"The Sarah Silverman Program." Batteries (2007)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Rob Schrab

Writers:

Dan Harmon (originator)
Rob Schrab (originator)

TV Series:

"The Sarah Silverman Program." (2007)

Original Air Date:

8 March 2007 (Season 1, Episode 6)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Sarah searches for AA batteries and then sings a song about what is wrong with the world. |

Plot Keywords:

Officer | Pet | Sister Sister Relationship | Gay Couple | Period In Title

Cast

Sarah Silverman	...	Sarah Silverman
Laura Silverman	...	Laura Silverman
Brian Posehn	...	Brian
Steve Agee	...	Steve
Jay Johnston	...	Officer Jay McPherson
Candace Brown	...	Natalie
Mark Cohen	...	Dad
Larry Hankin	...	Mister Johnson
Laura Marano	...	Young Sarah
Eve Brenner	...	Mrs. Ramstack
Masi Oka	...	Clerk
Tucker Smallwood	...	Black God
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Police Officer #1
Rob Schrab	...	Driver
Jeff Bryan Davis	...	Waiter (as Jeff B. Davis)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Oil Factory

Trivia:

Originally, Masi Oka was to appear in every episode as a different character. However, after this pilot was filmed Oka joined the cast of "Heroes" (2006/II) and he was unavailable to return to the show.

Quotes:

Clerk: A girl ripped me off. She's getting away. She's a white female, kind of jewy but totally hot, not out of your league hot, just cute. Long neck, really nice skin, she could easily pass for 20.

Season 1: Regularly funny and clever that mostly uses her stage personae in imaginative and funny ways

Sarah Silverman is not everyone's cup of tea and now and again I must admit that her "I am sweet but yet shocking" thing doesn't work for me. At times she can be crude without being funny or just be silly without being funny – unsurprisingly this makes her look crude or silly and not funny. I recently watched Jesus is Magic and was not overly impressed by the flow of the show as she had to leave pauses for the audience to react and it didn't build or move well. The sitcom is different though and it does move with a confident and an imaginative wit that makes it effortlessly enjoyable.

The plots are not the most realistic but mostly they are set up to make the best use of Silverman, who plays her character perfectly. She is the selfish, spoilt girl with barely any self-awareness and zero for anyone around her. This makes everything about her and it is very funny how this is delivered, particularly when she thinks she may have AIDS or many of the other things that she turns inwards and makes about herself. Mostly the dialogue allows for some really imaginative shock material that is well delivered and had me regularly laughing. The downside is that some of it is childish without being funny – but I was surprised by how infrequently this happened because mostly it was just funny. The pace and flow is much better than her live show as well because there are no pauses and "restarts" but rather a constant forward motion that does allow for a comedic momentum to be built up.

The supporting cast are not quite as good as Silverman but understandably as they are not the focal point. Sister Laura is solid as the put-upon one, Posehn and Agee are good even if their characters are pretty basic and unconvincing (and think about the context of the show that I'm still saying that!). Johnston is a nice part and does "straightman" well considering how alone in that he is.

Season 1 of this show was more than good enough to make me check out the second season when I get a chance. Perhaps it is helped by its short running time (season 2 is much longer) but I'll see. Season 1 though is fresh, funny and imaginative – it is not just about having a pretty girl saying rude words, it is about a selfish character being self-centred and unaware of others in very funny ways and, on that front it really works.