I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman

Premise and format

Silverman described the series as an attempt to connect with people who might not agree with her personal opinions, using honesty, humor, genuine interest in others, and an unwillingness to take herself too seriously. Hulu's synopsis notes her stated view that connecting with un-like-minded people was crucial, even if connecting with like-minded people is more comfortable.⁶ Each episode mixed a monologue, interviews, and pre-taped field segments, with studio bits played before a focus-group audience; the show was not the same from week to week.^{4 • 7}

The field segments carried the premise into practice. Silverman visited groups of Trump voters in the first episodes, had dinner with a conservative Mormon family, went on a blind date with a conservative Republican, and traveled to Mineola, Texas, where, according to Funny or Die's statement at cancellation, she swapped "pooping their pants" stories with local firemen.^{6 • 2} The first episode's featured guest was Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, whom Silverman later described as explaining that church members were not bad people but human beings swayed by bad ideas while vulnerable.^{1 • 8}

Silverman's stated aims. In an interview at the show's launch, she said she wanted to do something more socially political and relevant to the moment. She repeatedly quoted Fred Rogers, "If it's mentionable, it's manageable," and said the show's premise taught her that "facts don't change people's minds. They just don't. Feelings do, emotions do."⁹ She also insisted that any earnest content be sandwiched between, in her words, super aggressive hard jokes or aggressively stupid silly humor, calling that balance good.¹⁰

Guests and episodes

The guest list ranged across politics, activism, and comedy. Season one featured, among others, DeRay Mckesson, Al Franken, Mary Gauthier, Bernie Sanders, Bill Burr, Dolores Huerta, Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom, Bill Maher, and Sturgill Simpson, with the final episode airing November 15, 2018.^{1 • 3} Other episodes included an interview with writer Roxane Gay, a lunch with Socrates as played by Will Ferrell, and interviews with NFL players Malcolm Jenkins and Doug Baldwin.⁶

The show also addressed the news directly. In the November 2017 episode, Silverman used the cold open to discuss her feelings about Louis C.K., whom she called "one of my best friends of over 25 years," after he admitted to allegations of sexual misconduct; she said the only people who mattered right then were the victims.¹¹ Short "Quickie" segments covered the 2018 midterm elections, the migrant caravans, voter suppression in Georgia, and the Kavanaugh hearings.⁶