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Chocolate News
SERIES: Comedy Central, Wednesday 10:30p (30 minutes)

Chocolate News
Critic Score
Metascore: 66 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
2.7 out of 10
based on 13 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 36 votes
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rate this tv show

Starring David Alan Grier, Tanea Brooks, Oth'Than Burnside, Jennifer Dyal, Willie Garson, J.T. Jackson, Brent Jennings, Julius Leflore, Mar'Sheila Price, Alika Ray, and Arthur Roberts

David Alan Grier's latest sketch comedy show targets news programs.

GENRE(S): Comedy
CREATED BY: David Alan Grier
FIRST AIR DATE: October 15, 2008

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Hollywood Reporter Ray Richmond
We get the feeling Grier is much more concerned with scoring a laugh than raising an issue, which makes his well-placed jabs all the more clever.
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80
Washington Post Paul Farhi
The cable network might have found "Chappelle's" worthy replacement in Chocolate News.
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75
New York Post Linda Stasi
Chocolate News" is funny like Chappelle, edgy like "In Living Color" and smart like "The Daily Show," but without the smugness.
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75
Baltimore Sun David Zurawik
This is social satire, and Grier's job is to make a mainstream audience see race and power in new ways. That often involves shock.
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70
Boston Globe Joanna Weiss
Credit Grier for trying, credit Comedy Central for adding another voice to the mix, and keep hoping that a show like this eventually hits its stride.
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70
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
Chocolate News has the funny part down; now it just needs to make some fresher observations.
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70
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
This is not unfunny stuff, but in a week in which a show that's willing to turn a satirical eye on race might have drawn real laughs, Chocolate News feels a bit like a lost opportunity.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Clark Collis
It pales-- satirically speaking, anyway--when compared with the "Daily Show," especially with Chocolate's tired sketch about imaginary rapper Phat Man. More promising is a bit in which Grier's Maya Angelou recites a poem penned to commemorate a McCain victory
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67
Time James Poniewozik
In all, not a great debut, but one with potential, and it shows off Grier's versatility well.
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60
Variety Brian Lowry
Chocolate News is a moderately tasty, low-nutrition snack--the kind that, with apologies to perhaps the next ethnic frontier, will leave you hungry a half-hour later.
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50
The New York Times Ginia Bellafante
It aspires to distill the news from an African-American perspective, and in two weeks on the air its comedy has been variously anachronistic and plodding, and timely and sharp.
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50
Salon James Hannaham
The pilot delivers some hearty laughs, but it also has a couple of painfully tired bits that come close to deflating the entire proceedings.
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40
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
David Alan Grier, star of the new Chocolate News gets points for moxie, but the series fails on too many other counts.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 2.7 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brad Sh. gave it a1:
This show was a huge bait and switch. Comedy Central showed some relatively funny ads for this program and I was under the impression that his show would be funny, and boy was I wrong. Relatively bland humor and a lack of general engagement make this show a huge turn off. Basically picture the Daily Show and Chapelle Show having a kid and it being mentally handicapped, that is how I would describe this show.

James O. gave it an8:
Pretty good. Had some funny vignettes. People are comparing this to chappelle's show, and while the two are similar, they really can't be compared. I think it's being unfairly compared to chappelle's show only because they're both black. This show has a lot more relevant political humor than Chappelle does.

Justin V. gave it a0:
Ok....so if you get pass the stereotypes, the downright ghetto skits and the painful ignorance....its STILL not funny. I am a black man who watches Comedy Central all the time, but this is the most ignorant piece of work I've ever seen. What do reviewers see in this show?

Kyle C gave it a3:
This show was alot better when it was called The Chappelle Show. D.A.G.'s handlers just have him screaming about how white people are dumb and black people can't do anything wrong. Fail.

Zach C. gave it a1:
The show actually hurts to watch. The host seems cocky and displays unneeded sarcasm constantly. The host's personality ruins the show.

Robert W. gave it a2:
Absolutely horrible....i used to like David, however this show is so ridiculous its painful. I forced myself to sit down and try to watch the show, just to see if it would pick up its pace...it failed...can not compare to chappelle show, so stop before you start....this would be funny to an audience who is clueless on black community, however the humor is old, outdated and just plain boring im sorry...You can find just about any one that could throw together some crap like this.

Jason S. gave it a0:
Really, really bad show.

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