A late-night snark

The daily production of "Chelsea Lately" is loose, controlled chaos. The writers and producers plan each day's show in the morning, writing material for the panel discussion and shooting comedy bits, either on location or in the hallways and cramped office spaces in West Los Angeles. The show tapes around 3:30 p.m. in front of a live audience and wraps in about an hour.

For the show, Handler sports stylish but non-flashy suits in a conscious attempt to downplay her looks. "I've just never been that kind of person," she said. "I don't have a lot of respect for women who play up their sexuality. I know I'm attractive, but that's not my best feature. What's up here in my head is more important."

Initially, club owners such as the Laugh Factory's Jamie Masada told Handler her looks might be a problem. "I told her very early in her career that it was very hard for a beautiful woman to get laughs," he said. "All the audience sees is the beauty. But Chelsea pulled it all off brilliantly."

A little target practice

Targets range from A-listers (Brangelina and TomKat) to D-listers (Dina Lohan, Denise Richards). "It's great to go see 'American Idol' being taped because Paula Abdul has absolutely no idea what's going on," she once joked.

When scenester Kim Kardashian (E!'s "Keeping Up With the Kardashians") -- a frequent subject of gossipy websites -- dropped by, Handler opened up the interview with "First of all, let's talk about your ass."

Then there's this about Tom Cruise: "He's such a hot mess." And of her favorite target, Tori Spelling: "Everybody knows who Tori Spelling is, because no one else has a face like that! I just can't control myself when it comes to Tori," she added. "I'm so sorry."

Of course, not everyone finds Handler so amusing, including Variety's television critic Brian Lowry, who reviewed her first few shows.

"In theory, a snarky, nightly half-hour devoted to entertainment culture makes considerable sense for E!," wrote Lowry last year. "But in 'Chelsea Lately,' the network has gotten the idea right and the talent wrong. A poor-woman's Kathy Griffin with a grating voice that could curve the spine, comic Chelsea Handler has bulldozed her way through the first three episodes, unpleasantly lurching from one snide comment to the next."

But, she maintains, she's not mean-spirited. "I make fun of myself, so that allows me to make fun of others," she said. "It's better if celebrities have a sense of humor about themselves. Take Denise Richards. She has no sense of humor. She's not in on the joke."

Handler realizes her show attracts only a fraction of the viewership of her late-night male counterparts. Even though the domino effect of Leno's exit from "The Tonight Show" may create upheaval in the late-night wars, she has no plans to leave E!.

"Those shows are graduate school and we're community college," said one of the show's executive producers, Tom Brunelle. "If we keep doing the show we're doing, we'll be fine."

Although she's already planning another book and is on the lookout for a film role, Handler's top priority is still her show. Which means bad news for the Jonas Brothers. "I told their publicist I would make a donation of $1,000 to the charity of their choice every time I make fun of them," she said.

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greg.braxton@latimes.com