the Larry Sanders Show

"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."

Even by the show's unimpeachable standards, the episode where Hank converts to Judaism is an absolute masterpiece. The tonal balance is brilliant, with Hank retaining his buffoonishness while nonetheless being wholly sincere; even after he reveals his attraction to his rabbi, the joke doesn't simply become "Hank trying to get laid by horribly awkward means" but does in fact seem like a legitimate expression of what the rabbi describes as a conflating of spiritual enthusiasm with romantic feelings. The hate mail scene always destroys me, particularly Tambor's defeated reading of the line "well, maybe don't read that one" when Brian shows him the envelope with the swastika on it. Even the subplot involving Larry's new chair is a brilliant bit of meta-commentary, contrasting Hank's legitimate and controversial spiritual awakening with the kind of nonsense sitcom plotting that passes for safe entertainment. We get bland, safe entertainment not only because that's what sells, but also because the potential for alienating anyone, even neo-Nazis, is too great a risk to take.

"Hey, where's Dirty Old Bitch?"

We miss you, Martin.

peak hank xp

artie: "what did we learn, here, hank? when you're humble and vulnerable, people like you. and when you act like an asshole, people think you're an asshole."

Some of my favourite episodes are when Artie's pissed off at the show/Larry/Hank/everything around him

there's a lot of george costanza in hank. and a lot of homer simpson.

but what is it that makes pretty much every episode of this show feel so epic, so all-time??

"Phil, you dress like one of the Peanuts gang; Linus with a goatee."

One minor disappointment: the show saves the revelation of Phil's repressed homosexuality as a gag for the second-to-last episode, thus saving the show from having to deal with it in future episodes.

coulda been a one-off

One of the pieces i posted above has Scott Thompson saying that he blindsided Wallace Langham (a straight friend of his) by disobeying his "No tongues" demand in that scene.

wd tot hit young Langham

Hank to 'his' rabbi: "I think rabbis are so wise and so good. And they let you guys marry, right?"

"That's right"

"Well that is so helpful. Catholic priests can't do that. And I think that's why so many of them have.. prostate problems."

"I really want to join your temple, rabbi"

"Well I'm very glad to hear that, Hank. Do you observe the Sabbath?"

"In what way?"

I'm up to the 6th season, and have just realized it's the last, and I am genuinely kind of upset and sad about that

luckily the show has one of the best endings ever

You have to re-watch the whole series at least 3 times before you start feeling sad.

on hbo streaming from 23 september

http://www.avclub.com/article/5-episodes-highlight-biting-backstage-humor-larry--242328

you need to wash your mouth out... with HANK

Frequently reminded how good Tambor was in this. In different hands, Hank could've been thoroughly off-putting rather than one of the all-time greatest fictional characters.

the core troika of Larry-Artie-Hank is the most perfectly formed/executed trio of characters since Kirk-Spock-Bones imo

there's an argument to be made for Tambor being the best comedic actor of the last twenty years