Sarah Silverman and Adam McKay, the executive producer of “I Love You, America,” say that their upcoming Hulu talk show will not be explicitly political.
At a panel at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday, the duo repeatedly emphasized that despite press reports, the series will aim to address “the root of humanity in this country” beyond the left-right political divide.
McKay and Silverman also rejected the label “Hollywood elite,” and the assumption that the show would only appeal to liberal viewers.
“I’m from f—ing New Hampshire,” Silverman said. “Everyone out here is from somewhere else. From another part of the country and the world. There’s a lot of thought that goes into saying something like ‘Hollywood elite’ over and over again.”
“It’s funny that Hollywood is always the elites until we’re not,” McKay said, illustrating the point by noting that his agent used to also represent Donald Trump, who was then the host of NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
“One of the things with this show, is we want to get back to that grounded place,” added McKay, “Where we’re looking at not right vs. left, we’re looking at corruption vs. honesty, the good of the whole vs. the good of the few.”
“I always get really annoyed when people call me a liberal,” he continued. “I just don’t want corruption, I don’t want the banks to rip us all off, I don’t want to be lied into a war. How is that liberal? That’s just common sense.”
“I Love You, America,” which will blend traditional talk show elements such as a monologue and field segments with unique twists like an on-stage focus group, will be an attempt to connect different types of people through comedy, the duo said.
“One of the great things about Sarah with this show, and the team that we have, is that we can potentially return to this two-feet on the ground human experience,” said McKay.
“Sarah’s really good at talking to people,” added executive producer Amy Zvi. “She can be the most disarming, honest, lovable human.”
The show will see Silverman traveling to other parts of the country to meet with people from different walks of life. One of the show’s planned segments includes Silverman traveling to have dinner with a family who has never met a Jewish person before.
“I have been able to connect with people in both directions more and more,” Silverman said. “What we have in common is we want to be loved. We want to feel seen. We all love our families, we all care about our friends. We all have embarrassing, humiliating stories that involve shitting.
“There’s so much more that connects us than divides us,” she said.