The Sarah Silverman Program: Series One DVD Credits:

Region: 1

The Sarah Silverman Program: Series One DVD Release Date: 1st October 2007

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The Sarah Silverman Program: Series One DVD Review:

Comedy Central, known for its outlandish comedy and super cult television series programming, brings us yet another winner in the form of The Sarah Silverman Program: Season 1. The writing is sharp, the acting is spot on, and the humor infests your soul. If you’re a fan of Sarah Silverman’s comedy, diapers will be necessary throughout viewing. If not, you’ll still be chuckling sporadically. Either way, you’re going to laugh and you’re probably going to feel bad about it afterwards.

The Sarah Silverman Program is not for everyone. However, everyone should open themselves up to watching it because the humor, although consistent style-wise, is diverse and effective on multiple levels. There’s a rich mixture of subtle comedy and utterly ridiculous over-the-top gags. The pacing and comedic timing is solidly executed so that jokes don’t become redundant or overdrawn and each punchline comes off fresh and entertaining. Being that this is a single-camera sitcom, it benefits from being able to experiment with seemingly endless possibilities rather than being constricted to a set, studio audience, and a strict format. Instead, Sarah’s wild misadventures lead us in a plethora of directions so that we never become bored.

Jokes range from awkward to immature and sophomoric, from intelligent and below-the-radar to put-down, and from sympathy for the Jews to utter disregard for any kind of political correctness. Most shows in this vein fall victim to becoming too stupid and outlandish and thus, completely missing the boat. That’s the risk you take with this kind of series but The Sarah Silverman Program succeeds and consistently produces laughs. The thing about this show is that at times, it sinks below the level of stupid humor. It becomes so ridiculous and so simplistic that you can’t help but laugh. For instance, in the first aired episode, Officer Jay, Sarah becomes intoxicated while driving due to orange flavored cough syrup and hallucinates flying in her car to Scotland so that she can have a hilarious conversation with an overly flamboyant Loch Ness Monster. If that’s not your cup of tea then you may want to skip the pilot episode where Sarah has sex with God—who happens to be black and have no problem turning unsuspecting police officers into mounds of the delicious snack, Bugles.

Yes, the constant references to diarrhea, vaginal flatulence, anal flatulence, homosexuality, the handicapped, etc. can grow cumbersome but if you can sit back and take it for what it is, you’ll find that no program currently does sitcom toilet humor like this one. Although these are prevalent topics, they don’t stop the stories from being diverse. This first season follows Sarah as she: gets an AIDS test one day because she’s bored, adopts a homeless guy, contemplates becoming a lesbian, does anything she has to in order to get batteries for her TV remote control, deals with her sister finding a boyfriend, and takes in a little girl, who is probably her once thought late-term aborted child, helping her win the pageant that she never won as a little girl. There are little specks of heart in the show and they turn out hilarious because there are ulterior motives. For instance, Sarah sings a song about feces that turns into a sweet melody wishing that there were no orphans or war and that everyone’s religion was love. Then she is rewarded one wish from God because her song was so selfless. Of course, she wishes that she can go back to her brunch and fart in front of her friends instead of defecating in her pants. It’s the little things like this that makes this show a gem.

The cast is what really makes The Sarah Silverman Program work. Sarah is amazing at what she does and makes use of her ability to turn just about anything into a song. Her sister Laura and Jay Johnston work perfectly together as the “rational” counterparts. And Brian Posehn and Steve Agee steal their scenes as the gay neighbors (gaybors) who play video games and constantly bicker over trivial topics—like why Brian won’t just give Tab a taste. Also, look for an absolutely brilliant cameo from Sarah’s real life boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel.

After the season ends with a kick to the genitals, the Extras keep the fun rolling. With commentaries from the cast on every episode (except the pilot), you’ll also find ridiculous pitches for the opening sequence, musical performances by the cast, and a Karaoke/Sing-A-Long section where you can participate in all the songs from the episodes. You’ll be karaoking “Poop Song” all night long after you enjoy a series of laugh from watching the first season of The Sarah Silverman Program.

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The Sarah Silverman Program: Series One DVD review written by: Bryce Carlson