Too Much TV: When It Comes To Stand-Up Comedy, Netflix Doesn't Care About Your Feelings

Here’s everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, April 3rd, 2026:

PRODUCTION NOTES
I am somewhat back to normal today, albeit a day later than I had hoped. I wanted to thank all of you for the kind get well comments emails. There are way too many for me to thank everyone individually. But they helped a lot. Especially since I have a tendency to feel extremely guilty if I take any time off.

FOR SUPPOSEDLY BEING 'CANCELED,' LOUIS C.K. IS DOING JUST FINE
Netflix has announced that Louis C.K. will be headlining The Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix Is A Joke Fest on Tuesday, May 5th. Where I am sure he will spend some time during his show laughing about being 'canceled.' And if there was ever a booking that was more on-brand for Netflix, it's headlining a guy who has admitted to jerking off in front of female employees and co-workers because - as he put it in recent performances - "when you're really good at something, you want to show it off."

Aside from the fact that any man who thinks that is likely not to be as entertaining (or large) as he believes he is, it's just the latest example of Netflix's decision that it's nearly impossible for a comic to be so unpleasant, so racist, so misogynistic, that it might cost them a shot on a worldwide streaming platform.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is a huge fan of stand-up comedy and has repeatedly expressed his belief that comedians should not be edited or censored. In fact, he's used that "we won't get in your way" stance towards comedy as a way to bring in an impressive number of podcast bro comics who release somewhat mainstream Netflix specials while simultaneously cackling on their podcasts about their ability to get one over on "normies."

There is Shane Gillis, whose series Tires is returning to Netflix for a third season later this year. After Lorne Michaels hired him to join the cast of Saturday Night Live, NBC forced Michaels to fire him. His Netflix comedy specials only hint at the type of things he says on podcasts, but that should be enough:

"Australia also gave us 'Love On The Spectrum.' Thank you Australia. Incredible show. Actually incredible. How did this show get made? That's an insane show. Only Australia could have come up with this. Only Australians would be like (Australian accent). 'Allright. Know how autistic people are extremely uncomfortable in social settings? Stick a camera in these fuckin retards' face and watch them talk."

Or Andrew Schulz, whose most recent Netflix special Life is filled with gems such as these:

"When your wife first gets pregnant, you have to go get a baby-specific doctor, called an OB-GYN, right? I didn't know what the fuck that was. I thought it was more gay letters. My wife's like, "We need an OB-GYN." I was like "Why do need a fuckin' gay guy to deliver the baby? What do they know about this? It's not their jurisdiction at all." I don't want some gay doctor to open my wife's legs, like (campy voice) "Ew, yucky. Vagina."

And...

"I go around the curtain. I see the baby. Now I don't know if any of y'all have ever seen a brand-new baby? You know how frogs start as tadpoles? Babies start as Puerto Rican. Did you guys know that? Every baby starts as Puerto Rican. This was the most Puerto Rican baby I've ever seen in my life. It had a Yankee fitted. It had a keychain with a frog on it. It was driving a Toyota Rav4 with a 4.7 Uber rating. It wasn't even 'goo-goo, ga-ga.' It was (makes trilling sound like a Freddie Prinze knock-off)."

"The second my baby turned white, I said 'They will not replace us.' I regret saying that out loud." 

And I have written a lot about my thoughts on Dave Chappelle's Netflix specials, including his most recent one, The Unstoppable: And then there are the trio of specials from the Austin-based show Kill Tony, which are indeed, very special:

Dunnigan then returns as RFK Jr. and his opening joke was "My wife Cheryl Hines' pussy is so dry, that if it could talk, it would sound like me." Followed by "Speaking of one at a time, that's what Marilyn Monroe said when my uncle and father tried to spit roast her."

I suppose all of this is supposed to be shocking somehow and I suspect it might be to some people. But I grew up listening to "adult" albums by people like Redd Foxx, who were dirtier than Dunnigan could ever conceive is possible. Much of this comes across as performative and the comedy equivalent of dropping your pants in the middle of a suburban Target and screaming "You are all too woke to look at me!"

So much of this comedy isn't shocking, it's performative. It's comics saying things in hopes of upsetting people. To be honest, for all of his blustering, I am not even convinced that David Chappelle hates trans people. I get the feeling most of what he says is for the effect. Chappelle - like some of these other comics - conflate being outrageous with being clever and "unafraid." And yes, while many of the asshats of the world are unafraid, that doesn't mean that it's a good thing. But it's good enough to merit a Netflix special.

Which brings me back to Louie C.K. Netflix hosting him at their Netflix Is A Joke Fest and then releasing new comedy special by him is sadly on-brand for the streamer. They have consistently shown that if you are seen as funny, that's enough for Netflix. Comics can attack whomever they want, they can say whatever they want. Those lame critics just don't understand comedy.

Let's not forget that Louie C.K. was not "canceled." That implies some sort of irrational decision imposed by leftists trying to damage him. He wasn't "caught up in the #MeToo movement." His problems began when a 2017 New York Times article detailed the accounts of five women who claimed the comedian had asked them to watch him masturbate or forced them to do so. After the article was published, other women came forward with variations of the same story, many of them confirmed by other people.

Louis C.K. had been asked about his behavior for years in interviews and generally managed to shrug off the stories. But after the NY Times expose was published, the comic released a statement admitting to the allegations, although he essentially argued he didn't realize asking women who are less powerful than him if he could masturbate in front of them might cause some problems:

"At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true," C.K. wrote. "But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question. It's a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly."

But it wasn't just that Louis C.K. was influential in his own right. He was represented by manager Dave Becky, who at the time also represented well-known comedians such as Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, and Amy Poehler. Complaining about Louis C.K.'s behavior could mean burning a lot of important career bridges in an industry that has long been seen as unfriendly to women.

