Comedy Central Gets with Sarah Silverman’s “Programme”

Comedy Central announced they’re ordering six episodes of the “Sarah Silverman Progamme” (love the archaic spelling) to air this summer. I’ve already read someone wondering whether Sarah’s show will be the next Chappelle’s Show. From the description, it sounds pretty close to the sketches and songs that interspersed Jesus is Magic, but with a bit more a narrative thread. In the example episode given, Sarah leaves her apartment to find batteries for her TV remote to avoid watching a day-and-a-half long telethon about starving kids.

Best part about the order is it breaks producers Dan Harmond’s and Rob Schrab’s record for TV pilots, this being the first to get past the first installment, in a sort of sick version of their monthly Channel 101 event. Dan and Rob are responsible for the legendary failed pilot Heat Vision and Jack, a parody of late 70s/early 80s high concept action shows featuring Jack Black as a super-intelligent astronaut but only when the sun rises (“I know everything!”) and Owen Wilson as a slacker friend turned into a motorcycle. It’s as genius as it sounds.

Dan and Rob, through their myspace blogs, detailed some of the production of the pilot in October of last year. Rob Schrab reveals Jesus director Liam Lynch went to bat for him to direct the show. On the first day of shooting, Dan talks about how the show is “experiemental”, and most importantly to him, “being shot as conceived and written.” He also later shares that the show didn’t test well with focus groups:

“What a surprise. You’re blowing my mind, here, society. I really thought that if you teamed up the guys that wrote the most famous failed pilot in TV history with the girl that said “chink” on Conan, the resultant product would score through the roof. I mean, that’s what I kept repeating to myself on the set: “this is going to be a real triumph in numerically measurable mainstream accessibility.” That was my goal. I write for the numbers. I’m a numbers man.”

Personally, failing grades like these make me want to see it more. Hmm, maybe if the “Sarah Silverman Programme” does well, they’ll have to adjust Channel 101 so the ones with the least votes are the ones who gets renewed. Just a thought.