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Sarah Silverman and team fighting budget cuts, threatening holdout
Sarah Silverman’s Jewish. And farts are funny. And irony is just so ironic. After watching an episode or two of “The Sarah Silverman Program,” those are my main takeaways. While I may not be a fan, there are certainly thousands who enjoy the comic’s sketch show, but that may all soon come to an end.
Reuters is reporting that “the economic downturn is jeopardizing [the show] one of Comedy Central’s signature series.”
Apparently Comedy Central came to Silverman and her executive producers and told her that the show’s budget will be cut by more than 20 percent for the upcoming season, the series’ third.
[from Reuters]
At the center of the holdup is the proposed budget for Season 3. Citing cuts imposed on the network by parent company MTV Networks, Comedy Central had proposed that the trio bring back the Writers Guild of America Award-nominated show at about $850,000 an episode, sources said, down from the $1.1 million an episode for the show’s second season. In broadcast, single-camera comedies are produced for about $1.5 million-$2 million an episode, and the budget for any series normally climbs from year to year. “Sarah Silverman” is a single-camera comedy that also features animated sequences and musical numbers. The contracting ad market is hitting networks hard. MTV Networks’ parent Viacom in December laid off 7% of its work force, though Comedy Central largely was spared because it had been through the ringer following the 2003 acquisition of Time Warner’s 50% ownership in the network and had little left to cut. Amid the economic woes, ABC Studios and 20th TV asked all of their showrunners to cut 2% of their series budgets. Concerned they won’t be able to maintain the integrity of the show at the discounted price, Silverman, on behalf of the three executive producers, informed the network late last week that they can’t proceed with a third season. The move reportedly sent shock waves through Comedy Central’s executive offices, with top brass jumping into action to find a budget compromise that would keep the flagship live-action series on the air. As of Friday night, the situation remained at a standstill. Both sides continued their back-and-forth during the weekend. A resolution is expected as early as Monday, and people familiar with the situation were optimistic that the two sides would agree on financial terms to bring back the show.
They don’t feel they can maintain the “integrity” of the show if the budget is cut so drastically? That’s cute. Kinda like Silverman’s show. Kind of.
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By BadMonkey
March 4, 2009 12:56 AM | Link to this
that’s some Grade-A reporting there.. well done, Matt.. don’t work too hard