well, it seems we owe The Walking Dead’s frustrating cliffhanger a debt of gratitude, as Chappelle took his SNL hosting as a chance to revive a number of Chappelle’s Show favorites … at least to kill one off.