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The Sarah Silverman Program Season One
Release Date: Available now (original release date October 2, 2007)
Studio: Paramount
Packaging/Materials: Single-disc DVD keepcase
Year: 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 2h12m
Video (Feature): 1.33:1
Audio (Feature): Dolby Digital: English Stereo
Video (Special Features): 1.33:1
Audio (Special Features): Stereo
Subtitles: None
MSRP: $19.99
The Feature: 4/5
Controversial, polarizing comedians are nothing new, but few present their bound-to-offend material with such sweet and innocent subversiveness like Sarah Silverman. While her 2005 film, "Jesus Is Magic," was largely hit-and-miss with many bits that were ultimately unsustainable for a feature length run time, the short form of a half-hour "situational" TV program is pretty much perfect for her. Nothing overstays its welcome, whether its her musical numbers with scatalogical and/or button-pushing lyrics or simply the ongoing ignorant/arrogant self-involvement of her "Sarah" character. It helps that she has a solid supporting cast - real-life sister Laura Silverman, Brian Posehn, Steve Agee and Jay Johnston - who play the straight (or slightly more sane) men despite having issues of their own. If you dislike Silverman, "The Sarah Silverman Program" probably won't change your mind, but anyone on the fence should find themselves firmly in the "like" column after watching its first season.
The first season release includes the following episodes:
"Officer Jay" (Episode 102) - Sarah feels threatened when her sister, Laura, starts dating Officer Jay. Meanwhile Brian tries to convince Steve (and himself) that he's bisexual.
"Humanitarian of the Year" (Episode 106) - Sarah tries to show up Jay, who has won a humanitarian award, by taking in a homeless man (and former classmate). Brian graduates from Karate school, but can't seem to protect Steve from getting beat up.
"Positively Negative" (Episode 103) - Sarah gets it into her head that she has AIDS and goes on a crusade to raise public awareness. This also happens to take attention away from Jay and his first-ever birthday party.
"Not Without My Daughter" (Episode 104) - Sarah becomes a pageant mom when she meets an orphan girl who tries to enter the same pageant Sarah was in when she was a girl. Meanwhile Brian and Steve are arrested for domestic terrorism. The highlight of the episode (and dare I say the season) is seeing cute Laura Marano, who plays the orphan, singing "Poop Song" with such conviction.
"Muffin' Man" (Episode 105) - Sarah thinks she's a lesbian when she meets Jay's partner and can't stop thinking about her. Meanwhile Brian and Steve bicker over Tab.
"Batteries" (Episode 101) - Sarah's quest for new batteries for her TV remote brings her face-to-face with God. The episode with the most potential to offend understandably gets moved to the end of the season.
Video Quality: 4/5
"The Sarah Silverman Program" is framed at 1.33:1 and is free of edge halos, dust, dirt and damage. Consistent with the show's comedic veneer, colors and flesh tones are warm and saturated. Black levels are quite good, with sufficient shadow detail and depth. The picture is generally sharp and clear, though things tend to look processed with fine object detail a bit lacking. Overall though the transfer is very good.
Audio Quality: 4/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track is a fine example of how a stereo mix can still be an effective and satisfying option. While dialogue is firmly centered, music and sound effects are given a wide and enveloping sound stage. There's little bass activity, but nothing in the show's content really demands it either.
Special Features: 4/5
Audio Commentaries: Five of the six episodes have at least one commentary track, giving viewers plenty to choose from. The commentaries by Jay Johnston and Laura Silverman are the weakest with the actors' tendency to just watch and react to the episodes. Steve Agee and Brian Posehn's commentaries are significantly better, providing more in the way of production anecdotes and background information. Understandably the trio of Sarah Silverman, Rob Schrab (Co-Creator) and Dan Sterling (Executive Producer) provide the most behind-the-scenes information in their tracks. But all of the commentaries are populated with very funny people, which makes the sometimes dearth of practical information forgivable.
Musical Performances: Live from the Comedy Central Stage (22m27s): Thirteen spartan recordings of Silverman with various cast members singing about the show, apparently used as promotional pieces on Comedy Central. The bottom line is most of the 22 minutes of material isn't very funny or entertaining, though I suppose someone should get points for completeness for including it on the release.
Animated Storyboards: Includes two title sequence pitches created by co-creator Rob Schrab and a chase scene for "Batteries" that was never shot.
Karaoke/Sing-A-Long: Choose between karaoke or sing-a-long mode for eight songs from the show, including "That's What I Wish," "Doody Song," "Cookie Party," "AIDS Ballad," "AIDS Ballad: Reprise," "Poop Song," "Lesbian Song," and "Humanitarian Song." Hands-down the best part of the bonus features.
Comedy Central Quickies: Includes "Essays" from "South Park" (2m12s), "Breasts" from "The Colbert Report" (1m26s) and "Chatty Junior" from "Reno 911" (2m04s).
DVD Previews: "South Park: The Complete 10th Season," "Drawn Together: Season Two," "The State: The Complete Series"
Recap
The Feature: 4/5
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 4/5
Overall Score (not an average): 4/5
Sliverman's offensive, raunchy and strangely endearing TV show gets very good audio and video transfers and a good special features package.
