The Sarah Silverman Program: An Organic Sitcom?

Though Sarah Silverman is willing to go pretty much anywhere for her comedy, it’s not what I love about her program. What made the first season charming is the authentic eccentricity of it - the way it’s set at her own apartment (recreated on a set after her landlord kicked the production out), her dog is her dog, her sister Laura is her sister. Though it’s not really revealing about the comedian - she’s not one to really let me talk about her or her comedy too seriously - the closeness to her own life make the show feels like its own world, with its own twisted logic. That’s hard to do in six episodes.

That’s a little bit why, though it’s premiering tonight, I’m not as excited this episode as I am the second. The premiere revolves around abortion - Silverman having multiple ones and getting involved in an anti-abortion organization. Though it’s definitely territory not touched in TV, but the second episode involves Silverman being a sex offender. To dogs. All prompted by some curiosity of what her dog Doug could find so interesting about his own ass:

It’s the kind of situation that only an insensitive innocent like the Silverman character can fall into. I immediately feel how it fits into the world created last season. I hope the first episode is equally organic in how she falls in with an anti-abortion group. The Sarah Silverman Program premieres tonight on Comedy Central at 10:30PM.

After the jump, a clip from tonight premiere…