Larry Sanders Show

[Cassidy]

This is, far and away, the best comedy that I've seen on TV.
It's so well-written.
Every comedy on TV today basically owes a lot to this show and is influenced by it (Jeremy Piven and Judd Apatow basically got his start on this show). It's the most groundbreaking sitcom ever.
Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the Office...these shows would never have been made if it weren't for the Larry Sanders Show.

Larry Sanders (Garry Shandling) is a fictional talk show host (a la Letterman or Leno). The genius is that it goes behind the scenes and all that shit with the writers and reveals the process behind being a talk show host and the celebrity. Artie (Rip Torn) is immense as the show's producer. Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) is absolutely glorious as Larry's sidekick, who is a moron and gets tooled on completely.

In later seasons, he is about to get replaced (you can see this coming from episode 1). They are gunning for someone younger. The funny thing is that the talk show host they are grooming to replace Larry is Jon Stewart (playing himself).

Best of Larry Sanders
http://www.amazon.com/Just-Best-Larry-Sanders-Show/dp/B000MTFDB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1202366554&sr=1-1

There's bad reviews for it because they haven't released all the seasons and they left off some of the better episodes off the 22 episodes they included. But you get the gist of the show.
I am DYING for all the seasons to come out.

It's genius.

[RaisinEmpire]

I've heard good things about this, and saw clips of it on the 'Ricky Gervais meets...' episode where he met Garry Shandling.

I'll probably check it out at some point. It's added to the ever-growing list, at any rate!

[Cassidy]

Yeah, it's totally worth it.

Just watch 1 episode of it and you'll understand.
It's just so well-written and so well done.

[Cassidy]

BUMP

Because it's great and because finally someone else (COG) has started watching this show.

It's a top 5 show of all time for me.
(the Wire, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Freaks and Geeks, this...and South Park is on there. Chappelle's Show should have lasted longer, but then again, Freaks and Geeks could have too)

[COG]

Are there other DVDs other than "Not Just the Best of?" that are better than this?

Because I'm loving this one. The interviews are fantastic as well.

I don't know that I've even seen Garry Shandling in anything else, but I adore his performance on this show. He's like a less awkward norm macdonald.

[lambchopthis]

Send me your copy of the DVD set in the mail and I will watch it with relish.

Don't, and I won't. Rest assured.

Also, Seinfeld not belonging in your top 5 tv shows list is criminal, I say. Criminal.

[COG]

My copy belongs to my local library, and I have it for a week.

I never knew they had such an expansive collection of dvds for free rental. Blu-Ray movies, too.

[lambchopthis]

Was talkin' to Cassius, bro. I don't want your tainted rental. Although it is likely that Cassidy has splooge on his copy.

Win/win or lose/lose? You be da judge.

[Cassidy]

http://www.amazon.com/Larry-Sanders-Show-Complete-Season/dp/B000N3T0EQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1246518391&sr=1-2

^only the first season.
I'm waiting for all the others to come out before I get back into it.

If you listen to Judd Apatow in any interview, he always talks about the Larry Sanders Show basically being his biggest influence and the best thing that has ever happened to him.
I enjoy the interviews.
I remember Piven going off on one about Garry Shandling directing an episode where he makes out with a girl in the car (and they were shooting from a window far away)...and it was going on longer than it should have been and he was waiting for somebody to say cut.
So finally, he stops making out, looks up, and there's Garry and I believe Rip Torn laughing their asses off.

I don't know if Garry Shandling really has done anything else.
But I believe he was in the running with Letterman and those guys.
He filled in for Johnny Carson too a couple of times.
But he basically retired...he makes appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher every now and then, but that's it.

[Cassidy]

Send me your copy of the DVD set in the mail and I will watch it with relish.

Don't, and I won't. Rest assured.

Also, Seinfeld not belonging in your top 5 tv shows list is criminal, I say. Criminal.

Maybe.

