Larry Sanders Show Boned the Fish When...

[TMC]

http://www.bonethefish.com/viewtopics.php?4867

The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It stars stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders and centered on the running of his TV show. It is notable for featuring celebrities playing exaggerated, self-parodying versions of themselves. The series, in which Shandling used his experience as a guest host on The Tonight Show, is ranked by various critics and fans as one of the best TV comedies of the 1990s.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/

• Other Thoughts:
  
  Another fine show that never jumped. Always cutting edge, always funny.
  Hey now!
  It could have jumped when Darlene left, but it never skipped a beat.
  Quite simply the best written and funniest show I've ever seen, never jumped, still hilarious!
  Never jumped. Quality went up and down, but rock solid to the end. Great comedy and a commitment to not treating the audience like infants. It has to be one of the standards against which other comedies will be judged.
  Absolutely the best American TV show ever produced. Writing, cast and ending before it became tiresome were perfect.
  I'd just like to point out that I stopped my cable subscription the year this show started, and the year it ended I signed up again for cable. So I only got to see the show start and end. However I can honestly say it was just as funny when it started as it was when it finished. It did what it set out to do. Its purpose was to make fun of the whole talk show wars thing and it did that very well. It was critically acclaimed. It won awards. No one used it as an excuse to become satanic and kill fellow students or postal workers. It's a nice complement to Gary Shandling's talent as a comedian and ample proof why Johnny Carson didn't pick him as a replacement. I liked it. Actually I never saw an entire episode but I'm sure it was more enjoyable than watching Gary pick his nose or something...
  Never did, had the same type of realistic comedy until the very end, even the last words spoken on the show ever, when Hank said "I'm such a *****".
  The second best final episode of a series, ever. (After "Newhart"). I was worried Garry would let the show get mushy in the end, but thankfully, it remained as bitter about show business as ever. Thank you, Garry Shandling.
  The best written, smartest, funniest half-hour ever on television. It's sheer intelligence and dependence on Hollywood subculture for humor virtually guaranteed a lack of mainstream success, and most of America has no idea what they missed. Television that doesn't talk down to the audience and "spoon feed" them the laughs is a very rare commodity. Rarer still, are shows that are wrapped long before they get a chance to go stale. Thanks Garry Shandling, for a wonderful run!! I'm looking forward to your future projects.
  this show never jumped, it was great. i loved that it was hilarious and had NO canned laughter which i hate. i loved the episodes with larry bickering with his wife, so realistic. rip torn was great as artie, great cast, sorry to see it go but glad it never got stale.
  This show ALMOST jumped the final season, when they became too hung up on plot lines related to them leaving the show. But after four or five episodes, it righted the course, and had great plot lines (Beverly gets pregnant, the female writer does a stand-up, etc.) The only show that I consistently laughed out loud watching. I still try to watch it on HBO Signature and HBO Comedy!
  This show never jumped. It was great from beginning to end!
  never, hank kingsley is one of the greats sitting up there with henry blake. and what i would have done to darlene...
  The Larry Sanders Show was one of the most creative television shows ever. The entire cast, especially Garry Shandling and Rip Torn, were wonderful, and the writing was flawless. And what's more, HBO pulled the plug on the program before it ever had a chance to miss a beat. Once again, HBO proved itself to be the best channel on television.
  This show will stand the test of time as one of the great ensemble comedies ever to be seen on television. If remains fresh after many repetitions as many of the characters have that Popeye characteristic; you hear more of what they have to say with every viewing. Never jumped, although it had many opportunities to jump.
  The greatest! With this, Mr. Show & The Sopranos, I feel like I should sent HBO extra money each month. As for the poster above with this to say: "Absolutely the best American TV show ever produced", please let me know what foreign-produced shows are better. (For that matter, other than Iron Chef or The Singing Detective, what non-US show is as good as any of the aforementioned HBO shows, Simpsons, Seinfeld or St. Elsewhere? Tell me, I'd really like to know.)
  The Larry Sanders Show never JTS. This is primarily due to Arthur and Hank. Thank God HBO still shows reruns. We are at their mercy.
