Never-Before-Seen Chappelle's Show Episodes to Air

Chappelle, who disappeared to South Africa last April (eventually citing major stress as the cause for embarking on his "spiritual retreat"), filmed four episodes of the third season of his wildly popular Chappelle's Show before he left, according to Reuters. On Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, Comedy Central will air a 2 1/2-minute teaser for the footage (set to air in weekly showings in either April, May or June) during its Comedy Central's Last Laugh '05 special.

In one segment of the trailer, Chappelle is shown poking fun at his wealth by showing off his home on a fake episode of MTV's Cribs. Chappelle mocks his fortune by cooking a Tyrannosaurus Rex egg and sprinkling it with diamond dust.

Fans shouldn't get too excited about the airing of the new material, though; the network's decision to air the footage may mean that Chappelle is unlikely to finish the third season. "We have to do this because we have no idea what the future foretells," Comedy Central president, Doug Herzog told Reuters. "He hasn't been able to articulate what he would like to do, so we're moving forward."

Comedy Central has reportedly been trying to communicate with Chappelle since May and had hoped to speak with him before airing the new episodes. They did, however, tell the comedian's reps that they planned to continue production on the new episodes without Chappelle's input.

Chappelle's spokeswoman, Carla Sims, told The Washington Post that "Comedy Central is not going to obtain Dave's return by releasing material that he has not approved or that does not meet his standards."

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