Beloved Comedian Returning to Netflix With New 2021 Special

Nearly four years after his last Netflix stand-up special was released on the platform, beloved comedian Jim Gaffigan is poised to make his return to the streaming service. Gaffigan will return with a new stand-up special to air later this year featuring a performance to be taped at Minneapolis' State Theater on Friday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 16, Deadline confirmed in a Tuesday morning report. Details about the special, including the title and exact premiere date, have not been confirmed at the time, though the streamer did confirm it will be released later this year. Gaffigan has not yet commented on the news.

This will mark Gaffigan's sixth stand-up special for Netflix. The famed comedian — a six-time Grammy nominee for his comedy specials and three-time Emmy winner for his work on CBS News' Sunday Morning — initially partnered with Netflix in 2016, Forbes previously reported. Under the deal, Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale (2005), Jim Gaffigan: King Baby (2009), Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe (2012), Jim Gaffigan: Obsessed (2014), and Jim Gaffigan: Cinco (2017) debuted on the streaming platform. However, Gaffigan parted ways with the streamer for the 2018 release of his stand-up special Noble Ape, which had a theatrical release and was available for purchase and rent on various streaming platforms, including iTunes, YouTube, and Walmart's VUDU. Speaking to Business Insider about the decision to stray away from Netflix, Gaffigan explained that at the time of Noble Ape, he already had five specials on Netflix and came to realize that "people consume things in a different manner."

"Some people consume things on-demand. Some people watch it on Amazon Prime. Some people watch it on Apple TV. Some people listen to it on Spotify," he explained. "So their model — you know, obviously they offered me good money — but their model made it available to everyone. You didn't just have to have Netflix. And I thought this was appealing, that it'd be available to everyone at the same time."

In addition to his Netflix specials, Gaffigan has three other stand-up comedy specials available on various platforms. Aside from stand-ups, Gaffigan has several other credits to his name and most recently voiced Lorenzo Paguro in Disney Pixar's animated film Luca. He will next be seen in Disney's Peter Pan and Wendy. News of his upcoming stand-up special comes as Netflix faces backlash over another special on its platform, Dave Chappelle: The Closer, which has been criticized as transphobic.