  Yet another cable show that critics prefer to real comedies because they don't have a laugh track and get to swear a lot. Sure, it's a clever show with some nice observational writing about show business. But it has never once made me laugh, probably because in its desire to be "different" from real comedies, it eschews not only setups and punchlines but also decent comic timing and pacing. The only person on the show who had good timing was Rip Torn, and he was the only reason I watched. Then there's the endless, boring scenes on Larry's talk show; forget that these scenes are supposed to be "satire"; they're just a very good imitation of a bad talk show, just as boring as the real thing. But finally it's the hype I can't stand about this show. What does this show have that network comedies don't? BUFFALO BILL was sharper and nastier. THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and WKRP IN CINCINNATI had more trenchant things to say about the media. SEINFELD was a better portrait of soulless self-absorbed people. But SANDERS was on cable, and that somehow makes it the greatest ever. Baloney.
  This show retired without having met it's supposedly inevitable slump. Credit goes to Garry Shandling who periodically fired all the writers to keep it fresh!
  Best HBO show ever. Solid from beginning to end and they new when it was time to end it.
  The Larry Sanders show never jumped,in fact I think it got better as it went along.A smart,funny and very cynical show that for once doesn't sugar coat hollywood.I only wish it had not ended so soon,I think there was still at least one more real good year in it,but I guess I would rather it go out while still in top form than stick around far to long like so many other shows do. This show may have been about Larry but some of the shows funniest momments were all about Hank. Hank Kingsley was one of the most hysterical characters on any show.His absurd,self centered, loser personality was great such as his being cut to pieces during the roast for Larry("Tell Hank to shut the **** up!")but still being upset that he couldn't host it.Hank thought he was a star but Larry thought he was a joke and so did everybody else.I also loved the time that for a bit on the show Hank goes to stay with some couple in the mid west and does cooking tips on the show while off the air he has sex with the wife and tempts the husband(a reformed alcoholic) with booze so he can beat him at a card game and this begins to show on the air,as the husband walks around drunk calling his wife a whore while she weeps and hank still tries to be funny for Larry,classic!
  Consistently funny to the very last episode. Hank Kingsley might be the most underrated character in TV comedy history. Should have kept going with Jon Stewart as host.
  I would put this show on a par with "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons" as one of the best comedies ever made. However, it didn't go one for nearly as long and so it never had a chance to jump (Would somebody please put "The Simpsons" out of its misery?) Also, Garry Shandling is one of the only stand-up comedians who can actually act. And, an extremely rare thing for television, the finale was good! This show never jumped!
  The Larry Sanders Show never JTS. This is primarily due to Arthur and Hank. Thank God HBO still shows reruns. We are at their mercy.
  This show, along with Seinfeld and The Simpsons, ranks among one of the best sitcoms of all time. But unlike those shows, it wasn't on as long and never went downhill. The cast was all great, and Garry Shandling is one of the only stand-up comedians who can actually act. Plus, no laugh track, so what more could you want? This show never jumped!
  I am completely obsessed with this show, and I NEED to find a video or DVD collection. I constantly worry that the reruns are going to end and I will be S.O.L. I live in Toronto and it is still playing on a nightly basis though - each one laugh-out-loud funnier than the next.
  its just bad it can't get worse
  the complexity of these comic characters was unmatched. hbo does it again....
  "It's a salty dog, drink it you *****". Rip Torn gives any show an automatic cannot jump the shark.
  "Then the audience shouts in unison, Hey Hank go f##k yourself. And the audience isn't even supposed to have lines". Classic Hank, this show should be shown again for those who missed it. It was great.
  When they chronicle the American Comedy scene of the late 20th Century, three shows will shine, Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and Larry Sanders. And whilst George and Homer will be holding Silver and Bronze as the nastiest, laziest most dishonest pieces of work, Hank Kingsley will be up there receiving Gold.
  This show was great from the first season to the last....I wish it was still on.
  this is such a quality production. subtle & witty, with great throw away lines. rip torn should have won every award available. and garry shandling was a really shaded actor, unlike his buddy seinfeld. but hank has to rank as my third favorite character of all time (after the ab fab women & felix & oscar). hank was a brilliant character & jeffrey tambor played it superbly. i absolutely love this show. NEVER EVER JUMPED. and to the poster from toronto who is terrorized by the idea that it will go out of syndication, here in the u.s. we have recording devices like vcr's where you can tape the shows you enjoy for your future entertainment. i would have thought they were available in Canada a well, but apparently not.
