TV Review -- The Sarah Silverman Program

In her full-length movie/musical/stand up special Jesus is Magic, Sarah Silverman appealed to the underground comedic audiences with her brutally fresh take on stand-up and oddly surreal movie world. Now, Comedy Central has given the comedian a weekly television show, which doesn't overstay its welcome as some say Jesus is Magic did, though it will require a bit of pruning if it's going to be a successful endeavor.

Sarah Silverman has made a career out of juxtaposing her cuteness with her shockingly dirty mouth, and unsurprisingly the first two episodes of the Sarah Silverman Program follow loose plots and focus on the whole cute-versus-crude style of humor, and there are some weak moments as a result when the comic appears to be trying to hard for shock value.

These moments are few and far between, as Silverman builds a really surreal environment for most of each show and nurtures it well, creating a place where the more subtle elements (a tall black man appearing as her reflection as she walks down the street in one scene) are the more rewarding laughs. Additionally, the nothing-is-sacred presentation makes the show fresh and fun to watch, if nothing else but to see what taboo Silverman will violate mercilessly and hilariously next.

Other characters and gags flesh out the sitcom, such as Silverman's gay friends and frequent and unexpected bouts of song that come out of nowhere, and there's enough experimentation in the first few episodes for each moment to be interesting, even when it isn't completely funny.

That's the really interesting part of TheSarah Silverman Program. The ideas that are tried mimic another great Comedy Central sitcom Stella, where the joke is as much the fact that the comedians are attempting weird shit as the weird shit they're attempting. It's a show to watch and marvel at the fact that somehow, Silverman's weird set of characters and off-the-wall gags made it past a room with a bong and a notepad and are actually on television.