Larry Sander's Show?

Has anyone here seen the LS Show? I have an order on it and am getting the DVD (season one) because of all the recommendations it's getting. Who here has seen it and recommends / doesn't recommend it?

I saw it when I was younger, and all I remember for the most part is that my parents thought it was completely hilarious.

"The Larry Sanders Show" is one of the greatest American TV comedies of the past twenty-years, and the first season DVD set is terrific (picked it up on Tuesday this week). Only one real extra - a thirty-minute or so interview of Shandling by critic Tom Shayles (which is entertaining and illuminatibng), but having the first season in its entirety is all the goodies needed to make this a must-have.

Can't wait to own the entire series! HBO Comedy re-runs it daily and I still watch it a few times a week - even though I have all the episodes memorized. Yet it is still a thrill to have them on DVD.

Between this, "The Simpsons", "Mr. Show with Bob & David" and "Get A Life" making their way to DVD, I couldn't be happier!

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Watched the pilot last night. It was hilarious. Will keep watching.

It's a great series. Very innovative. I particularly enjoyed Rip Torn's performances. I did get a little tired of Jeffrey Tambor's character, but the series on the whole was very well done.

Watched ep 2 last night...David Spade was hilarious and am looking forward to an expansion of Rip Torn's character. He's brilliant.

I am six episodes in on season one now...loved Carol Burnett and the spiders, the one with Dana Carvy and what I will call the "memo" episode.

Watched "Hank's Contract" last night...Tambor crushed it.

I've only seen a handful of shows in my life, but this was the best. Garry Shandling was a very creative guy, but Rip Torn stole the show. The one non-Italian guy who is funny in shows/movies. It's the anger

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Up to ep 11 of the first season. First I need to say, that some of the most brilliant moments on this show are when Larry's guest talk to Larry when the show goes to commercial. Not sure why, but every conversation Larry has a scene with a guest during a commercial break puts me on the floor. The ones with Carol Burnett and Robin Williams were especially funny. I do have a nitpick though...during ep 9, Larry's wife (Megan Gallagher), arrived backstage while Larry was dealing with Billy Crystal and Catherine O'Hara and announced that she was not happy with their marriage and told Larry she was going to spend some time in Chicago for awhile and the only way Larry could keep her from leaving is to actually bring her on the show and book her for a full guest spot next week. This morning, I watched ep 10 and nothing that happened in ep 9 was even mentioned. I was really looking forward to seeing how this problem in Larry's marriage was going to be resolved and they just skipped right over it. I also want to say that I agree with the previous poster who said Rip Torn steals the show...he does, just perfection. Him never winning an Emmy for this show is all kinds of wrong.

I'm about halfway through season two now. Miss Jeremy Piven, who I guess left to become Ari Gold on Entourage, and Janeane Garofalo. Jeffrey Tambor's Hank and Kathryn Harrold's Francine are really starting to grate on the nerves though. Watched that episode about the gay standup whose routine they wouldn't air this morning. This was a weird episode because they made it all about Larry being a bigot and that being the reason he didn't want to to the air the show. There was a much better reason for not airing the show...the guy wasn't funny.

I forgot to mention until today...remember when I complained that they skipped over the storyline about Larry's wife leaving him? Well, it was addressed three episodes later very economically and Larry's ex-wife, Francine (Kathryn Harrold) is now living with him. The episode I watched this morning featured the late John Ritter and the late Gene Siskel who get into a fist fight because Siskel gave Ritter's movie Skin Deep a bad review. To put into perspective how long ago this was, Ritter was still on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire with the late Markie Post. The episode before that featured the fabulous Elizabeth Ashley, who was allegedly having an affair with Arthur (Rip Torn). They were so funny together. Rip Torn continues to steal this show on a regular basis, what a talented actor...RIP.

This morning I watched the episode where Martin Mull, Burt Reynolds, and Jerry Seinfeld were asked to fill in as guest hosts because Larry was on vacation, but they were driven nuts by Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) whose obsession with his stupid restaurant is driving everyone on the show to the point of wanting to punch him in the face. At one point, Hank is actually found passed out on the set of Seinfeld. Jerry was so funny in this episode.

About to wrap up season two as Larry almost lost the show when some British Beer millionaire, superbly played by the late David Warner, wanted to buy the show and make changes to it, so Larry quit and retired to Montana where he became involved in a sex scandal that followed him back to the show when he was threatened with a lawsuit if he didn't. The last episode featured memorable appearances from Chris Farley, Bernadette Peters, and the return of Mimi Rogers, who apparently still has unresolved feelings for Larry.