  Never jumped. Always great. One line sticks in my head years later for some reason. Larry is doing the show, talking about rap artists and their stage names, and as a throwaway he says "Hank, if you were a rapper, what would your name be?" and Hank says, totally deadpan: "Hank the Rapper." That just blew me off the couch. Don't know why, but it just struck me so damn funny. Jeffrey Tambor rules. Rip Torn rules. All the celebrities playing themselves ruled (especially Duchovny). Janeane Garofalo rules. Garry Shandling is annoying, but for once he was supposed to be and found a vehicle where that worked for him.
  I thought it would jump during the last two episodes, but although it came damn close with Jim bloody Carey doing that hellish singsong that lasted far too long, it was saved by Artie and Larry keeping it tight to the end. Hank was playing his twat part perfectly all the way and this also prevented it from slipping. You've got to reckon when they left the set of the TV show after the 1/2 hour had been canned they would have behaved in a slightly different way eh? Anyway, I'm still privileged to be able to watch this little gem every week-night (at the moment) in England on UK Play, with an omnibus on Sunday nights. Woohoo!!! The moment that had me laughing the most was probably the one where Dharlene (spelling?) was offering to date some guy in return for him doing the show. They were in the back of the limo outside the show building and you thought they were alone having a private discussion. Then the camera pans out gradually as about six other people including Artie, Hank and Larry make contributions to try and finalise the deal. I was pure class all the way!
  Never jumped. Dipped into a small valley when Jeanene Garofalo left but hardly missed a beat.
  This was the funniest show. I could never stand to miss it. Garry and his hair! One of those perfect instances of a perfect combination of actors/characters, none of whom would have been as funny in anything else. I'll be humming the theme song all day. And the wardrobe guy, Alan Trugman, was somebody I used to know!
  No flipping! God, if not for that, I'd be flipping off "The Sopranos" and "Oz" and all those other lame-ass shows HBO has foisted upon us since Larry left. Garry Shandling may be funny-looking but he's a comedy god (check out the painfully underrated movie "What Planet Are You From?" with Annette Bening. Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor are brilliant as Artie and Hank. And Jeanane Garofolo brings a dash of acerbic humor to any situation (remember Romy & Michele? or Cable Guy? or Bye Bye Love?) Never ever will jump, plus they had 2 count 'em 2 Elvis Costello episodes, further proof of genius.
  The LS Show is by far the wittiest, most realistically acted and most intelligently written show of all time, and this is no exaggeration; from the physical humour, such as Larry's particularly loose-armed, camp, Leno-esque run through the crowd to the abundance of genius one-liners, for example Larry's "I think my dog is gay because his penis tastes bitter. That's my joke. He's a fu*king *******." The lack of a laugh track makes it twice as subtle and sinister; plus it removes the question of when (if at all) to actually stop the laugh track. I suppose it was nice that it ended without losing any of its originality or appeal, but to be honest, the plots, jokes and characters were showing no signs of worsening, but quite the opposite.
  Never Jumped...and I'm soooooo glad that HBO is showing re-runs! How can this show fail when they had scenes like Hank Kingsley trying to be down with Wu-Tang Clan? And what's the best way to finish out that scene? Jon Stewart to RZA "On behalf of all of my people I'd like to apologize for that..." CLASSIC!!!
  Gimminy Glick has nothing on Larry Sanders. This show kept me up many a late night when I was in High School. I had HBO in my house and never failed to catch a new episode. The last show was great finale, I wish it had gone on a little longer. HEY NOW!
  LSS never jumped, although it came close when Darlene left because she was boffing Larry on the show and Gary in real life. (Don't 'cha love it when life imitates art imitating life?) I really missed those juicy, succulent (even if they were preposterously phony) cans. Although, I'll admit it was easier to concentrate on the show once she was gone. This was one of the best written and performed shows on television and there wasn't a single performance by Jeff Tambor that was ever anything less than brilliant. The trio of Artie, Larry and Hank were a perfect resurrection of the Three Stooges. Think about it: Artie (Moe) the scowling, exasperated ringleader; Larry (Larry) the confused, frizzy-haired middle man; and Hank (Curly) the bald, buffoonish dupe. Unlike the Stooges, though, LSS went out on top, with a brilliant finale that ranks among TV's best.
