The Sarah Silverman Program: The Complete Series

BY Robert BellPublished Jun 18, 2012

Though preoccupied with poop, bodily functions and a litany of distressing sexual fetishes not often discussed in polite company, the comic drive of Comedian Sarah Silverman's short-lived Comedy Central series is that of mocking or denigrating issues and institutions that people typically use as a soapbox to prop up their own self-worth and importance. The impetus of each episode comes from Sarah's misguided, self-involved attempts to mirror the behaviours of political radicals, opening up her own holocaust memorial (and inviting a Nazi), trying to marry her dog, becoming a spokesperson for AIDS and suing Home Alone for encouraging people to swing paint cans from banisters. Throughout the three seasons of her wildly offensive series, virtually every piety is exploited comically, whether it's homeless people, mortally ill children or Mongolian rapists. Her series was like a veritable candy land for those of us that think it's funny when grown men defecate on pigeons or shove toy trains up their asses. One-liners like, "Girl, get yo' head off my titty" or "As a lesbian, I resent your laughter, and all laughter" revel in impropriety much like an extended monologue about Sarah putting mascara on her pubes as a prepubescent to give the impression of a fuller bush embrace crudity with aplomb. But, alas, the show was cancelled after three seasons, leaving us to wonder if the demon baby that Sarah had with black God ever flew back to her. Insiders suggested that the third season wasn't as strong as the first two, which is absurd, especially considering that it features the pedophile van episode where Sarah decides to make a crusade out of encouraging children to get into strange vans. This complete series package literally just includes the existing box sets of seasons one and two with the same commentary tracks and animatics, but features the previously unavailable third season with a wallop of special features. In addition to the original pilot with amiable but occasionally inappropriate commentary, there are also conversations in the writers' room and behind-the-scenes excerpts from each episode. We learn how it's okay to refer to someone as a "pussy" on TV, but how it's not okay to refer to a vagina as a "pussy" on TV, which is almost as valuable as Sarah's observation about people bringing an abundance of produce to AIDS rallies.
(Shout! Factory)

Latest Coverage