Part
One of our Interview with Amy Sedaris
One of the biggest mistakes Comedy Central
ever made was canceling "Strangers
With Candy." It was a show that made no attempt to be sensitive,
nice or do the right thing by the standards of the after school
special. If you missed out, too bad, because this interview will
make no sense to you if you haven't seen it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Why did Comedy Central cancel "Strangers
With Candy."?
It was more of their quirky show. It was more like a cult show.
The ratings weren't really that high. But they weren't willing to
get behind the show either. They just expected it to you know...Paul,
Steve and I could have hired our own publicist, if we wanted to,
but I kind of liked the way it was more of a cult thing and those
that liked it, liked it, you know what I mean? I like to do things
like that anyway. So I think it was based on that and also because
the people who made it possible were no longer at Comedy Central.
And the particular woman who's job it was to renew it, I think she
just wanted her own shows on TV. Which is all understandable, but
Paul, Steve and I had the attitude of, "We did 30 and we probably
could have done more, but it's kind of good, and we'll do something
else.
2. As a fan, I felt like you guys were nowhere
near the end of your run. But it sound like what you're saying is,
"We were not done, but we were close to done."
I think we could have done more, and with each season it was getting
better and better. And I think if we had done another season it
would have been really great. We come from sketch comedy not 22
minute comedy, so we were still trying to figure it out.
3. I think comedy Central should be thrilled
to have at least a cult hit, rather than no hit at all.
You would think so, but we would never have gotten the ratings
that
South Park got. I would think so to. But I really do believe
that the woman who made it possible not to get picked up. I think
it was more like a thorn in her side that it wasn't her show. She
didn't bring it there. She brought the Man Show and she
brought
Strip Mall. And she wants her own shows on the network.
That happens all the time. In the last episode the two people
that Cheri
Oteri and Mark McKinney play are modeled after the people that
canceled our show, and they weren't very happy about that.
4. So there's the next question. You
guys leave almost no opening for a sequel or a follow up...
Yeah, we kept saying, "Let us know if we're gonna leave so
we can write our last episode." But they would never tell us,
that's why it's kind of an inside joke with the last episode. It's
like tell us, and they turn the school into a strip mall, and they
won't tell you and they won't tell you. Yeah we don't leave it open.
5. There was obviously stuff on the show
that you wanted to do, that they didn't let you do.
We wrote one episode with a midget albino in it and they wouldn't
let us do that. That was really it...and there were a few words
we couldn't say, like I couldn't say "Filthy Jew Diary," but I could
say, "Dirty Jew Diary." Like things that don't make any sense. I
could say "pussy" but I couldn't say "faggot."
They were never consistent. Oh, and we had a retarded lawyer in
the blind episode, and they sad no.
6. In the last episode we see you for the
only time not truly as Jerry Blank. I know myself and other people
were thinking, "Hey she's hot!"
Oh Thank You.
Don't thank me yet because here comes the follow up.
OK good.
I know you do other characters, I know you do a weird pig character,
you do this character (Jerry Blank). Is there something inside you,
are you trying to piss off your dad, is there something about you
that says, "I wanna look as ugly as possible."
No. I do it because I feel more comfortable, it's something to hide
behind. But I always like to play ugly people who think they're
pretty. I think that's what it is. It seems more real to me.
Go to Part 2 of the interview, where
I try to convince her that her entire family is crazy.