New ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ Pushes Show Into Surprising Territory


Inside Amy Schumer has been the titular actress’ golden ticket to fame, but the comedienne hasn’t been shy about shedding fans by taking on controversial stances in the process. Military sexual assault, the gender pay gap, and a host of other touchy subjects have pushed Amy’s oversexed sketch comedy to a new level: a boundary-pushing voice in television that spawns dozens of think-pieces the day after it airs every Tuesday.

Political commentary in sketch comedy, however, is far from a new take on the genre. Where Inside Amy Schumer is really looking to innovate this week is in its structure. Instead of the typical format followed by the show, the new Inside Amy Schumer will abandon street interviews, stand-up comedy snippets, and brief skits for an episode-length tribute to the classic drama 12 Angry Men. That’s something, Amy told HitFix, that made Comedy Central a little nervous when the episode was first being pieced together.

“They were worried that I wasn’t going to be in it enough. They may have said okay right away, but it was a little, ‘Ah, we’re a little worried about this.’ We sort of sold a little bit of a bill of goods at first that I would be in it more, and we would do man on the street segments throughout. And then we slowly scaled it back, so there was no stand-up, no man on the street, until my presence in the episode became very minimal.”

As usual, the new Inside Amy Schumer seeks to do something beyond simply elicits laughs. There’s a deeper message, says Amy, about how we judge attractiveness and how much that plays into a herd mentality of what others find appealing.

“You might not think a girl’s that pretty and if your friend thinks she’s hot, that might change how you see her. And I just found that kind of thinking very strange. So to really dive in and take a closer look at what the reasoning is. And also point out the behavior in people. I’ve been lucky. Honestly, there was one article about me when the ‘Trainwreck’ preview came out. I didn’t read it, but I know it was mean and it was about me physically, saying I wasn’t pretty enough, or whatever. But other than that, I’ve been lucky that I haven’t gotten that — those articles haven’t been written about me. I haven’t experienced that strange, selective rage that other women I know have. Nonetheless, it really bothers me, and it’s a behavior I want to point out in people.”

Inside Amy Schumer’s newest episode of the third season airs Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.

[Image via Comedy Central]

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