HTF DVD REVIEW: "It's Garry Shandling's Show" - The Complete Series (1 Viewer)

I love Gary Shandling. Perhaps my favorite comedian.

Trust me, would have been first in line to buy this series
except for one flaw -- its price.

Not to say this is overpriced -- I know there are four
seasons of material here. I also realize breaking the
set up into smaller, more moderately priced season
sets would have killed interest in the series.

I'm just going to wait for a price drop on this. Mark
my word, one day this set will be mine. Thanks for the
great review, Rich.

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

I love Gary Shandling. Perhaps my favorite comedian.

Trust me, would have been first in line to buy this series
except for one flaw -- its price.

Not to say this is overpriced -- I know there are four
seasons of material here. I also realize breaking the
set up into smaller, more moderately priced season
sets would have killed interest in the series.

I'm just going to wait for a price drop on this. Mark
my word, one day this set will be mine. Thanks for the
great review, Rich.

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That's the Catch-22. The only way to be sure to get the entire series is to have it released at once, but the cost of buying an entire series at once is an issue for many people. But as you say there are sure to be some sales down the road..

It looks like a pretty good price for four seasons, considering what I paid for each season of Deep Space Nine. I haven't seen the show since it aired, but your description makes it sound like I would still enjoy it. So, good price, but like Ron I don't have the money to burn right now.

I just saw that Deep Discount has it priced at $81!

Can anybody confirm whether these are the original-length cuts of the episodes or not? One review site noted that the episodes are 19 or 20 minutes long on this DVD set, which doesn't sound quite right.

The shows lengths on Showtime varied. The Shandlingland episode is barely 19 minutes, but the guys on the commentary point out that it only ran that long after they killed a b-story about taping pre-recorded tapes. Garry wasn't forced to deliver a set time show.

Did this show air on Fox as well. I seem to remember this being one of Fox's earlier sitcoms. We didn't have cable back in those days, but I remember watching this show from time to time

The first two years it was only on Showtime. Then they started running them on Fox and Showtime during its last two seasons.

Originally Posted by KevA

Can anybody confirm whether these are the original-length cuts of the episodes or not? One review site noted that the episodes are 19 or 20 minutes long on this DVD set, which doesn't sound quite right.

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The average length is 26 minutes, but as has been noted they tend to varya bit. One thing which Shandling liked about doing the shows on Showtime was that he didn't have to bring in each show at the exact same length, since there were no commercials to worry about.

How do you like is so far ? How do you like It's Garry Shandling's Show ?

I only saw the Fox edits, but was there racy content and swears in the originals?

far as racy content and swearing goes, it was a rather tame show. Garry used the Showtime freedom to be able to focus on the weirdness of the stories instead of just going dirty. there was a curse word from an unexpected place.

there's pretty racy content in the commentaries and outtakes -- which are amazing, but very little in the show itself. I got to produce this box set and I can assure you that all the episodes are the originals. we worked really hard to find every singled piece of tape that existed for this show (and it wasn't easy).

Originally Posted by Lorrie606

I got to produce this box set and I can assure you that all the episodes are the originals. we worked really hard to find every singled piece of tape that existed for this show (and it wasn't easy).

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Great. Thanks for this note.

Thought this set was originally priced out of

reach and I have been waiting forever for a price drop.


Amazon just reduced the price today by 66%.

Finally going to buy this today.

Been watching this show daily, one episode at a time, while

on my treadmill each morning.


Finally completed all four seasons of the show.


I have extremely fond, but limited memories of watching this

show when it first aired on Showtime in the late 1980s. My
Dad and I loved the show and became huge fans of Gary Shandling.


Watching the First Season and part of the Second, I was

reminded just how original and funny the show was. Even

today, I found myself laughing hysterically at the jokes. It

was one of the very first shows that I can remember that

tore down the 4th wall and made the audience part of the joke.


The problem is that the show went on for two additional
seasons --- and that was two seasons too long. By the end

of season two and more evident in the seasons that followed,

the show went from being fresh and funny each week to tediously

boring. The fourth wall humor mostly collapsed and the show

migrated itself into just another weekly sitcom with characters

that you really didn't care about. One horrific three-parter dealt

with a fundraiser to save a famous nightclub owner.


Big guest stars on the show also became less frequent. It sort

of became scary that the biggest guest stars being touted on

the show were Red Buttons and Tom Petty.


Even worse, it seemed as if Gary and the writers were running

out of jokes. In the later seasons, monologues became shorter

and Gary was telling the same jokes over and over again. By

the last few episodes of Season Four, Gary was only briefly

appearing in each, handing the reigns over to the unfunny cast.

The final episodes ended quite sloppily with one being an unfunny

Talent Show being undermined by a Phantom under the audience

seats -- and a clumsy sendup of Driving Miss Daisy with

Dan Aykroyd. One would be amazed to think this was the same

show that made them laugh 3 seasons earlier.


However, there are some wonderful moments within this collection,

most notably what I think is the last TV appearance of Gilda
Radner a year before she died. One of my favorite episodes deals

with a visit to the Gary Shandling Amusement Park where kids
sit on a salon hairdryer ride.


The video quality of the set is quite good. There are outtakes to

be found on just about every disc, as well as commentary from
those involved in the episodes. The only thing that continues to
bother me about these Shout Factory releases is the total lack
of subtitles. Since I am on a loud treadmill, the subtitles would

have helped me understand some of the dialogue spoken at a
lower volume.


I would say that unless you are a huge fan of Gary Shandling,
and in particular, this series, I would not bother picking up the

entire set. The show really only holds up well for the first two

seasons. On the other hand, the first season seems to be available

as a single disc and I would definitely recommend that if you are

at least curious.