Why a 20 Year Old Show Might Be Perfect for a 20-Something Audience
A Pitch for The Larry Sanders Show
By Mark Singh
All caught up on Community? Longing for the days of new episodes of The Office and 30 Rock? Looking for a new comedy to get through this summer’s after-work boredom and Sunday’s stay-in-bed hangover misery? I may have the perfect solution, and it’s one twenty years old — The Larry Sanders Show.
The show premiered in June 1994 and ran for six seasons on HBO. The premise is simple –we follow the behind the scenes antics and troubles of a fictional forty-something comedian, Larry Sanders, who hosts an eponymous late-night show (à la Letterman.) We see his life on the set of the show, during the commercial breaks, pre-show prep, and at home. While critics loved it, it went largely unnoticed by the American public. As a child of the nineties myself, the show passed me by while the much more popular Seinfeld, Friends, and Frasier are forever engrained as emblems of the decade. While those shows still air popularly in syndication and are fodder for pop culture references, not one of my recent-college-grad friends have even heard of Larry Sanders. And yet, this might be a good thing — and June 2014 might be the perfect time to unearth this hidden treasure.
The show on its own is brilliant — witty dialogue, zany and sometimes depressing situations, and stuffed to gut with celebrity cameos. The behind the scenes “realism” lends a freshness that The Office and 30 Rock later capitalized on. Yet, the real treat for us viewers today is the abundance of familiar faces you’ll see, albeit many years younger. While Fallon and Kimmel score all of the big names today, Larry Sanders featured a celebrity or two in nearly every episode — both as guests on the show and in the hijinks involved backstage. As later became common on Entourage or Curb Your Enthusiasm, celebrities often appear as twisted “versions” or parodies of themselves. It’s surprising how many of these stars are still big names today. The show, seen two decades later, offers a fascinating and entertaining time capsule of Hollywood culture making fun of itself at time when late-night shows were a bigger deal than they are today.
It’s enthralling to see Bob Saget, not as the sweet dad on Full House or future Ted’s voice on How I Met Your Mother, but as an arrogant hot shot showing off with a mile-a-minute monologue of jokes. Or David Duchovny trying to prove to Larry that he is not, in fact, gay. Or Dana Carvey, adeptly using his humor during the height of his power before he was just that washed up, “other guy” from Wayne’s World. Or a scorching hot Sharon Stone, the “it” girl of the moment, giving us viewers today context for why that Basic Instinct scene was such a big deal. Or a wrinkle-free Jon Stewart struggling with guest hosting the show for a few episodes. The scores of actors who show up include Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jim Carrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Goldblum, Heidi Klum, David Spade, and many more. By shedding a new light on the faces you know and love, the show often plays like a greatest hits list of the 90’s Nostalgia section on Buzzfeed.
Though it’s great to see how much Hollywood has changed (and stayed the same) over the past twenty years, the show wouldn’t work were it not for the core cast (and you’ll probably recognize them too.) Larry is neurotic, narcissistic, and often an asshole, but made strangely endearing by an honest portrayal by Garry Shandling, who might be recognized as Senator Stern from Iron Man 2. We see him succeed and fail, go through a divorce, fall prone to crises of confidence, and succumb to a drug addiction, but the show must go on, and thus he is supported by those around him. Arty, played by the Rip Torn (the fiery Don Geiss from 30 Rock), is the producer on the show and alternates as the caretaker and best friend of Larry. His smarmy skills are often involved in a tight-rope walk between Larry, the guests, and the cold network executives. Hank Kingsley, Larry’s loveable doofus sidekick with a catchphrase, represents a side of Jeffrey Tambor that’ll double your appreciation of his turn as George Senior in Arrested Development. Larry’s under-valued personal assistant, Beverly, played by Penny Johnson (she has since been seen in 24 and Castle), finds a way to saves the day when things out spiral of control. This is the oddly eclectic family that you’ll fall in love with as they get themselves in and out of a myriad of messes.
Beyond them are a few supporting roles that will probably make your head turn as well. Jeremy Piven, miles away from the slick badass as Entourage’s Ari, plays a balding, sexually desperate, junior staff writer. Sarah Silverman appears as a spunky staff writer trying to rise up the ranks. Also, don’t miss Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman, Bob Odenkirk, showing up suited, fit and trim, playing Larry’s new fast-and-loose, smooth talking, contract-negotiating agent.
Okay, enough with the praise. Certain aspects don’t age well; while Larry’s monologue jokes about Bill Clinton’s womanizing could have been written yesterday, most of us will be left scratching our heads when The Amazing Kreskin is referenced. There’s the goofy hair and wardrobes of the era, and some outmoded workplace views on racism, sexism, and homophobia. Larry’s love woes, ex-wives, and string of girlfriends become repetitive in the later seasons. Yet, the show’s window into the past offers a charm not worth missing out on.
While The Larry Sanders Show wasn’t a big hit, it had an outsized impact on television as we know it. Breaking the mold of single-camera sit-coms, the show led directly to the darker, zanier comedies of the past decade that we love. Television historian Brett Martin, in his book Difficult Men, cites the show’s unorthodox approach of a having an at-times unlikeable lead as groundbreaking. That and the fact that the industry considered it a success even though it lacked viewers, led to the gambles networks began taking on shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad. Aren’t we lucky?
I’m surprised that more people, especially those my age, aren’t singing Larry Sanders’ praise or aware of its seminal place in modern television. While today’s attention-limited youth viewers tend to gravitate towards irony and over exposure (i.e. look at the success of reality TV), those a little older, who remember a world before the internet took everything over, might appreciate a show with some caché and the added gravitas of time. Generation Hipster, past the age of Jäger shots and eager to show their sophistication with wine tastings and craft beer knowledge, should love this obscure relic of a show, one with the name-dropping appeal of cultural history from days gone by. The Larry Sanders Show is a finely aged bottle, one that is ready to be seen, blogged about, and hash-tagged to death. If only the right people knew about it. Well, at least now you do.
The Larry Sanders Show may be found on DVD boxed set and streamed via Amazon Instant Video (free for those with Amazon Prime), but strangely enough, not on HBO GO.
