Chuy

"When I saw Kendra hit the wall, I figured she'd keep going because, like, I've hit walls in real life and kept going." Certainly sage-like advice, Holly. Right now my brain is absolutely fried after catching about five minutes of the E! show 'The Girls Next Door."

My reason for tuning into E! extends beyond seeing that piece Kendra stupidly huffing her way through sentences and doing that ridiculous howl after every other word. I'm waiting out GND and the always-atrocious Guiliana Rancic on E! News to see my latest crush: Chelsea Handler, star of the late night show "Chelsea Lately".

The first exposure I had with Handler was on one of those retrospective shows, whether it was a 'Remember the Decade,' or a 'Best Week Ever,' doesn't matter as much as how I remember seeing this cute blonde chick just cutting up (or down) the topics at hand.

Handler kills me. I was jaded the first time I tuned into her show (weeknights at 11:30) and saw her kibitzing with a few comics stage right. The show's first segment feature Chelsea introducing a topic and letting her comedian roundtable make their obligatory quips.

At first view, this segment was forced, staged and just poorly put together. It never seems a good fit to put comedians in a situation where they have a certain time limit to say something funny. It hurts their timing, their pace and their rhythm. That being said, this past Saturday night Jess and I were sitting around watching her year in review show. After making a few poor-taste comments about her potentially flabby arms and the way HD makes her teeth look too far apart, I decided to give Handler a true chance, and she didn't disappoint.

Truth is, she holds the comedians on her show to a high standard. Regardless of the time constraints, if they don't bring the funny and bring it quick, she chops their legs out as soon as she sees fit. For that, I applaud her. The past few nights I've tried staying awake long enough to check out the show, and each time I've come to like it more and more. She does her job with the twinkle of Carson and the wit of Letterman (okay, I'm over-exaggerating), all the while asking meaningful questions to her interview subjects. Imagine my surprise when she asked Tila Tequila semi-serious questions and seemed legitimately interested in Tila's nonsensical retorts and nervous laughter.

Handler takes the 'over-the-top, listen to me and laugh because I'm so controversial' attitude of Sarah Silverman and tones it down with a sharp, tongue-in-cheek delivery.

So, while Dave is off cuz of the strike, I'm gonna try my best to check you out every night, Chelsea Handler. I'll forgo mentioning your romance with the head of the E! Network. Is that why you got the show? Probably. Do I care? Not really.