Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman has tackled many social topics with past seasons of her very own comedy show. Ready for season three, Windy City Times spoke with the “Big S.”

WCT: (Windy City Times) Hi, Sarah. Tell our readers about your third season of the Sarah Silverman Program.

SS: (Sarah Silverman) Let’s see, my imaginary friend from childhood comes back as an adult and we have a lesby affair. There’s a new mayor in town who makes gay sex and brunch illegal. Andy Samberg plays my imaginary friend this year. Ed Asner is in an episode as a Nazi war criminal. It was really, really—let me tell you something about older actors. Ed Asner is about 80, and Murray Gershenz—who is on our show—is 87, and they’re such pros that when they’re not shooting, they are in their chair sleeping, just like containing their energy. And we have some really great pictures of elderly Nazi war criminals in set chairs sound asleep.

WCT: Sounds crazy.

SS: It does, right? I know I’m forgetting like eight episodes. There’s one episode; our eighth episode actually is a Steve and Brian story line that, you’ll actually, dare I say, cry at the end. It was written as a drama. I don’t think it’s like a very special Family Ties, but you might get choked up at the end.

WCT: Do you go for the shock factor sometimes?

SS: I don’t think we go like, “Ooh, that will really shock them.” I mean, does anything shock anyone anymore? I think we kind of hopefully reach beyond that a little bit with our fart jokes. But, I think that this season there is actually growth and character arc and stuff. Hopefully are still just really dumb and funny and silly. I don’t know that it’s pure shock value. I don’t know how long that can last, and maybe that’s what you’re saying. I feel like we’ve got a really, really full season.

WCT: The first episode was cinematic, similar to Jesus is Magic.

SS: I think the first one, “Proof is in the Penis,” feels really cinematic to me. We just [hadn’t] been on the air in 14 months, and that kind of kills us in our hearts, but we just really wanted to start with this one because it just felt like for people who are fans of the show, we know you’ve waited a long time, and here’s something that may be kind of special, or worth the wait; that has slow [revealed], and just feels maybe like something special. We love that episode.

WCT: Since you were nominated for an Emmy does that change the show?

SS: Well, we’ve always had high expectations for the show—not in terms of accolades, but we work on it the same. I think everyone that works on it has this awesome love for it. I know it’s so corny when people say that, but we really are like a group of friends. We stand on the set, not just the cast and the writers, but the crew. With all our huge, crazy insane gaps in production, all the crew works their way back to the show because we just have such an awesome time. We stand around going, “Oh, my God. We’re making show business. Like this is going to be on TV.” It doesn’t seem fair to get to do what we all love so much.

We didn’t expect it so much, that none of us knew they were even announcing the Emmy nominees. I just woke up to my alarm clock and looked on my phone, and saw like eight calls, and I thought there was an emergency. It just never occurred to us ever, and then it was so great. We couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it, and we’re so happy that anyone, especially the hoity-toits, would appreciate our show as much as we do. It was awesome.

WCT: You are now being televised on The Logo Network, and the commercial is hilarious. How do you feel about your gay fans?

SS: Well, they saved us. We wouldn’t be on the air if it wasn’t for Logo. Not that that’s the only reason why, but I mean—it’s funny because I was talking to some gay friends of mine, and they were just like; it’s not just that Steve and Brian are gay, it’s just kind of the subversive humor. It’s that kind of like absurdist stuff is I guess the cup of tea of a lot of people in the gay community; maybe more in general than the straight community. I know that gays belong to Kathy, but any fall over, I’m going to take. I’m just so grateful to Logo. They didn’t even think twice about helping us, and in terms of the content, never, ever had even a request. They really are amazing over there, and I can’t express how grateful we all are for them, because we wouldn’t have had a third season without them, and they asked for nothing in return. The fact that their end of the bargain is that they get to air the episodes. It’s amazing to us, too. Its so win-win and we’re just so grateful, so totally grateful.

WCT: Awesome. I interviewed Lisa Lampanelli this morning. She wanted me to tell you hi.

SS: Oh, I love her.

WCT: I do, too.

SS: I love when she says… Who is the guy with the huge penis? He was married to Pamela Anderson?

WCT: Oh, Tommy Lee.

SS: She said she didn’t know whether to suck it or feed it a peanut.

WCT: Speaking of men in people’s lives, you have a new boyfriend, I heard.

SS: Yes, his name is Alec and he writes for Family Guy.

WCT: You are in a new movie with Steve Buscemi called Saint John of Las Vegas. What was he like to work with and what was the experience like?

SS: Oh, he is so amazing. I’m so happy to know him now, and he’s just the kindest, most sincere, but like also the silliest man. He just takes my breath away. Sometimes we’d be doing a scene, and I would just be watching him. Like you forget you’re part of it, because you just want to sit and just watch him.

But it was a blast. We had a lot of fun. It was nice to play somebody nice, and I actually was replacing a woman who was—I can never remember her name, she was great. She was in Lovely and Amazing. Anyway, she, for some reason, had to leave; she had a family emergency.

The only bad story I have from that is I flew in to New Mexico. I mean, I just took it right away, because I was like, “Steve Buscemi, okay, whatever.” I flew the next day, and I had to go straight from the airport to wardrobe. And we started trying things on and nothing fit. The wardrobe woman just starts tearing up, literally getting choked up with tears, and she goes, “I got all size zeros, and you’re like an eight.” I was just like, “Oh, I’m sorry.” So humiliating—but what are you going to do?

It ended up being super fun, and even she was really nice, but it was hard to feel like you hurt someone’s feeling because you’re too fat. But it was really fun. I’m so happy it’s coming out. I just started seeing ads for it on TV, and I was like, “Oh, my God.”

WCT: Any new YouTube.com videos coming our way?

SS: We just make it because we just love doing that stuff when we think of something. I’ve been approached to do something where I have to pump out a certain amount, and it would be monetized, but it’s just not worth it because I feel like I don’t want to have to come up with stuff. It’s just like if it moves me, and I think of something, we shoot something in my apartment and put it up there. I kind of just like it that way.

WCT: Good luck with your future and the new season!

SS: Thank you.

The Sarah Silverman Program is now playing with new episodes every Thursday; check listings on comedycentral.com and logoonline.com.

Interview by Jerry Nunn for the Windy City Times