It is now okay to say “pussy” on Comedy Central. All thanks to Amy Schumer, of Inside Amy Schumer fame, as well as the show’s executive producers. During the second season, the slang for female genitalia became a point of contention due to the fact that “dick” and other terms for the male sex organ are used freely in other Comedy Central shows including The Colbert Report and South Park.
On Saturday, November 8, Schumer and the show’s executive producers attended the New York Comedy Festival to talk about the show to a sold out crowd at Paley Center. Executive producer Jessi Klein brought up the topic of their fight to say “pussy” on air and referred to their victory as a “great moment in U.S. history”.
How ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ got the word ‘p***y’ on basic cable: http://t.co/hhj0DKla7i pic.twitter.com/4G9GIrt8Hw
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) November 10, 2014
In the end, it was Inside Amy Schumer executive producer Dan Powell who took action. According to Powell, “Halfway through the first season, we started to realize that a lot of the show was addressing women’s issues and gender politics. I’d written a letter, sort of like I’d write to my congressman, and I guess it struck a chord.” Schumer calls the letter Powell’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” moment.
Of course, in true Inside Amy Schumer fashion, they used the word in a sketch involving animated meerkats that satirizes Hollywood’s treatment of female celebrities.
Amy Schumer is a stand-up comedian who joined the fifth season of NBC show Last Comic Standing, a stand-up comedy competition, where she finished fourth. Back in 2010, Schumer did her first Comedy Central special and this marked the beginning of her partnership with the company. She appeared in the Comedy Central roasts for Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr and in June 2012, she started working on a show for the network which would eventually become Inside Amy Schumer.
Schumer will next be seen on the film Trainwreck, a film she co-wrote with director Judd Apatow.
