Sam Morril, Tim Dillon, & Chris Distefano’s Specials Leave Netflix

Sam Morril, Tim Dillon, & Chris Distefano are three comics who have carved out a loyal following for themselves as some of the hottest comics working today. A large part of this is thanks to accessibility, as now you can bring your work directly to your fans, thanks to Patreon.

While they became masters of the self-distribution model, Netflix is still, naturally, the biggest game in town. Even after establishing a career on their own accord, getting a special on the platform that has more names in stand-up than any other still feels like a rite of passage. There’s no comic working today that would turn that down, as Netflix can still attract the biggest audience on a global scale.

The majority of specials we seen come out under the Netflix banner are produced specifically for the streamer. However, in 2022, we heard that Netflix started implementing licensing deals with certain comedians. These deals meant that Netflix would acquire the special and license it from the comedian for two years. At the end of those two years, the special‘s rights would revert back to the comic.

Among the first comedians who operated under this new agreement were Tim Dillon, Sam Morril, and Chris Distefano. All three are comedy heavyweights who were now not only getting wider global exposure, but they also would be able to own their special again after those two years were up, and would be free to do whatever they wanted with it.

As a result, all three of those specials are now back within the comedians’ hands. Morril announced that his special - Same Time Tomorrow - would be available through PunchUp (he also released the special to his YouTube channel). Tim Dillon’s special A Real Hero and Chris Distefano’s Speshy Weshy, however, have yet to resurface.

At the end of the day, we think it’s great that comedians - who have in the past had to fight for these things - are able to retain ownership of their specials now, and release things however they see fit. It’s a way to have their cake and eat it, too. Plus, as Dillon is at work on a new talk show for Netflix, there’s still room for a further relationship down the line.