Gay Network Saves Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program
Fear not: The Sarah Silverman Program is returning — with some help from Logo.
Following a four-day dispute over budget cuts, Comedy Central has renewed Sarah Silverman's live-action series for a third season, to be co-financed by gay-oriented sister channel Logo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"We're happy," Silverman said. "All we ever wanted was just to make our show. Nothing fancy — just our show."
After learning Comedy Central planned to slash the show's budget by 20 percent, Silverman and two of her executive producers threatened to quit as they felt they could not maintain the program's integrity for the lower budget. Comedy Central cited the economic climate as the reason for the cut, which would've hacked the show's budget from $1.1 million to $850,000 per episode. Now with Logo's backing, the combined budget tops out slightly over $1.1 million.
Season 3 of The Sarah Silverman Program, which will receive cross-promotion on both networks, is targeted for a first-quarter 2010 premiere.