If Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development had a baby, the precocious, gifted child would be the newest addition to Comedy Central, The Sarah Silverman Program (premiering February 1, 2007 at 10:30pm EST).
I'm lucky enough to have been handed a sneak peek at the show, and I can happily vouch for its being nothing less than outstanding. Taking cues from the autobiographically-exaggerated boys of Stella and the single-shot feel of Enthusiasm, TSSP is another exercise in what many have called the "re-invented sitcom," one which eschews the traditional three-camera aesthetic and doltish laugh track in exchange for highbrow satirical humor disguised as silliness and a protagonist whose daily experiences-gone-awry provide some of the weirdest and most absurdly entertaining material on television.
Sarah Silverman plays "Sarah Silverman," a feeble-minded, stubborn LA dweller completely ignorant to social graces who finds herself in the type of situations designed exclusively for HBO (but ultimately - and thankfully - rescued by Comedy Central). Pageant queens, street bums, and "Black God" pop up throughout the series, as do regulars Laura, Sarah's sister (in real life, as well), Brian (Brian Posehn), Steve (Steve Agee) and Officer Jay (Jay Johnston). One might assumeThe Sarah Silverman Program to be what Silverman would see were she to hold up a funhouse mirror to her own life, where conversation becomes song and dance, brunch conversation turns into a farting contest, and buying a couple of batteries becomes a day-long challenge in which our heroine must defeat both aggressive cops and the physically handicapped.
American Idol can wait, folks. Give Sarah Silverman the fame and success she so rightly deserves.
Funny Girl [New York Times Magazine]
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