Reception
The show's premiere drew impressive ratings, 1.8 million total viewers and 1.3 with the 18–49 demographic, making it "cable's biggest audience of the night". The show had the single best debut ratings "for a Comedy Central original since the premiere of the animated series Drawn Together (2.2 million viewers) in 2004." On February 12, 2007, eleven days after the show's premiere, Comedy Central announced that it had "ordered 16 new episodes for air this fall and next spring." The network claimed the early pickup was because in its first two weeks, " was the most-watched cable show in primetime among all key demos." Comedy Central called it "its most successful primetime launch in three years."
The show also drew some critical acclaim. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle, said that the show is "bursting with imagination, audacity, rude charm, and a relentlessly funny worldview" and called the show "an offbeat gem." Daniel Fierman of Entertainment Weekly called it "totally hilarious." Tad Friend of The New Yorker called the show "The meanest sitcom in years – and one of the funniest." Doug Elfman of The Chicago Sun-Times called the show "a live-action comedy as funny as Chappelle's Show." Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #6. The show has also been praised for its non-stereotypical portrayal of a gay couple, resulting in a GLAAD Media Awards nomination.
The show has had its fair share of detractors. Matt Roush of TV Guide called the show "juvenile" saying that "Silverman reminds us how quickly the novelty can wear off while watching a pixie with a potty mouth." Roush went on to say that, "If there's such a thing as feminist frat-boy humor, Silverman has mastered it. Big deal." Salon.com gave the show a negative review, elaborating that, "The Sarah Silverman Program has all of the charms of a joke with an audible fart as the punch line."
On July 16, 2009, Silverman was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on the series.
Read more about this topic: The Sarah Silverman Program
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