The Larry Sanders Show
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The Larry Sanders Show was a satirical television series that originally aired from 1992 to 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the USA. It starred former stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as the show's vain, self-obsessed, neurotic host, Larry Sanders. The series, which was partly inspired by Shandling's stint as a guest host on The Tonight Show, is ranked by many critics and fans alongside Seinfeld as one of the best TV comedies. The British Channel 4 poll for The Ultimate Sitcom, which was voted by sitcom writers, performers, directors and producers, rated it the 5th best sitcom ever, putting it ahead of other sitcoms such as The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Cheers.
The series was a unique satire of the behind-the-scenes problems and relationships of a network talk show host, his staff and their guests. The plot and situations found in each episode drew heavily from the real-life world of shows like The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show (under both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno), and The Arsenio Hall Show, although many aspects were exaggerated.
The Larry Sanders Show was particularly notable because the off-stage segments of the show were shot in single-camera mode, using a film camera, and had no "laugh track" (most situation comedies are either taped before a live audience or dubbed with canned laughter), which gave it a behind-the-scenes documentary feel. However, it cleverly kept a foot in both camps, so to speak, because the 'on-stage' segments depicting the Larry Sanders Show in production were videotaped with a multiple-camera setup with a live audience—much like a real Tonight Show. However, according to an interview with Tom Shales, Shandling found this to be too time consuming, and after the first season only a select few "live" segments were taped with an audience. The show was also renowned (or notorious) for its no-holds-barred language, and featured profanities galore—a luxury made possible by being screened on U.S. cable TV, which is not subject to the same indecency regulations as broadcast TV.
Each episode featured celebrity guests who usually played themselves appearing on the fictional Larry Sanders Show, and who were often the primary source of conflict between Sanders and his co-workers. Guests included Elvis Costello, Chris Farley, Sharon Stone, Danny DeVito, Rob Reiner and Jon Lovitz among others. One of the most memorable guest spots was the cameo appearance in the final episode by X-Files star David Duchovny, who performed a parody of the Sharon Stone 'flashing' scene from Basic Instinct. Duchovny frequently made cameos on the show, usually flirting with Larry in an unwelcome manner.
In addition to Shandling, the show also starred Rip Torn as Arthur, the show's producer, Jeffrey Tambor as Larry's egotistical sidekick Hank "Hey Now" Kingsley, Janeane Garofalo, Scott Thompson, Bob Odenkirk, Linda Doucett, Penny Johnson, Sarah Silverman, Mary Lynn Rajskub and others.
Directors and writers of note include Ken Kwapis (The Office (US), Malcolm in the Middle), David Mirkin (The Simpsons, Get A Life), Joe Flaherty (SCTV), Carol Leifer (Seinfeld), comedian Jeff Cesario, and Adam Resnick (Late Night with David Letterman, Get A Life). Kwapis, who directed the bulk of the first season episodes, was particularly instrumental in determining the style of the program.
The series also screened in Australia on free-to-air television on Network Ten (in a late-night timeslot, and with some censoring of language) and unedited on the Foxtel cable network's Comedy Channel. It also aired in the UK on BBC Two, originally in late-night slots despite calls by fans and critics for a primetime screening. Regular repeats later appeared on UK Satellite television on the channel Paramount Comedy 1. It returned to (digital) terrestrial TV in the UK on ITV4 in October 2005. It is currently being repeated on the Irish television network RTÉ Two.
DVDs
- "The Larry Sanders Show - The Entire First Season" was released on February 26, 2002 by Sony Pictures. While appearing on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which aired May 24, 2006, Shandling announced that the second season will be available Fall 2006. As of late 2005, Garry Shandling was reportedly working on a "best of" DVD.
- "The Larry Sanders Show: The Best Episodes" was released by Sony Pictures UK in 2000. It is a compilation containing the following episodes: #302, "Montana" (Robin Williams); #403, "Hank's Sex Tape" (Henry Winkler, Norm MacDonald); #408, "Larry's Big Idea" (Courtney Cox, David Letterman); #412, "I Was a Teenage Lesbian" (Brett Butler). Also included are two first season episodes ("The Guest Host," "The Talk Show"), as well as the second season episode, "The List" (#203) which was left out of the US cable syndication package offered to Bravo. However, it is available to local affiliates.
Books
- "Confessions of a Late-night Talk-show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders" was written by Garry Shandling in-character as Larry Sanders. It was released October 4, 1999.
External links
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