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The other component was the formidable Brad Grey. I think their falling out and its sordid drama took quite a toll on Garry. The work afterwards may have not been at the same level. At any rate, whatever the reason, when I viewed the DVD features done later, Garry seemed changed, somewhat truly self-conscious in a different, darker way.

Marc Maron loaded up his interview with Garry yesterday. His talk about America as a culture getting near bottoming out really stuck with me and listening to it again now, it feels even more true.

starmanof51 wrote:Very touching - Judd Apatow was not only a fan, Shandling basically got him into the TV/film business with "Larry Sanders" - it was a big writing break for Apatow and he got his first directing gig on an episode or two during the very last season.

And wouldn't you know, Apatow's one solo writing credit on the show (the Green Card one, "Larry Loses Interest") is by far the weakest, feeblest episode in the entire series. Not a single laugh or clever moment to be found.

hearthesilence wrote:Very touching - Judd Apatow was not only a fan, Shandling basically got him into the TV/film business with "Larry Sanders" - it was a big writing break for Apatow and he got his first directing gig on an episode or two during the very last season.

It's probably worth remembering that Apatow's Funny People is in part based on the writer/director's relationship with Shandling.

Also worth mentioning that his Tonite Show gigs in the eighties were always entertaining. He certainly more than held his own against Letterman, Leno or whoever else subbed for Johnny Carson. He gets into that a little bit in this interview

Randall Maysin wrote:

starmanof51 wrote:Very touching - Judd Apatow was not only a fan, Shandling basically got him into the TV/film business with "Larry Sanders" - it was a big writing break for Apatow and he got his first directing gig on an episode or two during the very last season.

And wouldn't you know, Apatow's one solo writing credit on the show (the Green Card one, "Larry Loses Interest") is by far the weakest, feeblest episode in the entire series. Not a single laugh or clever moment to be found.

tl;dr "My hipster dislike of this extraordinarily accomplished writer/director/producer is so strong that I need to be sure to eulogize the creator of a show by slandering his protege by exaggerating the lack of quality of an episode of TV he received writing credit on"

Your tl;dr is longer than what you're tl;dr-ing

For those interested in his early career, tomorrow (sunday) Me-TV is playing the episode of Welcome Back Kotter that Shandling wrote.

domino harvey wrote:Your tl;dr is longer than what you're tl;dr-ing

smdh

Smooth move domino harvey?

Always

Shaking My Dwight Head

Professor Wagstaff wrote:Mike Nichols’ 2000 comedy What Planet Are You From?

This was the first "R" rated movie I saw in theatres when I turned seventeen. Freddy Got Fingered was my second. At that point I realized no greater good was being served by my newfound purchasing power

Domino, I can only hope that was a double feature.

Again: Rip. Torn.

mfunk9786 wrote:"My hipster dislike of this extraordinarily accomplished writer/director/producer is so strong that I need to be sure to eulogize the creator of a show by slandering his protege by exaggerating the lack of quality of an episode of TV he received writing credit on"

Wow, you're a pretty nasty character aren't you. I suppose my post was a mite inappropriate. "Slander" is sheer hyperbole, you don't know in any way that I'm exaggerating my response to this episode - it is after all, just my opinion, and you sure as hell don't know that I'm a hipster. Oh yeah, wow, Apatow wrote Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and a lot of other stuff. Quantity over quality. I'll try to remember to mock your future stupid posts, mfunk9786. Because, believe me, they exist.

The Garry Shandling memorial thread is really bringing people together.

Randall, it was a little much in retrospect, sorry. Still think you're wrong about Apatow's contributions to The Larry Sanders Show though.

FWIW, I just noticed that Mill Creek's set is nine discs. I have the Shout Factory set and it's SEVENTEEN discs - I can't imagine the Mill Creek set improving the encoding given the disparity in available data space. The transfers look crummy, but to be fair, resolution-wise, it's probably what you'd expect for a typical cable TV broadcast signal from that era. Unlike, say, Rhino's exemplary Pee Wee Herman box set - which re-scanned all the original 16mm negative film, thus creating an HD master that fits with today's higher standards - I'm guessing they simple transferred or remastered the original video masters used for broadcast.

Randall Maysin wrote:

starmanof51 wrote:Very touching - Judd Apatow was not only a fan, Shandling basically got him into the TV/film business with "Larry Sanders" - it was a big writing break for Apatow and he got his first directing gig on an episode or two during the very last season.

And wouldn't you know, Apatow's one solo writing credit on the show (the Green Card one, "Larry Loses Interest") is by far the weakest, feeblest episode in the entire series. Not a single laugh or clever moment to be found.

Careful with the quotes - I never typed this

Watched this today. For it's extensive length, not too much felt extraneous. For as much on-screen time he allows himself here, I think Judd Apatow came off well because his love for Garry is pretty palpable throughout. Much as it is with everyone else who was interviewed. It's a love-fest but it's just as successful at showing his faults as well. There's a pretty clear sense of him shutting people off when perhaps it may not have been as warranted as needed. I felt particularly for Bob Saget in the final quip from his interview. It goes deeper on the sensitive fabric of relationships in show-business than just about anything else I've seen.

I didn’t have a problem with the length per se, as I watched it in four or five sittings, but I found everything after the Grey lawsuit (where the “known” Shandling narrative ends) to be plotless almost to a fault. We get a 5-10 minute anecdote on returning to standup, Over the Hedge, Anthony Pelicano, bombing on Conan, surgery, reuniting with Conan, etc. Its a very long final hour plus just playing out the big moments of his last 15 years. I guess that’s inevitable when he has no surviving family or spouses to share more intimate details, so most of what’s covered is what has been semi-public to start.

The desire to not cut anything is most felt during the extended Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee excerpts, making Seinfeld’s absence from the film even more pronounced

I feel like a lot of that could have been replaced with more footage from the memorial service.