It's Sarah Silverman's Show
February 1, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
Sarah Silverman's new comedy is funny right from when she explains the premise in the intro. "The Sarah Silverman Program," she says, contains "full-frontal jewdity." Her life is uncomplicated: "Some people call me on the phone, my parents are dead, I like cookies."
If you get the humor of that line when you hear it -- the buoyant, childlike delivery and the placement of dead parents in the middle of the sentence -- then congratulations, you understand comedy.
Fans have long expected Silverman, 36, to become a bigger phenom than she is. Finally, she might have a career-defining piece of work with "The Sarah Silverman Program." And if the series doesn't peter out after its first two great episodes, Comedy Central may at last have on its hands a live-action comedy as funny as "Chappelle's Show" -- two years after Dave Chappelle famously bolted from that satire, just when it was on track toward partially redefining pop culture.
Silverman (bravely?) named the show "The Sarah Silverman Program," a title making it sound "Chappelle"-ish, as if it's a collection of sketches and stage performances. It's not.
"Program" is a scripted half-hour comedy. She plays a very self-centered, childlike woman named Sarah Silverman who is unemployed and speaks to people the way one of the nicer (but crass, nonetheless) kids on "South Park" might.
Fake Sarah is aware of some of her put-downs, but she's either oblivious or unconcerned about hurting people's feelings with childish truths.
At the store, she meets a 70-year-old woman. At first, Sarah says she doesn't believe the woman's that old. The woman moves in to hug sweet Sarah. Then Sarah says, oh, right, up close she can totally see her old face wrinkles, and she walks away disgusted.
In the hands of a lesser comedian and a weak director, that scene would merely seem cruel and desperate. But the actors play their bizarre characters without self-parody, and scenes are shot with calm expertise. Comedy is all about the how, not the what.
If you're not easily offended, you'll probably dig on the scene in the debut where a cop tries to show his pro-Jew stance while flirting with Sarah's sister Laura (played by her real sister Laura Silverman).
"So your last name's Silverman, huh?" the cop says. "You know, I believe the Holocaust was completely uncalled for."
Everyone on "Program" talks like that -- stupid. But it takes very smart writers to put dialogue into the mouths of half-dumb, half-witty people without stooping to the lame setups of generic TV comedies.
On cable TV, any subject is up for abuse, and the writers make the most of this freedom. You'll see that in upcoming episodes in which Sarah stubs her vagina and boinks "Black God." I have a feeling Sarah will kick him out of bed afterward. She's not really a people person. Or a God person.
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
Sarah Silverman's new comedy is funny right from when she explains the premise in the intro. "The Sarah Silverman Program," she says, contains "full-frontal jewdity." Her life is uncomplicated: "Some people call me on the phone, my parents are dead, I like cookies."
If you get the humor of that line when you hear it -- the buoyant, childlike delivery and the placement of dead parents in the middle of the sentence -- then congratulations, you understand comedy.
Fans have long expected Silverman, 36, to become a bigger phenom than she is. Finally, she might have a career-defining piece of work with "The Sarah Silverman Program." And if the series doesn't peter out after its first two great episodes, Comedy Central may at last have on its hands a live-action comedy as funny as "Chappelle's Show" -- two years after Dave Chappelle famously bolted from that satire, just when it was on track toward partially redefining pop culture.
Silverman (bravely?) named the show "The Sarah Silverman Program," a title making it sound "Chappelle"-ish, as if it's a collection of sketches and stage performances. It's not.
"Program" is a scripted half-hour comedy. She plays a very self-centered, childlike woman named Sarah Silverman who is unemployed and speaks to people the way one of the nicer (but crass, nonetheless) kids on "South Park" might.
Fake Sarah is aware of some of her put-downs, but she's either oblivious or unconcerned about hurting people's feelings with childish truths.
At the store, she meets a 70-year-old woman. At first, Sarah says she doesn't believe the woman's that old. The woman moves in to hug sweet Sarah. Then Sarah says, oh, right, up close she can totally see her old face wrinkles, and she walks away disgusted.
In the hands of a lesser comedian and a weak director, that scene would merely seem cruel and desperate. But the actors play their bizarre characters without self-parody, and scenes are shot with calm expertise. Comedy is all about the how, not the what.
If you're not easily offended, you'll probably dig on the scene in the debut where a cop tries to show his pro-Jew stance while flirting with Sarah's sister Laura (played by her real sister Laura Silverman).
"So your last name's Silverman, huh?" the cop says. "You know, I believe the Holocaust was completely uncalled for."
Everyone on "Program" talks like that -- stupid. But it takes very smart writers to put dialogue into the mouths of half-dumb, half-witty people without stooping to the lame setups of generic TV comedies.
On cable TV, any subject is up for abuse, and the writers make the most of this freedom. You'll see that in upcoming episodes in which Sarah stubs her vagina and boinks "Black God." I have a feeling Sarah will kick him out of bed afterward. She's not really a people person. Or a God person.
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