The Sarah Silverman Program: The Complete Series

Comedienne Sarah Silverman's shtick is being the cute Jewish chick who says rude, inappropriate, and outrageous things, and that's pretty much what her titular Comedy Central-aired series is all about. A single, self-absorbed woman living in the fictional town of Valley Village (apparently a suburb of Los Angeles) with younger sister Laura (played by real-life sibling Laura Silverman), Sarah likes to break into song (some of the tunes are very funny and invariably all about her), talk about poop, and has a tiny dog who listens attentively to her monologues on all the skewed lessons she's learned. Steve Agee and Brian Posehn play neighbors Steve and Brian (who are “big, orange, and gay”), and Jay Johnston is Laura's boyfriend, Jay McPherson, a cop whom Laura meets while bailing Sarah out of jail. The show runs roughshod over taboo subjects (religion, race, sex) with an impudence and insolence that may offend some (these are uncensored versions, featuring language that was edited out of the broadcasts), but made her a hit with others. Compiling all three seasons—32 episodes from 2007–2010—extras include episode commentaries (many with multiple commentary tracks), musical performances, sing-alongs, bonus digital shorts (originally made for the web), a conversation with the writers, audition videos, and the original pilot. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)