The Larry Sanders Show

The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998)

Several months ago, during a trip out to Fenton, my boy Kevin McGorey recommended that I check out the classic 90s HBO comedy, The Larry Sanders Show. My deep relationship with it finally began just over a month ago, when I first moved to Plymouth. My housemate/landlord Ian was somewhere towards the end of the second season or beginning of the third, and I just picked up there. Little did I know how much I would come to love the show's style, feel, and, most of all, its characters.

The Larry Sanders Show starred Garry Shandling as late night talk show host Larry Sanders himself, Jeffrey Tambor as Hank the sidekick, and Rip Torn as the show's producer. One couldn't have asked for better chemistry between actors within the context of these storylines. The minor characters, namely the show's booker, played by Janeane Garofalo, Scott Thompson as Hank's assistant, and Bob Odenkirk as Larry's agent, only added to that chemistry. In addition to all of these performances, the show featured incredible cameos. Most memorable were David Duchovny, John Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres.

While I would say that my favorite aspect of The Larry Sanders Show is easily the extensive list of intelligently crafted, hilarious characters, this comedy had so much more to offer. It's criticism of the "show business" is still fresh for today, considering the early to mid-nineties timeframe of the show's run. I'd also argue that it was ahead of its time; sort of a precursor to the critically acclaimed quirky comedies of the 2000s, like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development and The Office. And, last, but certainly not least, the show's writing was just brilliant, the situations that the characters found themselves in were unique for that particular decade (some of them are dark and even heart-wrenching, which gives the show more of a human element), and again, I cannot stress how much chemistry there was between everyone on the cast. That totally made the show.

If you have never seen an episode of The Larry Sanders Show, and you consider yourself my friend, then chances are you will absolutely love it. Stop watching whatever stupid television show it is you're trying to catch up on, and let your mind and heart become subject to the power of Larry Sanders.