I am now six episodes into season 4 and have found this show going to some really squirm-worthy places. Hated the whole Roseanne arc which found her helping Larry admit to a substance abuse problem and him thinking that he's falling in love with her. Didn't buy any of that. The character of Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) continues to be insufferable. Truly hated him in the episode where he has to guest host for Larry and his success went instantly to his head. Recently it was decided to bring back Larry's first wife, Jeanne (Megan Gallagher), who got drunk and had sex with Hank, causing what should have been the end of Hank's job and relationship with Larry. There was also a recent episode where the show was overbooked, forcing Larry to cut short interviews with Rob Lowe, Vendela, and David Duchovny so that Hank could do an on air tribute to his father who had passed away earlier in the day. When it came time for Hank's tribute, he decided on air that he didn't want to talk about it, leaving Larry with 2 1/2 minutes of airtime to fill. It was supposed to be funny, but it just made me want to slap Hank. The last episode I watched featured Colin Quinn as Arthur's lazy and rude son, who gets hired as a PA on the show. This show was the first really funny show in quite awhile and gave me hope that the show might get back on track.

This morning I watched the episode where Brett Butler played herself and revealed a sexual past with Paula (Janeane Garafalo) and the one where Larry tried to persuade Chris Elliott to star in a sitcom for him, like Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, only the network didn't like Chris' version so Larry made changes in the script without telling Chris. Funny stuff.

Season 4, ep 16, the funniest episode I have seen so far. Mandy Patinkin and Noah Wylie were guests on the show and got into an argument as to whether Chicago Hope was a better show than ER, then Rosie O'Donnell, another guest on the same show, was pissed because the limo the show sent to pick her up never showed up and upon arriving at the studio in her own car, she ran into Farrah Fawcett's car. But the best part of the show was that right before Larry was supposed to go on, he forgot to pee and every time he tried to go during a commercial break, he kept running into someone, preventing him from relieving himself and when he finally got to the bath room, Fred DeCordova was in there telling Larry he was going to be awhile. And when Farrah came in to apologize to Rosie, Ryan O'Neal followed her in and said forget it because he hates Rosie I was on the floor for the entire episode.

Watched a couple of more very funny episodes this morning. The first one found Larry arranging to have Ben Stiller bumped off PEOPLE magazine's Sexiest Men list so that he could make the cut the same week Ben was a scheduled guest. During the same episode, Larry was also trying to hide from a Make a Wish kid whose dream it was to meet Larry and ended up in the hospital after smoking his first cigar. The other episode found Arthur (Rip Torn) trying to avoid Angie Dickinson, with whom he had an intense sexual history. Should also mention that an addition to the cast, an assistant to Paula (Janeane Garafalo) named Mary Lou, who is being played by Mary Lynn Rajskub, is not working for me at all. I hope they get rid of her soon.

I am now almost halfway through the final season, which has been a very squirm-worthy experience thus far, a little darker than the show has been up to this point. It's been decided that Larry's show has suffered due to low ratings and that he is going to be replaced by Jon Stewart. Larry has been handling the situation with a semblance of dignity. I wish the same could be said for the insufferable Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor), who I just want to punch in the face at some point during every episode. There was a delicious irony to watching the episode where Ellen DeGeneres came on the show and announced on nationwide TV that she and Larry had sex. There was also an uncomfortable episode where Arthur was having trouble lining up guests to appear for a roast for Larry. The last episode I watched we learned that Larry was having an affair with Laura Dern and bumped a psychic from the show because he was afraid she would get it out of him. We also learned Sid, the cue card guy, died, and that Larry's assistant Beverly (PennyJohnson) has been impregnated by Eriq LaSalle. Of course, Larry thought the father-to-be was Michael Bolton and tore him a new one because of it. The show is definitely running out of gas and I think Garry ended it at the right time and I also think Garry Shandling was a comic genius taken from us much too soon.

Watched the final episode this morning, which was pretty much stolen by Jim Carrey, providing a comic farewell to Larry via the Dreamgirls song "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going" that had me on the floor. The final moments between Shandling and Rip Torn definitely had me fighting tears and I had the feeling during Shandling's final moments onscreen that when he was filming this, he already knew he was sick. A little hard to watch, but a very classy ending to six solid seasons of comedy. RIP, Garry, you earned it.