the Larry Sanders Show

lol Hank rehearsing his lounge act in the studio with Doc and Tommy late of the Carson show... and wearing tap shoes around the office. Opens with "Spinning Wheel." Artie: "You don't open with a showstopper, Hank."

lol

man I gotta watch all these again

also extremely young Bob Odenkirk as the hotshot snaky agent for whom Larry tosses aside his oldtimer (who takes all his lunches "at Musso's")

yeah I love when Bob shows up this series. Scott Thompson too!

Artie in the Doubt of The Benefit episode I watched the other night: "Charity begins at home .. except in Hollywood where it begins at 7pm every night at every fucking hotel ballroom in town"

I'm as far as "The Party" in my rewatch of the box. One of the things I appreciate is that (much like with the early Simpsons) I am just old enough that all of the 1992 references all make perfect sense to me. Like, can people even five years younger than me why anyone would have been afraid of Dana Carvey stealing their show?

*get* why

Carvey came v close to getting one of those shows... musta been when Conan was hired

carvey tried to do movies and then did his primetime show which was occasionally inspired but has become overrated in some quarters due to having a writing staff that approached caesar's in terms of talent on hand (maybe even louis ck = carl reiner, smigel = brooks, charlie kaufman = woody?). then he had health issues and his moment passed.

Wasn't aware he had health issues. I just noticed that at some point his career became Master of Disguise, and I assume that anyone who wasn't around for SNL and Wayne's World just has no idea who he is now.

lol was just thinking of the chevy chase show (still one of the more amazing things i witnessed on tv live - it's been forgotten how much hype there was beforehand and ppl thought - reasonably! - that chevy could win the late night war) and trying to think of another snl castmember that could host a talk show and o, right.

Oh! There's actually a ref to how Chevy Chase could never do a talk show on a '92 episode of LS (when Larry is making awkward small talk with Catherine O'Hara).

i just read about the Carvey primetime show in the Nesteroff book

show was considered as a disaster in the industry tho

Carvey came v close to getting one of those shows... musta been when Conan was hired

― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Friday, April 8, 2016 12:34 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iirc, Carvey was in fact offered Late Night, but turned it down.

holy crap

In 1997, Carvey underwent heart bypass surgery for a blocked coronary artery, but the surgeon operated on the wrong artery. The blocked artery was deeply buried in muscle and thus hard to find; another artery, though not blocked, was clearly accessible, so the surgeon bypassed it. Carvey, later suffering from angina pectoris, sued for medical malpractice and was awarded $8 million in damages. He donated the money to charity.[23] He has had to undergo additional surgery to correct his heart problems.

trio of 20th anniversary pieces from 2012, quite exhaustive, by Edward Copeland (who died a few months ago). Some great cast stories in the third one.

http://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/the-ten-best-larry-sanders-episodes

http://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/larry-sanders-the-show-behind-the-show

http://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/larry-sanders-changing-television-and-changing-lives

Forgot about the s2 ep centered on Tim Miller, "The Performance Artist," and him doing bits of his monologue My Queer Body. I took a class from him (lol '90s)! Him being given free reign on Leno is a good punchline.

I am just old enough that all of the 1992 references all make perfect sense

These shows are also old enough that sometimes nearly all the guests are dead. :/ One had John Ritter, Gene Siskel, Warren Zevon, Elizabeth Ashley -- only she survives. (Presumably still humping Rip Torn in the wardrobe closet.)

Another classic Artie line: Hank rediscovers his Jewishness and explains how a "spirit filled him" in a recent trip to a temple and is renouncing casual sex, drinking and gambling.
"Why don't you just lie down there and I'll get you a cold cloth, you poor bastard"

Since I just watched it, "The Party" wasn't one of my most fondly remembered episodes, but it does have a lot of moments of Larry being made uncomfortable, which are never not hilarious.

"jurassic park changed my life"

is there any news on when this is actually coming to HBO

Ride a painted pony let the spinning wheel WAAAAAH!

"Hank, meet Elvis."

"Iiii don't thiiiink so..."

first time watching thru larry sanders here. in the first episode i died at this

larry: "i dunno artie, it seems a little unethical don't you think?

artie: "unethical? oh jeez larry, don't start pulling at that thread. our whole world will unravel"

oh you are in for a treat

have a hard time choosing a favorite out of the troika, they're all such perfectly realized characters, but I find Artie the most endearing I think

Artie is such a classic and he is just as funny till the 6th season, there ain't no drop off in quality.

"i can't go to New York; as a young man, i did some things for some people... Have you ever seen a Scorsese film?"

Tracer if it's your first time I highly recommend watching in production order, not transmission order

what's the reasoning for that? i'm honestly curious because i just started rewatching it and while knowing it aired out of production order it never seemed to make a difference to me.

As incredible as Hank is, he's a time-honored TV-type: the buffoon. Larry probably has a precedent or two--Dabney Coleman's Bill Bittinger, Letterman himself. I can't think of anyone like Artie.

If an audience is just catching eps occasionally on broadcast, it made sense for them to move stronger ones up. If you're deliberately watching every episode in order, it'll be a more coherent experience to have the subplots like Larry's relationship troubles, and those times that Hank's schemes tie in to his general demeanour, take place in order.

have a hard time choosing a favorite out of the troika, they're all such perfectly realized characters, but I find Artie the most endearing I think

Artie's the one of the three I'd want to have in my life.

we all think we're larry but we're all probably closer to hank #truths

love the way artie always brings up exotic fruit to placate difficult guests

i never realized before what a debt Curb Your Enthusiasm owed to this show. it's basically the same show.

Only the lead can act.

As incredible as Hank is, he's a time-honored TV-type: the buffoon

Part of what is so brilliant about the show is that Hank can fulfil this role, yet the writing (and Tambor's acting) allow for wholly believable swings from sympathy for the character (particularly in later seasons, as I recall) to revealing him to be such an asshole in other moments. I just watched the one where Hank is feuding with the new bandleader (played by Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet!) and his behaviour is cringe-worthy nearly to the point of being unbearable to watch. But still hilarious.

Hank is basically a two-year-old in Jeffrey Tambor's body.

That is one of Hank's very funny episodes + one where his idiocy and maladjusted nastiness beautifully combine. Some very funny lines in that like Hank trying to pretend the girdle thing he wears to make him look thinner has a medical purpose. And then when he insinuates the Kemp character has a drug problem and is a paedo in front of the audience. Or that awkward moment where Hank says "our commander in grief" and it goes quiet. I have seen it umpteen times and still LOL hard at it.

he's like the Hamlet of sitcom buffoons

I have sometimes thought that Hank Kingsley was the greatest TV character ever. And I'm usually right about things.

I simplified him a bit there, cryptsicko; at times, he could be as corrosively cynical as Larry.

The episode where Hank becomes guest host is one of the greatest things ever.

Spotlights Hank minus his ego is a pretty great guy

But the ego always wins out, of course

"Hank?...Hank?....get the fuck off the bed"

saw Rip Torn as a lusty Louisiana senator last night in The Seduction of Joe Tynan ('79), def a Cajun cousin of Artie.

I didn't know Sissy Spacek was his cousin, that is new to me.

"I'm really sorry Hank, I've, I don't know, I've become kind of an asshole these last couple of years"

"It's OK Larry, I've turned into a moron. Let's just, let's try to have fun with it."