Even before The Sarah Silverman Program came back from the interminable break between seasons two and three, the writing was on the wall: Comedy Central reportedly balked at the show’s expense (and the cast’s supposed desire for more money), and only through a partnership with the Logo network was the show’s third season funded. When it finally returned in early February, Comedy Central moved it to the late-night graveyard a month later, airing after Colbert and without the usual regimen of reruns the network gives its original programming.
So the message couldn’t have been clearer: This is it for The Sarah Silverman Program.
No one seemed more aware of it than the cast, who has gone beyond qualified statements ("Well, this may be it, but we don't know") to outright acceptance in recent weeks—at one point a few weeks ago, Steve Agee asked Mary Lynn Rajskub (24’s Chloe) via Twitter where they’d work now that both of their shows were ending. Sarah Silverman, director/co-creator Rob Schrab, Brian Posehn—all of them seemed resigned to the show’s fate, at least on their Twitter accounts. Posehn went further in an interview with TV Squad’s Nick Zaino:
Do you feel like this is the last season of the show, then?
Yeah. Yeah. But we felt that kind of going in. Just because it was so tough to get them to give us the money to do the third season, we had to jump through so many hoops. I don't know. I'm also a negative person. I'm not going to be the blue sky-er, you know. I feel like we're lucky to have done what we've done, and I would be very happy to come back and do a season four. But I'd also be completely surprised if it happened.
Coincidentally, Posehn wrote tonight’s episode, one the strongest of the third season. And if this is the way The Sarah Silverman Program is going out, godammit, it’d might as well be with Ed Asner dressed as a Nazi, dog Doug traveling through time, and Brian and Steve getting into trouble with a banana and Scott Aukerman. Really, that's par for the Sarah Silverman Program course.
Pacing really made this episode stand out—it had no padding, no tired musical numbers, just a snappy tempo with a barrage of jokes that hit the mark. No scene lingered too long, and everyone in the cast had some good moments. Once again, Jay Johnston proved to be the ensemble’s secret weapon, first by proclaiming, “I’m not even a Jew, and I love the Holocaust!” then by re-imagining Hitler as a cranky gold prospector:
| The Sarah Silverman Program | Thursday, 12am / 11c | |||
| Preview – Dueling Memorials | ||||
| www.comedycentral.com | ||||
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Although the thoughtless-Sarah-responsible-Laura dynamic has arguably been overdone on the SSP, tonight had them unveiling competing Holocaust memorials, a premise that offered a rich comic well to tap. Whereas Laura’s memorial was understated and classy, Sarah envisioned a carnival with a sexy Hitler. Laura’s monument: a simple plaque with names. Sarah’s: a giant nose with streams of water running from the nostrils because it’s “crying.”