Netflix Binges On Chelsea Handler

By giving comedian Chelsea Handler free rein with her upcoming talk show, Netflix is opening itself up to new risks and new opportunities for growth.

- Benjamin Svetkey

"This place is so vast! " says Chelsea Handler, nearly breaking into a Mary Tyler Moore-like twirl inside an empty soundstage on the Sony lot.

“There’s so much room to maneuver!” In a few weeks, carpenters will begin construction on the set of her upcoming Netflix talk show, scheduled to begin streaming in 190 nations on May 11. But for now, on a warm February afternoon in Culver City, as Handler takes in the 16,000-square-foot space for the first time, all she has is her imagination.

“I’ve never actually been in here before,” she says. “I’ve only seen where the green room and the guest rooms are going to be. And”—she pauses for effect—“where they’ll be putting the bar.”

If all goes according to plan—and things usually do in Handler’s world, even if she insists she never has a plan—the 41-year-old stand-up comedian turned E! network star turned streaming pioneer will be spending a large chunk of the next several years inside this soundstage. The exact contours of the show are still being worked out by Handler’s staff of 50 producers, writers, editors, and researchers. What’s certain is that the program, called