We get it. Sometimes you think you know what you want, even spend months planning that perfect vacation, that car, that house, even that job. And then, once you finally get it, you feel pressed in, uncomfortable, soaked in buyer’s remorse.
It seems that Bill Wolff, who until today was the executive producer for Netflix’s newest and only talk show Chelsea, was steeped in that exact, unfortunate situation. Wolff today announced that he would be leaving the talk program starring Chelsea Handler where he served as not only the lead executive producer but also as the classifiable show-runner, Deadline reports.
Chelsea, though only three weeks into production, is a substantial nine episodes deep, each one running ninety minutes long, to be released three times a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (a bit like The Daily Show, though Mondays and Tuesdays are fair game for the rest of the market). The show is unusual for both mainstream television format and also for the newer, yet once-completely-defined Netflix style; not only is Chelsea dissimilar to most of Netflix’s original series that are commonly available all at once to binge at one’s ravenous leisure, but it also could not work on normal TV, being a three-time-a-week deal. It’s new. And it’s something Bill Wolff no longer wants to be a part of.
““I’m grateful that Bill was part of the pioneering effort to get Netflix’s first talk show off the ground,” says the other executive producer and, of course, the host Chelsea Handler. Handler will now take over as the unofficial show-runner while managing her executive producer and host duties, not unlike John Oliver with Last Week Tonight and Jon Stewart with the old The Daily Show.
This situation is not temporary either. No one else is anticipated to step up or be hired from the outside. It’s completely likely that Handler will continue her overarching trio of duties for the rest of the show’s life.
“I am excited for Chelsea as she continues to produce her singular vision for a television talk show,” Wolff said.
Not surprisingly, this is not Wolff’s first brief tenure with a talk show. His roots are in ESPN, where he felt his way around the world of news and talking heads until landing at the epitome of this combination–MSNBC.
Wolff spent a considerable period of time as vice president of programming at MSNBC, between 2005 and 2014, during which time he created the now-impactful Rachel Maddow Show and executive produced it as well.
Before joining Chelsea Handler and this project, Wolff spent a short time as the executive producer for The View, where he lasted one season before moving on to this. Arguably, Wolff did put a lot of energy into this one-of-its-kind talk show; the show-runner, after joining Handler on her quest to break the binge-streaming barrier, poured nine months of time, creativity, and effort into building Chelsea from the ground up.
Chelsea will continue on without Wolff, as it dropped its Ashton Kutcher episode today without delay and will continue releasing episodes throughout the rest of 2016.