  Never jumped. Could be the best show ever. Not only did The Larry Sanders Show end its run at its peak, it started out in peak form too. Other classic shows like Seinfeld and The Simpsons weren't really that funny in their early episodes. The Larry Sanders Show hit the airwaves (or cable wires) as an instant classic like Cheers and All in the Family, yet didn't hang on way too long like those shows. The writing on The Larry Sanders show is unbelievably good. Every single character is interesting, especially Hank, who on other shows would just be the one-dimensional butt of everyone's jokes (like Frank Burns or Cliff Clavin). Hank had such an underlying sense of poignancy and humanity that I actually felt bad for him sometimes. A lot of credit should go to Jeffrey Tambor for this, too. One of my favorite scenes from the series is when Artie put Hank into a headlock to keep him from speaking at Larry's roast. Hank actually sat back down at the roast dais after the headlock as if nothing had happened-- imagine the low self worth the man must have had to not just storm out of the banquet hall. To quote Artie, "That's great television, my friend."
  This show lost its edge when the cameos became guilty of the same gratuitous Hollywood self-congratulation it purported to satirize (such as David Duchovny's and Jeff Goldblum's).
  Larry Sanders Show (along with the Sopranos) was cable television at it's best. Everyone was cast perfectly. Artie (Rip Torn) should run for President. Man it was hilarious when Artie would punk out Hank and put the talentless ***** in his place. Heyy noww....
  The shark jumped when "Paula" (Hank's assistant), Jeneane Garafalo, and Jeremy Piven left. After that, the show, like the "LS Show" itself, went slowly downhill until they both were cancelled.
  Show never did Jump and even a few years later the episodes are great to watch. Ok for the record It wasn't HBO that ended the show It was Shandling..he only wanted to do It for a few years and I think in the 6 years he only did 100 episodes. Again either way his show went out on top.It didn't drag on past its prime.Only Cheers and Seinfeld can brag I think about that. I think thats why Shandling ended the show though..he knew that the cast was startin to chip away.Plus unlike Friends which in its 9th year seems to have found a Fountain of Youth...Could LS have that luck with Sopranos,Oz,& 6 Feet Under on HBO now??I'm glad Shandling knew when to walk away.
  Never ever ever jumped the shark. Was comic comic genius from 1st season to last.
  Constantly and achingly funny, it actually had many chances to jump, with cast and writing changes, but the big three of Larry, Hank and Artie kept this show biting the hand that fed it right up to the end. Sadly missed and one of the few shows to come to a dignified end when it was right to do so.
  My favorite story line was "Hanks Look Around Restaurant". Remember? The tables move around so you have a different view every few minutes. Everyone knew it was stupid but Hank wanted it so bad. When Larry is eating there the tables creak and wobble and the glasses tip over...it kills me every time. Consistently the funniest show ever.
  Never jumped. Does anyone remember the episode where Artie and Larry were supposed to have lunch, only Larry runs into Artie beforehand and Artie is clearly drunk and Larry asks him "What did you have for lunch?" and Artie says, "A ham and bourbon sammich!" I laughed for hours. Classic, classic, classic.
  The Larry Sanders show was one of the finest comedy-series on television ever. Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, and Rip Torn were absolutely hilarious together and never missed a beat. The rest of the cast were great as well. This show never jumped and although some episodes were better than others, it was solid from beginning to end. Thank-you Garry and HBO!!
  SHARK ALERT! Larry Sanders is now on in syndication in LA. Not that the show was about the swearing, but it's somehow lacking something without it. Still, along with WKRP, one of the most realistic shows about the broadcasting industry.
  I watched TLSS from beginning to end and laughed all the way. I agree with several others that Rip Torn was great ,but I think he was much more than that. As he proved in The Albert Brooks film Defending Your Life,he is a an excellent comedic actor Kudos to all who were on TLSS and wrote for it. I miss it dearly.**special note:I'm still amazed to this day(and very happy) that Rip torn's character Artie....never had a last name...think about it.....
