Chelsea Handler’s Netflix talk show, Chelsea, premiered in 2016. In late 2017, Handler announced that she would be ending the show after two seasons. As of July 2019, there is less of Handler’s talk show to watch on Netflix.
The streaming giant apparently purged episodes of Chelsea from binge-ability. Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and comedy specials, explained the decision, per The New York Times. Netflix wanted to make it easier for viewers to locate the most recent episodes of Chelsea following the first season but ahead of the second. Few viewers seemed to have noticed before now. Chelsea premiered Season 2 in April 2017 and ended in December 2017.
Regardless, the decision is a history-making one for the streamer. How? It is reportedly the first time that Netflix has ever removed content it owns and created. For a streaming platform that is built around having loads of content, it begs the question: why is Netflix going the way of a purge?
Even though I think scanning for the latest offerings is pretty straightforward, many other subscribers may not find it as seamless. The move undoubtedly made sense at the time, although it apparently failed to save the series. So far, Netflix has removed 66 episodes of Chelsea.
To give that number context, the first season of Chelsea Handler’s talk show was comprised of 90 episodes. Making the number of installments left less than half of that original episode count. When you go to Netflix, it now lists what is available of Season 1 as a collection of the “best of 2016.”
Chelsea Handler has moved on since she decided to put an end to her Netflix talk show. The comedian and talk show host signed a first-look producing deal with Universal Television and Universal Alternative Studio. At the time, Handler said she was excited to work with NBCUniversal.
Netflix opting to organize episodes of Chelsea Handler’s talk show under the "best of" banner could help stimulate renewed interest. Unless you are like me, and stuff centered on older headlines is still enjoyable to watch as archival content.
For now, it is another turbulent twist for Chelsea Handler on Netflix. Not long after Chelsea's debut, the series had some behind-the-scenes issues. It has been almost two years since it ended, but Handler still has a presence on the streamer. Chelsea Handler’s docu-series, Chelsea Does, appears to still be streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
Talk shows have not had the best luck on Netflix. Joel McHale’s streaming answer to The Soup got the cancellation treatment with relative haste, and it was not the only talk show that got cancelled at the time.
You can catch what remains of Chelsea Handler’s talk show, Chelsea, on Netflix. Plenty of exciting content is coming to the streamer in the not-too-distant future as well. Netflix’s Stranger Things is among television’s summer premieres.
