After Lately is an American television comedy. The series depicts, in mockumentary style, the behind the scenes goings-on at the office of the late-night talk showChelsea Lately. The cast is made up of the actual writers and performers of Chelsea Lately, who play themselves as they suffer the indignities and relish the perks of show business, bicker and argue over trivial and petty matters, compete for show air time and personal approval from Chelsea, and produce a nightly late-night cable comedy show. Celebrity guest stars regularly appear, playing parody versions of themselves, interacting with Chelsea and the cast. The series began airing on E! on March 6, 2011.
Summary
After Lately is a reality show, purporting to expose the behind-the-scenes goings-on of Chelsea Handler's hit, late-night, E! network talk show, Chelsea Lately. In fact, it is a scripted comedy using a "show-about-a-show" concept, similar to The Larry Sanders Show and is, also, a satire of the personality flaws and skewed mindsets commonly associated with show business and celebrities. The performances are both scripted and improvised. The camera shots are intentionally meant to mimic a documentary-style, fly-on-the-wall point-of-view. The various cast members, writers, crew, associates, and even celebrity guests of Chelsea Lately are presented as an extended, dysfunctional 'family': pranking each other in childish ways; failed attempts to lie their way into gaining the favor of higher-status celebrities; bickering and arguing over mostly petty matters; and, constantly competing for show air time—and Chelsea's favor, while producing a nightly talk show. Handler, herself, appears in each episode: always portrayed as having an outwardly disdainful, domineering, and abusive—yet, secretly compassionate—attitude toward each staff member.
After Lately is shown in a documentary style where cameras follow the staff members behind the scenes of Chelsea Lately, and many of the staff members sometimes have one-on-one time with the camera crew for Reality TV-style confessionals. Many of the stories told are inspired by actual events at the Chelsea Lately offices. After Lately is executive produced by Chelsea Handler, Tom Brunelle and Jay Karas, Johnny Milord and Brad Wollack serve as Co-Executive Producers, in association with Borderline Amazing Productions. The first and second seasons each consisted of eight episodes airing on Sunday nights at 11 pm. Season two premiered on November 27, 2011 at 11pm. On April 27, 2012, After Lately was renewed for a third season. Season 3 debuted on February 25, 2013 in its new time slot on Mondays at 10:30pm.
Ratings
The series premiere averaged 1.2 million viewers and a.91 household rating. Season one averaged around one million viewers per episode and exceeded the E!'s primetime delivery by over +50%. The season two premiere of After Lately recorded 1.254 million viewers, up 7% from the series premiere to set a new series high. The season three premiere recorded 0.355 million viewers and a.2 household rating.
