Larry Sanders Show -

[Ivan Shatov]

Streaming on HBO Go and elsewhere.

Season 4 quite accurately predicts the focus of major themes of our current political environment. Lo-fi e-thots, BLM, diversity and inclusion, sexual assault, power dynamics between employers / employees, opioid abuse, wealth inequality, toxic workplaces, degenerate art, homophobia, misogyony, etc.

Only everything is flip flopped. Everything happens to the benefit of a cis white male who enjoys absolute power over all surrounding characters. People are humbled when they get out of line, everything falls back into a natural order. A common refrain is that the main character must be kept happy, everyone's jobs depend on him being slightly better than everyone else. At one point, the main character says he could never sign a petition because taking a political stance risks losing half his audience. Lying bitches get torn apart in the media instead of lionized and endlessly amplified. The internet exists but it's kind of a niche thing.

Fun seeing all these celebrities when they were young, deeply ironic considering the personal politics they adopted after the show ended.

This show is the bookmark for society we need to work back to.

 

[frozenrunner]

I didn't get to watch this for the first time until a few years ago (got a cheap as hell DVD box set), and I fell completely in love with it. Gary Shandling was a real treasure of a comedian, and the show was damn near perfect with an incredible cast.

 

[Peep Plops]

I love this show and it's great seeing a thread for it on here. Garry was a true legend and was taken too soon from us. It was also hilarious when Ricky Gervais interviewed him and Garry was barely able to contain his disgust through-out.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I thought this thread was about a new show about this sketch (that is even funnier now):

 

[General Disarray]

Now I have the theme song in my head. You know, the music that you hear when you watch the credits.

 

[frozenrunner]

It was also hilarious when Ricky Gervais interviewed him and Garry was barely able to contain his disgust through-out.

Please link me to this.

 

[Peep Plops]

Please link me to this.

https://youtu.be/Qrg89rvtZ1k there you go my man

 

[frozenrunner]

https://youtu.be/Qrg89rvtZ1k there you go my man

That was incredible.

I assumed at first it was a bit (there is a little bit of that in the beginning, before Garry shows up, when Gervais affects a comedically exaggerated version of himself), but as the interview goes on, it becomes clear they're not working together even if one of them (Gervais) was trying to go in that direction. (Kudos to Gervais for realizing he had something great with this footage, then editing and releasing it anyway despite his, I'm sure, bruised ego.)

Info from the comments section of the final video:

Jonathan Hopkins
From a GQ interview with Shandling: "While completing the DVD extras for Sanders, Shandling had been struck by the idea that Gervais would be a great addition. Though he'd never appeared on the show, Gervais had spoken openly about how Sanders inspired him. So Garry called Gervais and asked if he'd do it. The answer was yes, but Gervais also had a request. While he was in Garry's home, could they also shoot his Channel 4 show? Shandling agreed, and all was well until the day of the dueling interviews, when wires got crossed. Garry says he assumed they would shoot the "visit" for the DVD extra first, because "that laid-back, not-on tone is good preparation for saying, 'Let's turn it on'" later, for Gervais's special. But when Shandling walked into his kitchen, he realized instantly that Gervais thought the Channel 4 special was being shot first. Gervais was on—extremely so—and so were several cameras. Garry could have said something but wanted to see what would happen if he played it out. What if he stayed in the same low-affect head space he was in to do his DVD extras? Could he reach Gervais without explicitly identifying the problem? Could he bring Gervais's energy level down?"

And a two video comments with interesting takes:

Techno Demic
It felt like Ricky was a little over-awed. This allowed Shandling to yank his chain unmercifully - coupled with the disclosed elements of the misunderstanding of conditions that had clearly left Shandling a little unhappy with the situation. Accordingly, Gervais had unwittingly exposed himself as a legitimate target. Too much giggling and not enough harsh ripostes. A shame, because Shandling's basic wave-length is one to which Gervais so naturally responds.

nowknowthis
Here's what I think. Ricky loves Garry and in a way wants his approval, so he is doing his schtick hoping Garry will laugh. But Garry invented the humor gervais is using and knows the only reason he is telling these jokes is to make himself feel awesome if he can get Garry to laughs. But Garry is testing him. Basically saying "go ahead, once you are real with me and not just trying to make me laugh o will be on board

Thanks for the link. I didn't think I was going to watch all of it when I saw "part 1 of 5," but it was riveting.

And this all reminds me I still have yet to watch "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling." I should get on that...

 

[Someone in a Tree]

Obligatory “Hey, now!”