  Nobody says the f word funnier than Rip Torn.
  This show never ever has jumped the shark. IT is one of the greatest... never mind THE GREATEST television history in Mankind screw Seinfeld this is genius and I am sad that it never got a contract but then again with a network contract they would have wanted it to tone it down. Also anyone who says a character had to be a little likeable I have 4 Words for you HEY NOW HANK KINGSLEY.
  Ugh. I am so glad HBO got the message and dumped this god-awful show. The day when any ugly, whiny, annoying man can be given a comedy wherein he can bitch and moan relentlessly about every single little thing and yet still bed down attractive women is long over. With Shandling's career ****-canned, all I have to do is sit back and wait for the same kind of divine justice to hit the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and that guy from Arliss (but not Larry David: he's still okay.)
  The Larry Sanders Show is probably the best sitcom of the last twenty years, every bit as hilarious as The Simpsons and with more energy than Seinfeld (which ran out of gas in its last two seasons). The characters were certainly not the type of people you would want to work with, yet I sympathized with them all in one way or another. The writing was sharp and consistently funny, with dialogue that made all the one-liners, puns, and non-sequitors sound perfectly natural, unlike most sitcoms where more than half the jokes sound like they were inserted just because the writers felt like there had to be a laugh at a certain moment. The actors fit perfectly into their roles. Garry Shandling nailed the lead role perfectly; he wasn't just playing himself as many detractors have claimed, but instead created a character that was a nice person at heart, but often turned snide and sometimes mean from having to deal with all the crap in Hollywood. Rip Torn was superb as Artie, the producer whose years of experience in Tinseltown had made him bitter, over-aggressive, disenchanted to the point of total sulleness, and perhaps more realistic than anyone else. Jeffrey Tambor's self-destructive Hank Kingsley was someone I always laughed at and cried for at the same time; as best shown in the episodes where he went through his divorce, he was a buffon who, no matter what misery he was going through, you couldn't really feel bad for because he always brought it on himself. Hank tried to play the lackey to Larry, but it was obvious that he envied- even hated- Larry for his success, like when he tried to host the show when Larry was sick and bombed, or when he slept with Larry's ex (Hank: "It was an accident!" Larry: "Oh, what did she do, slip and fall on your penis?"). The supporting characters were just as fun, especially Wallace Langham's self-involved Phil and Janeane Garafalo's sardonic Paula. There were so many great episodes, my favorites being Phil shooting too high for the head writer position, Hank suffering the consequences when an incriminating videotape of him begins to circulate through Hollywood, Larry almost quitting and discovering that he can't stand the peace and quiet of retirement (great closing line: "****ing frogs"), Larry having to interrupt his show so he can go to the bathroom, gay Scott irritating homophobic Phil on purpose, Hank getting his own restaurant, Larry fretting over letting Dana Carvey on his show after his "impression" of Larry (which was actually a clip of Carvey's great riff on Shandling), Artie spending an entire episode babbling on to himself while wandering around the studio... God, there were so many. Some have said that the "show within the show" was disappointing, but I think the actual "Larry Sanders Show" was supposed to seem bland and predictable since that's pretty much the kind of generic junk Hollywood chruns out these days (just look at Leno, for God's sake). This, along with The Simpsons, Cheers, and Dick van Dyke is probably the closest any sitcom has come to perfection.
  Absolutely never jumped. Not consistently perfect, but as a overall package probably the finest TV show in history (it lacked the glut of truly poor episodes which plague the overall legacy of better series like The Simpsons). Chilling, hilarious, very clever and breathtakingly well acted by Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor and Rip Torn down through the wonderful supporting cast. And the way in which the show ended, with the darkest and bleakest episode of an already pretty gloomy show, was sheer class.
  Never jumped. But I have to say this: I've been watching the reruns on Bravo--out of order--and those first season shows are really lame after watching the last seasons. It's a little like The Andy Griffith Show first season when Barney and Ang hadn't quite gotten their characters or voices down. Even Artie is annoying in the early shows. Torn hasn't found the character yet (and even slips into a mock-Chicago accent calling Larry as "bastid"). And Larry is too nice. Only Hank is close to the classic Hank. It shows you how good Jeffrey Tambor really is, to create a full-fledged character so effortlessly while his co-stars are still fumbling. To be honest, the first season is painful to watch. Maybe the second season will be better.