Seinfeld is up there, but I like CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM more.
So that knocked it out.
Besides, Larry Sanders Show > Seinfeld

[COG]

http://www.amazon.com/Larry-Sanders-Show-Complete-Season/dp/B000N3T0EQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1246518391&sr=1-2

^only the first season.
I'm waiting for all the others to come out before I get back into it.

If you listen to Judd Apatow in any interview, he always talks about the Larry Sanders Show basically being his biggest influence and the best thing that has ever happened to him.
I enjoy the interviews.
I remember Piven going off on one about Garry Shandling directing an episode where he makes out with a girl in the car (and they were shooting from a window far away)...and it was going on longer than it should have been and he was waiting for somebody to say cut.
So finally, he stops making out, looks up, and there's Garry and I believe Rip Torn laughing their asses off.

I don't know if Garry Shandling really has done anything else.
But I believe he was in the running with Letterman and those guys.
He filled in for Johnny Carson too a couple of times.
But he basically retired...he makes appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher every now and then, but that's it.

hahaha Piven was simulating sex, so he was all moaning and whatnot and they never yelled cut. That was absolutely hilarious.

[lambchopthis]

Seinfeld just gets knocked out because it's not obscure (hipster) enough for ya.

That's like leaving Blonde on Blonde out of a top whatever best albums list of all time because it's Dylan. Fuckin criminal.

[Cassidy]

Who do you think I am? theDrivingSnow?
If I had a top 10, Seinfeld is definitely there. I grew up on Seinfeld, kind of, because that was always on at the dinner table. But it wasn't a show that really got me into television. It wasn't before my time, but it wasn't necessarily a show I grew up watching. The show was over when I was in middle school basically and I watched the finale (disappointing).

So top 10...

1. the Wire
2. Lost
3. South Park (this should be in everybody's top 5)
4. Freaks and Geeks (if only this show had gone on longer)
5. Larry Sanders Show
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
7. Chappelle's Show
8. Six Feet Under
9. Seinfeld
10. the Office (American + British)

The thing about Seinfeld is that it just isn't as episodic as the other shows I have on my list.
And really, Chappelle's Show was my favorite + most likable comedian getting his show, surpassing any expectations I had, and just delivering the most refreshing comedy show in years. Saturday Night Live has dropped the ball and Chappelle delivered. He delivered the best comedy + water cooler talk of our generation...and he is also the saddest and most disappointing with him leaving the show, disappearing from stand-up, and letting guys like Dane Cook be shown everywhere when he is nowhere. He got too big, but didn't exploit it. It's amazing that he just said "fuck it" to a 50 million dollar deal.

[lambchopthis]

Not episodic enough in what regard? Standalone quality, episode to episode?

And that spiel about Chappelle's Show and your praising of the man's decision to not whore himself out was more than unnecessary. It was downright irrelevant. Seinfeld's situational comedy and Chappelle's comedy half hour of sketches are drastically different pieces of television media/art, other than the basic idea that their purpose is to make one laugh while making pertinent social commentary. It's not so easy to compare them on the simple fact of their being shows spurred and headed by comedians. Seinfeld was fucking revolutionary with all of its jokes and stabs and mocks at social identification, and did it in an incredibly quirky and original fashion.

Are you simply trying to say that you can't relate to Seinfeld as well because of it wasn't really within your generational grasp? I find that pretty funny.
I'm younger than you. Especially since my primary exposure and eventual addiction to the show only began about 4 years ago, perhaps at the beginning of high school, quite some time after its heyday. They still air its re-runs at least 4 times a day, and have been doing so for years and years since it finale'd. I know people a few years younger than or of equal age to me who watch it frequently and enjoy it, and reference it as much as I do. It really doesn't seem dated to me at all. Not in the least.

Also, if it sounds like I'm getting heated here, for the record, I'm not. :) Haha

[Cassidy]

Well, you're not seeing shows like Miami Vice, the Cosby Show, or any of that in my top 10. I didn't grow up on them.
I can relate to Seinfeld completely, but I was too young to really grasp onto Seinfeld (I probably have seen every episode on re-runs starting from elementary school). But I never watch re-runs. I have to watch shows on DVD or when a new episode premieres.

I didn't start to fall in love with TV shows until high school was almost over really.

I wasn't comparing Chappelle to Seinfeld in any way whatsoever.
But in the 2000's, Chappelle was the most brilliant comedian and he did some great shit. When it was on, it was the best comedy show out there. It seemed like that show was overlooked and underrated in its first season. Then, the Charlie Murphy stories happened, starting with the Rick James story...and it exploded like nothing else. Television really is the biggest medium (bigger than movies or anything...just look at Jon and Kate Plus 8; the Hills, or anybody that doesn't fucking matter). Chappelle never dreamed that the show would become a monster.

I'm arguing for Chappelle's Show to have a place in the top 10. The fact that that show lasted only 2 seasons (the unaired episodes sorely misses his commentary) sucks. We NEED him back.

[theDrivingSnow]

Who do you think I am? theDrivingSnow?
Hey, I may like obscure, avant-garde, and experimental things, but it genuinely comes from an academic place rather than hipster. With that said, my list of favorite television shows isn't "elitist" at all; I don't watch much TV.

Favorite Shows:

Twin Peaks
The Vicar of Dibley
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Jeeves and Wooster
Black Adder
Seinfeld
Mad Men
The Wire
The X-Files
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Flight of the Conchords
The Wonder Years

[Cassidy]

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^the episode where a sex tape of Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) has been released with Norm MacDonald and the Fonz.

[lambchopthis]

Hey, I may like obscure, avant-garde, and experimental things, but it genuinely comes from an academic place rather than hipster. With that said, my list of favorite television shows isn't "elitist" at all; I don't watch much TV.

Favorite Shows:

Twin Peaks
The Vicar of Dibley
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Jeeves and Wooster
Black Adder
Seinfeld
Mad Men
The Wire
The X-Files
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Flight of the Conchords
The Wonder Years
Oh shit, gettin' all academic up in this.
I have never heard of those. :p
But I am a fairly uneducated bloke.

[Beanz]

Ya'll watch some Moesha? That show is off da chain. It's way better than Sister, Sister!

[theDrivingSnow]

Oh shit, gettin' all academic up in this.
I have never heard of those. :p
But I am a fairly uneducated bloke.
Lol well they're not obscure at all, just British. You can view a lot of them on your local PBS affiliate.

The Vicar of Dibley stars Dawn French of the Brit comedy team French and Saunders. She plays an Anglican priest who is assigned to a conservative church in rural England. Needless to say, the lovable, eccentric townspeople are a little peeved that they were assigned a female minister, but they eventually warm to the idea.

Agatha Christie's--pretty much objectively the most famous mystery writer who ever lived--Poirot is simply the name given to the film adaptations of Christie's Poirot stories starring David Suchet. They are considered the definitive versions. PBS is actually currently airing the 11th season.

Jeeves and Wooster has become familiar to many Americans recently because it stars Hugh Laurie (of House), albeit sans his faked American accent. He portrays a dimwitted but good-intentioned member of the British upper crust who employs the services of a brilliant manservant named Jeeves.

Black Adder stars Rowan Atkinson (familiar to many Americans because of his Mr. Bean role). It follows the titular character throughout four periods in history and varying positions in society, the primary constant being BA's caustic wit.
Ya'll watch some Moesha? That show is off da chain. It's way better than Sister, Sister!
Moesha--fuck yeah!

Sister, Sister, however, is unbearable simply because of Jackée Harry.

[lambchopthis]

Oh, I be viewing Sister, Sister, if you know what I mean. ;)

[COG]

I like just the 10 of us

[Cassidy]

http://www.amazon.com/Larry-Sanders-Show-Complete/dp/B003NHMYJW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1277160447&sr=8-1

^complete series to be released on September 28th