Interview: Sarah Silverman is Back – and She Has the Gays to Thank!

Let's face it: in the post-South Park world, it takes a lot to be genuinely shocked by something you see in American comedy.

So when "Sarah Silverman," the character played by Sarah Silverman on Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program, decides she wants to find out why her dog is always licking its butt by, well, giving it a try, I admit I was shocked.

On the other hand, it was also pretty clear that this was a show that was willing to take risks — and say or do anything to get a laugh.

At some point early in Season One, it also occurred to me that there was something genuinely brilliant to this "sitcom" about an ignorant, bigoted, self-centered woman-child and her collection of co-dependent, off-kilter friends who never seem to be able see her for what she is.

So I was disappointed that when it came time to renew The Sarah Silverman Program for a third season, Comedy Central asked the show to slash its budget, and the producers balked, leaving its future in limbo.

Fortunately for fans of the show, the Logo network, which owns AfterElton.com (and which, like Comedy Central, is part of the MTV network of channels), came to the rescue, agreeing to make up the difference in the budget in exchange for the right to run reruns.

How does The Sarah Silverman Program fit on a "gay" network? If you're asking this question, you've never seen the show, which not only includes Sarah's gay-couple-best-friends, Brian and Steve (played by comedians Brian Posehn and Steve Agee), but also features one of the most subversive sensibilities ever seen on television.

The show's third season is now set to debut on Comedy Central on February 4th at 10:30 PM (and, later, on Logo), and all indications are that it's just as bawdy and irreverent as ever (the premiere reportedly tells the story of Sarah's ambiguous genitalia and includes the song, "The Baby Penis in my Mind").

We decided to get the scoop straight from Sarah herself, who called us from her car while running errands in Los Angeles.

AfterElton: I genuinely love the show, and I was so pleased you were nominated for an Emmy this year [for Outstanding Lead Actress — Comedy Series], but I still think the show doesn’t get the credit it deserves. What do the critics and awards committees have against toilet humor?
Sarah Silverman: There's plenty about it that isn’t like that, but I do think they think of things differently if there’s a different frame around it. Any time you read an article about me, it tends to say, “Potty-mouthed comedian.”

[There is confusion on the other end of the line] 

Are you still there? Sorry, I’m talking while driving and there’s a cop.

AE: You’re hands-free, I hope.
SS: I’m not! But I’m about to park.

Anyway, I don’t mind [being called potty-mouthed]. I love the show, and I like that we get to do it. And the Emmy nomination was so mind-blowing that none of us even thought to be looking out for that. We didn’t even know they were announcing it. I woke up that morning, and I had, like, seven calls, and I thought my mother had died.

Next Page! Is there anything that offends Sarah Silverman?