  This show never ever jumped, they quit when they were WAY ahead, Garry Shandling is such an underrated comic talent, the chemistry between Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor, and hell, the chemistry between the whole cast is incredible. You'd think a show with this many lineup switches would jump and jump back, but it never did. Watch this on Bravo at 10-11 every night, NO FLIPPING
  Never jumped. Best show ever. In my opinion, due to Shandling's willingness to let others shine. By portraying Larry as a man that wants the riches but none of the burdens, he pokes great fun at himself while letting supporting cast developed their characters. Brilliant! I could sure use an Artie in my life.
  Can watch the show as many times as it is aired and still laugh out loud. All the characters are great, especially Artie. Seeing him...It's like I have a twin! Got a problem with that, Sweetie? (Always did love Rip Torn. He is possibly the most under appreciated actor in the business)
  The perfect comedy, so packed with intelligent writing and subtle asides that the same episode can be watched multiple times and new things can be caught. Characters stayed true to themselves from the beginning to the end, never succumbing to anything resembling "A Very Special Episode." Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Sorely missed. Genius to quit while it was at the top. Too many classic lines to quote, but one favorite from Larry (while jockeying to get a date with a potential starlet): "Alec Baldwin? He's gayer than a french horn."
  The series got a lot of hype and ass kissing for a show that was never really a hit by HBO standards. I finally saw the Bravo airings and it has lived up to the hype for the most part. I agree the first to seasons weren't that great, getting too caught up with the ex wives plot. I would also say Rip Torn and Janeane Garofalo were given too much acclaim while Jeffery Tambor and Penny Johnson weren't getting enough.
  Seeing the show for the first time now in syndication (BRAVO) and i think it is hilarious. Artie rules. He knows his role is to pamper the prima donna (LARRY) but he does it with such a smooth sense of ambiguity and aplomb that he ends up being the true main character. Like the time when Larry tells him that his hat is too loose. Artie hesitates a moment and then hollers "TOO LOOSE". Larry looks at him and says, "there's no one out there, is there?" And, well, Darlene is about the hottest thing I've ever seen. Damn shes sexy.
  Never. One of the best comedies ever. And responsible for a cherished memory. I'll always remember the night my mother was visiting. Its late, I'm watching Larry, and who's up but Mum (glass of water or whatever). Looks at screen, sees Rip Torn. "OOh" says Mum, "I like Rip Torn, what's this show?" Right at this moment Rip (Artie) opens up with "I told the little ******* to go **** himself!" The look on her face. Priceless.
  when characters started dropping out (darlene, paula). the replacements never worked nearly as well. sorry, but great as it once was, this show absolutely DID jump the shark.
  Arguably the best show ever. Thank God for reruns. Hank Kingsley may have been the funniest, well acted character on TV.
  It never jumped, thanks mainly to the amazing talents of Rip Torn, Jeffrey Tambor and Penny Johnson. Otherwise, it was Shandling trotting out cast members of his very overrated FOX show to replace departing cast members of his very overrated FOX show. Janeane Garafolo's cynical, eye-rolling, I'm-way-too-hip-for-this-world routine on the show, as in real life, got old almost immediately. She was replaced by the incredibly bland and unfunny Mary Lynn Rajskub, as though the show needed another insecure basket case. But, to reiterate, as long as Larry, Artie, Hank and Beverly were doing their thing, no way this show could jump the shark.
  Where can I begin to comment on the finest situation comedy ever? Even with the numerous cast changes, the show only got better with age. Although Darlene was hot, Brian added a new element to the show. Larry was just a very self absorbed man with a good heart who was so much of a wimp, he had to call Artie over every time someone started making him uncomfortable. Hey now, Hank Kingsley made the show, few characters can be so despicable yet have the audience root for him and enjoy when he receives his lumps. It's strange to think that at the same time Garry Shandling was offered this show, he was also offered the slot after Letterman that went to Tom Snyder. Would his show have been as lame as the show in the Larry Sanders show or would it have been just as great as the sitcom? This show would have never made it on network tv, it needed HBO to nurture it into a huge hit. Considering how great and popular this show was, it also had the grace to bow out at the right time, not only did it never decline, but it left at its zenith. This is the only show i can think of that has stayed so perfect for so long. No one ever acted out of character or the show never had anything added to it to make it appear better. This show seems so real despite its shoestring budget that i find myself sometimes thinking of the Larry Sanders talk show as a real show. Every time David Duchovny came on with his ambiguously homosexual attraction to Larry, i was in stitches. The show never had cheap cop outs or lowest denominator humor, just clever writing that never failed to get out a few hard laughs. Favorite Quote: "hey Hank, that guy looks like you, i wonder if he's ********."
  I just watched an episode that was one of the funniest of the entire series. However, the guest stars were three men who all died way before their time: Gene Siskel, Warren Zevon and John Ritter. The coincidence was creepy.
  I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the episode where Hank insists on having Phil write up a script for "Hank's Hot Potato," a backwards, confusing game of Hot Potato. After Phil writes something that includes the audience shouting out "Go f**k yourself, Hank," all Hank can do is comment on the fact that audience wasn't even supposed to have a line. Best show ever in the history of the world. And if you were unlucky enough to be in the "biz" for 20+ years....the show gets even funnier.
  Very very eerie ! Watched an episode a while back that sort of creeped me out. Three guest stars, all untimely deaths, two in one year. Gene Siskel, John Ritter and Warren Zevon. Is that a coincidence or WHAT !
  How many sitcoms are there with no laugh tracks? Aside from Larry David shows (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), I can't think of any sitcoms in the past two decades or so that have been funny aside from this show (or the Garry Shandling Show).
  No one in this forum has mentioned the character who drove me away: Mary Lou. Why would they keep such an incompetent assistant on staff?? When a re-run airs, if I see her, I turn it off. That episode with Vince Vaughn is unwatchable-- Mary Lou and Hank getting it on?? Yee-uck!!
  "The Larry Sanders Show" never jumped the shark. Most of the characters were hilarious and well-written. Each person had his/her own place in the world and they were incorporated into the show. HBO knows when to pull the plug on great shows before they become stagnant.
  Such a funny, intelligent show! I especially love Jeffrey Tambor as Hank Kingsley. Hey now! Someone mentioned the one episode where he was trying to be down with the Wu Tang Clan, but they forgot the best line - Hank: "Where's Old Dirty Bitch?". F**king hilarious!
  Okay – enough of the ass-kissing fest. This show was flat-out hilarious for the first season, and then began numerous cast changes and idiotic guest shots that made it barely viewable. 1. The loss of Megan Gallagher and subsequent replacement by Kathryn Harrold was a mistake. Gallagher was a much better foil for Shandling than Harrold could ever dream of. The idea of the ex-wife coming back into the picture was ludicrous, at best. 2. The loss of Jeremy Piven as Jerry, and the promotion of Wallace Langham’s annoying Phil character as head writer was another mistake. Piven was likeable; Langham’s portrayal of a smart-mouthed jerk was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Tossing John Riggi a bone by making him a (thankfully) short-lived second banana was another exercise in uselessness. 3. Bringing in guest shots by the thoroughly untalented Tom Arnold, and any subsequent appearances by his ex-hag stunk up the joint in the worst possible way. The entire Roseanne storyline was stupidity at its ever-lovin’ worst. 4. The canning of Linda Doucet over personal squabbles with Shandling was bad enough, but replacing her with the irritating, one-note, “Look at me! I’m gay!!!” shtick of that world class moron, Scott Thompson, was yet another in a long line of mistakes. He wasn’t funny on Kids In The Hall, and he continued that trend on this show. 5. That stupid gay bit involving Thompson and Langham was about as stupid as it got. “Wow! Let’s break new ground. Let’s have a shocking gay scene.” THAT was supposed to be funny??? Personally, I don’t care about the theme, but let’s be realistic – it added NOTHING to the world of comedy. I found it torturous to watch this show descend into the depths of mediocrity towards the end; in fact, I think I’d tuned out before this vaunted finale hit the air. Do I feel cheated that I didn’t see it? Not in the slightest. There was no way I was going to slog through the last few seasons of foolishness to reach that point. Props to Shandling, Tambor, and Torn, and the original supporting cast for solid work, but a big thumbs down for the sub-par losers that followed in their wake. There – you may commence the ass-kissing fest again.