In the days after this statement was released, Louis C.K. did suffer some severe career setbacks. The FX Network cut its ties with the comedian and his production company. Netflix canceled plans for an upcoming comedy special, and HBO removed his older comedy specials from its service.

And while he stayed away from comedy clubs for a year or two, Louis C.K. began making "unannounced" sets at clubs to work out material. That led to a 2020 comedy special, "Sincerely Louis C.K.," which he sold on his website.

But in the special, Louis C.K. attempted to come across as the Richard Pryor of pulling one off, explaining why he enjoyed having an audience for his self-pleasuring:

"I like jerking off, I don't like being alone, that's all I can tell you. I get lonely, it's just sad. I like company. I like to share. I'm good at it, too. If you're good at juggling, you wouldn't do it alone in the dark. You'd gather folks and amaze them," he says.

Now I won't get into the likelihood that any man who claims to be good at masturbation is actually any good at it - and how does that criteria work anyway? But he continues to be oblivious to the consequences of his behavior as he complained that it's hard for men to know when women are "faking" pleasure or honestly giving consent.

In one bit, he compared slaves singing in the cotton fields to women pretending to be sexually aroused:

"It's kind of like a Negro spiritual. It's sort of similar. So to assume that she likes it is like if they heard slaves singing in the field and you're like, 'Hey, they're having a good time out there."

If recent reviews of his shows are accurate, Louis C.K. doesn't appear to have developed any personal growth or insight following all of these events. Other than something along the lines of "Man, it's so hard to know when a woman is okay with you rubbing one off while they watch."

Louis C.K. is a talented guy. It sucks that he is the man he is and that it's impossible to separate his creepy offstage persona with the only slightly less unsettling onstage behavior.

I'm not arguing anyone should boycott Louie C.K.'s shows. I'm just saying that I have no interest in rewarding someone who has admitted to behaving so badly while still refusing to acknowledge that he was guilty of anything more than some unfortunate misunderstandings.

Some of his fans are going to say, "Well, how long should he suffer? Why should he lose his career forever?"

My answer is pretty simple. If you're fired from McDonald's for repeatedly masturbating in the drive-through window, you're not going to be able to wait a couple of years and hope to get invited to McDonald's University. Especially if you're explanation of your behavior is, "hey, if they didn't want to see it, they wouldn't have driven up to the window."

I would be a lot more open to Louis C.K.'s return to Netflix if he had shown the slightest willingness to admit he was wrong. If he was capable of making the slightest move towards redemption. Instead, he uses the accusations against him as the setup for a few more punchlines. 

No thanks, Netflix, I'll pass on this one.

ODDS AND SODS
*  The sports documentary Ronaldinho: The One And Only premieres Thursday, April 16th on Netflix. Here is a first look at the special as well as some photos. And here is the official logline: "Dismissed by the press and Brazilian fans, Ronaldinho faces the challenge of recovering the shine of his career in one last season. This is the backdrop for Ronaldinho Gaúcho – Rolê Aleatório, which will reveal the intimate side of the bumpy yet victorious journey that led Ronaldinho Gaúcho to become the only football player in history to win the four most important competitions on the planet. Far beyond his football career, the series portrays the struggles and triumphs of a family that overcame poverty through resilience and immense talent."

* This Bluesky thread does a nice job of outlining the diversity problems with this year's lineup on Hallmark.

* The animated movie Swapped premieres Friday, May 1st on Netflix. Here is a first look at the film and a photo gallery of images. And here is the official logline: "The film is a buddy comedy about a small woodland creature (voiced by Academy Award-winning Michael B. Jordan) and a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) — natural sworn enemies of The Valley — who suddenly swap bodies and must team up (while walking in each other’s feathers and fur) to survive the wildest adventure of their lives."

* The limited series Amadeus premieres Friday, May 8th on Starz.

* Paramount+ has ordered the new reality series Teen Moms, executive produced by Kim Kardashian. Here is the official logline: "Team Moms launches viewers into the world of nationally competitive youth baseball via immersion into the Legendary Prep Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona’s first and only baseball prep school. The series follows the coaches, founders and a group of dynamic families and their respective teen sons who comprise the starting lineup for one of the most competitive youth baseball programs in the world—a feeder to Division 1 college scholarships, NIL deals and ultimately, fame and fortune in the MLB. Willing to do whatever it takes for their children to excel at America’s favorite pastime, the intensity of the program is only paralleled by the fervor of its athlete’s parents, who will stop at nothing to ensure their kids make it to the big leagues."

* Wizards Beyond Waverly Place will return for a third and final season. Production of the four-episode season will begin next week.

* The Indonesian series Made With Love premieres April 15th on Netflix. Here is a first look at the series. This is the official logline: "The heat in the kitchen is about to reach boiling point — and it's not just the stove turning up. At the heart of this culinary showdown is Luka, an ambitious young chef determined to become head chef at her mother's legendary restaurant. But standing in her way is the current head chef — none other than her own mother. The trailer gives a peek into their intense friction, as Luka fights to prove she's ready to lead the kitchen despite clashing with her mother over cooking and leadership. Tensions run even higher when Luka’s mother makes a surprising decision: she hires a new chef Dennis and puts trust in him, triggering a fierce rivalry between Luka and Dennis. But when a major challenge forces these two arch-rivals to work side by side, they slowly begin to understand each other amidst the chaos of the kitchen."

* Disney+ has ordered a second season of the animated series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord.

* “Fuck ICE” chants, speaking up against the genocide in Gaza, a deathmatch with glass, barbed wire, and an exploding table. Welcome to the AEW. 

WHAT'S COMING TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND