Sarah Silverman Program will return for third season on Comedy Central

It's official. Via The Hollywood Reporter comes news that Comedy Central has agreed to a third season of The Sarah Silverman Program, a 10-episode order that had come into doubt over the weekend when Silverman and her fellow executive producers threatened to quit unless they could retain an adequate production budget for said third season.

"Things were tough on Friday and over the weekend," said Comedy Central's president of original programming Lauren Corrao, who headed the network's efforts to keep "Sarah Silverman" on the air. "We very much wanted the show, we just couldn't come to an agreement for a budget that was acceptable and uncompromising to the producers and that we could afford."

"We're happy," Silverman said. "All we ever wanted was just to make our show. Nothing fancy -- just our show."

At issue: The second season had ended Dec. 11, 2008, and previously, Comedy Central was quick to renew the series. This time, however, Comedy Central had suggested Silverman's crew produce the third-season episodes for $850,000 an episode, down from $1.1 million. The E.P.'s all said no thanks and threatened to walk on Friday. By Monday, Comedy Central was talking to sister network Logo on a financial and content sharing agreement, and the deal was struck. It's not that much of a stretch. Silverman appeals to gay audiences, and has two main characters (comedians Brian Posehn and Steve Agee) portray a gay stoner couple. Writing should begin shortly with new episodes airing most likely in 2010.