  Bend over Mr. Sanders, it's time for some ass kissing, and there is no show more deserving of it than the funniest show of the 90's. I can't think of any show that maintained the level of quality that The Larry Sanders show did, I honestly can't remember a bad episode. Hank Kingsley, Artie, and Larry himself, all of them were played to perfection from the first episode to the brilliant final episode. Often, you marvel at the ridiculously high salaries of some actors, and then a show like this comes along and you realize that there are a few that earn every single penny.
  I used to think Larry Sanders was the funniest American comedy ever. Looking back on it now, im sure of it. Garry Shandling is really underrated, even by me. Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor were consummate in their roles. The few criticisms here are as far as im concerned, nit picking. Your not going to like 100 Percent of every episode or every single character. Sure I missed some of the cast, and no I didn't enjoy all of the guest stars, but the entire production was genius pure unmitigated genius. At the time I thought I liked it because of the Hollywood underpinngs and now I realize I liked it mostly due to Shandling, Torn and Tambor. And to the poster up above somewhere, Id kiss Shandlings Ass and tell him his hair looks great in a heartbeat if it would get him to do something new.
  While the show had its crappy moments, I never saw a point when I thought it was headed irretrievably for the dumper. All the way down to the last show it remained watchable and laugh-able and one of my favorites. I agree with the poster above that this show never treated its audience as anything less than adults that can both dish it out and take it. Not perfect but very very good and never jumped. IMO Rip Torn was the heart and soul of this show.
  I put this under "singing," because the show jumped when they started giving the bands full-length musical segments in order to get them on the show; this made no sense plot-wise, since none Larry's OTHER guests got full-length segments-- which would have at least been more entertaining than showing Larry and Hank etc. just sitting there nodding like idiots or whispering a few lines among themselves during the whole damned drawn-out musical-segment. I don't know why they couldn't make the bands realize that it was just a SPOOF, rather than a venue to let them play their WHOLE DAMNED SONG; I guess the show just cut the budget, and couldn't pay the top-bands enough to just do a cameo-spot-- and so the producers had to BRIBE the bands by letting them do a whole full-length song. That's like 3-5 minutes of a band that you DON'T care about, since you didn't tune in to watch a real talk-show with a real musical guest, but to watch a SPOOF of a talk show with a real musical guest. This skimping and corner-cutting also showed in other ways such as shoddy and repetitive writing-- Larry dates a celebrity-guest, Larry meets his ex-wife, Larry pokes fun at Hank's stupidity behind his back while talking with Artie, etc.--- it simply stopped being a realistic spoof of a talk-show, and became purely ass-kissing fiction. The LSS started out as probably the most intelligent, well-written tragicomedic piece of work ever seen; but it went the way of Fonzie in California, and you could literally hear the bass-fiddle playing the theme from "Jaws--" as well as the bloody aftermath of that movie.
  I have always loved Garry Shandling and dammit, I think he's sorta sexy too, so what. And oh my god, FUNNY??? Hell, yes. It's Garry Shandling's Show's theme song was wittier than the content of half the crap that passes for comedy on sitcoms today. Then The Larry Sanders Show came out and thank god for HBO... it may even have pre-redeemed itself for Sex and the Boring-Ass City I Wouldn't Live In If It Were Filled With Bitter Old Hags Like That If I Had A SoHo Loft For Goddammed FREE. I rememeber the episode where Hank gets to host for a while and becomes this driven monster of a man, and I remember HATING Jeffrey Tambor for a while, he was so convincing a ****-head. I agree with a previous poster who said no one says the F-word like Rip Torn. Favorite line: "I said have some ****ing cheese!" Remember the look on Larry's face when Carol Burnett told him she could see his balls? Anyone who didn't like this show didn't get it, and how sad for them. Come back Garry!!!
  The Larry Sanders Show is exquisite. There is not a single duff episode. The characters are superb and always consistant. It's now being shown again most nights in Britain which is a joy.

[JMidnight_99]

...When Larry actually boned a fish?