Review of Larry Sanders Show, The: The Best Episodes

Introduction

The show that laid the carpet for HBO’s slow domination of the cable TV market: ‘Oz’, ‘The Sopranos’, um ‘Sex and the City’. Garry Shandling’s caustic satire about an egotistical talk-show host was not only the best sitcom on television but with its witty, foul-mouthed dialogue and unapologetically unsympathetic characters, also the most groundbreaking.

Video

Crap. Obviously. However given the shows grainy televisual roots, this is hardly surprising. DVD however, has done nothing to smooth out the blemishes.

Audio

Two point Dolby Digital, although only the most anal-retentive will complain.

Features

In predictably cynical fashion, there’s a promo for Garry Shandling’s new film: ‘What Planet are You From?’ A bomb Stateside that will almost certainly fail to gain a theatrical release in this country. Apart from that, nadda.

Conclusion

A collection of seven top-flight episodes here, the highlights? ‘The List’ featuring guest appearances by half of the Baldwin pack that are considerably better than their movies; ‘Hank’s Sex Tape’ where Jeffrey Tambor’s excruciatingly pathetic sidekick steals the limelight; ‘Larry’s Big Idea’ which brilliantly showcases the production staff’s insatiable vanity when they are given a slot on Larry’s show. It may be appallingly cynical, but ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ is also endlessly inventive and packed with hilariously acerbic humour, thanks to impeccable writing from Shandling and cohorts in crime Dennis Klein, Maya Forbes, Peter Tolan and the brilliant Paul Simms (‘News Radio’). With considerably less dressing than its flimsy predecessors, it may look like its just crawled up from under a rock, but ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ is that rare program which has a bite to match its bark.