Bye, Britney - Hello, Sarah

My jaw went slack as soon as I saw Britney Spears on MTV's Video Music Awards telecast last night. Let's get the obvious out of the way - she showed up to the biggest night of her professional life in poor shape, with no dancing chops and, to this untrained eye, on something stronger than Tylenol.

The bigger story, to me, was Sarah Silverman's opening monologue. The VMAs are supposed to be outrageous, and each year we get a bunch of orchestrated mayhem. Oooh, aren't these singers out of control?

But Silverman's caustic commentary proved the VMA crowd is just as protective of its own as the Oscar audience. Silverman let loose with some killer jokes aimed squarely at ol' Brit, and the audience squirmed like they were sitting on squid.

The best bit came when Silverman was about to leave the stage. She flashed a look at the crowd of utter contempt, as if she knew she killed but no one would testify to the crime.