Not Just the Best of The Larry Sanders Show
Studio: Sony
Year: 1992-1998
Rated: Not Rated
Length: 577 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Languages: English Dolby Surround
Subtitles: Spanish
The Program
Let’s start off by agreeing that what we really want to see is all six seasons of Gary Shandling’s The Larry Sanders Show released on DVD. However, whether that will ever come to pass remains to be seen. Until then, we have Season One and we now have this outstanding “best of” collection. What makes it outstanding isn’t so much the collection of episodes included here, but the incredible array of extras which Shandling has put together for this release. No fan of the series will want to be without it.
Those of you who are familiar with The Larry Sanders Show need no commentary from me. For those who have never seen it, suffice it to say that it is one of the smartest, funniest shows ever to appear on television. Everything about it is brilliant, from the exceptional acting to the fabulous writing to the incredible array of guest stars.
The following episodes are included in this collection:
What Have You Done for Me Lately? (Season One)
The Spider Episode (Season One)
The Hey Now Episode (Season One)
The List (Season Two)
The Hankerciser 200 (Season Two)
Life Behind Larry (Season Two)
The Mr. Sharon Stone Show (Season Three)
Hank’s Night in the Sun (Season Three)
Office Romance (Season Three)
Hank’s Divorce (Season Three)
Hank’s Sex Tape (Season Four)
I Was a Teenage Lesbian (Season Four)
Larry’s New Love (Season Five)
Everybody Loves Larry (Season Five)
My Name is Asher Kingsley (Season Five)
Ellen, or Isn’t She? (Season Five)
Pilots and Pens Lost (Season Six)
Another List (Season Six)
The Beginning of the End (Season Six)
Adolf Hankler (Season Six)
The Interview (Season Six)
Putting the “Gay” Back in Litigation (Season Six)
Flip (Parts 1 & II) (Season Six)
Those who, like me, already own Season One will happy to see that only three of those episodes are repeated here.
As collections go, it represents an excellent cross-section of the entire series. Every major recurring character that appeared during the run of the series is represented here.
The Video
The Larry Sanders Show was presented in a combination of film and videotape. Scenes which represented actual clips of Larry’s late-night talk show were shown on videotape in order to re-create the look of a real talk show. All of the other scenes were shown on film. The film scenes are somewhat grainy, but my recollection is that is how they appeared when the show first aired on HBO. The images are sharp and colors and flesh tones appear to be accurate. The videotaped scenes are notably brighter than the filmed scenes, and I believe that was probably intentional.
The Audio
The Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack is fine. The show is primarily driven by dialogue, which is intelligible throughout. Surround effects are largely limited to the music and the sounds of the audience during the talk show scenes. Virtually all of the action takes place indoors, so no one should expect to be knocked out by the audio mix.
The Supplements
This DVD set is really all about the extras. In a word, it is loaded.
Gary Shandling has done audio commentaries with his producers and writers for four episodes: What Have You Done for Me Lately? (with Peter Tolan); Hank’s Night in the Sun (with Todd Holland); Putting the “Gay” Back in Litigation (with Judd Apatow); and Flip (with Peter Tolan). I learned some interesting facts about how the shows were put together, such as they fact that they hired a service to assemble a live studio audience for the talk show scenes. Shandling also mentions that he feels that the shows which focused on Larry’s domestic life, away from the studio, were the weakest of the series.
There is an interesting documentary, The Making of The Larry Sanders Show, and a segment where Gary Shandling sits down with co-stars Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor to reminisce about the show.
Gary Shandling conducts separate interviews with eight of his guest stars – Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres, David Duchovny, Tom Petty, Jerry Seinfeld, Sharon Stone, Jon Stewart and Carol Burnett. Some of the interviews are unlike anything you have seen before. The interview with Alec Baldwin, for example, takes place in a boxing gym, and Shandling and Baldwin discuss the show and their personal relationship while sparring with each other. The interview with David Duchovny takes place on Shandling’s home basketball court. The “low-tech” interview with Jon Stewart is very amusing, and the interview with Ellen DeGeneres ends on a hilarious note.
There are also interviews with cast members Penny Johnson, Wallace Langham, Scott Thompson, Janeane Garofalo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Sarah Silverman, Jeremy Piven, Bob Odenkirk, and Linda Doucett. The interview with Linda Doucett is particularly fascinating because of her complicated relationship with Shandling. When the show began they were living together, they later were engaged and broke two wedding dates, and after she left the show she filed a lawsuit against Shandling and co-creator Brad Grey. At the conclusion of her interview she sits down with Shandling and they discuss their relationship. It is the first time they had seen each other in a couple of years, and while their lives have gone in different directions it is good to see that they have put the bad memories behind them.
If all that were not enough, the DVD set also includes a number of deleted scenes and alternate takes.
Other Features
Most of the extras can be accessed in conjunction with individual episodes or by themselves. For example, at the conclusion of the episode The List you have the option of then playing Gary Shandling’s bizarre interview with Alec Baldwin. Or, from the main menu you can go directly to the extras and access the Baldwin interview there.
The Packaging
The programming is spread over four discs, two discs apiece in two slimcases which come in a slipcase. There is also a printed insert which lists all of the episodes which appear on this DVD set.
The Final Analysis
Notwithstanding the disappointment at not yet being able to purchase the entire series, fans of The Larry Sanders Show will not want to miss this set. Garry Shandling has put a lot of time and effort into assembling the many extras which are featured here, and that time and effort has really paid off. As a die-hard fan of the show, I found the interviews, commentaries and other supplementary materials to be thoroughly entertaining and informative. Buy this set and then tell Sony and Gary Shandling that you want the rest of the series, as well.
Equipment used for this review:
Cambridge Audio DVD-89 DVD player
Sharp LC-42D62U LCD display
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: April 17, 2007
