I’m about 15 years late to the party, but I’ve been hooked on The Larry Sanders Show.
Whenever I take up a new comedy, I like to look at everyone involved and connect the dots of where they came from and what they went on to do. The Larry Sanders show connects to some very prestigous dots.
As with seemingly all good comedy from the past two decades, Judd Apatow was involved. He was a writer and producer for five years. In this LA Times profile, Apatow credits Larry Sanders creator/star Gary Shandling for pressing him to write character-driven comedy.
Jeffrey Tambor, who would go on to play Bluth patriarch Oscar on Arrested Development, is at-least-as-good-if-not-better as Larry Sanders second banana Hank. Weird Arrested Development parallel - Hank drives a golfcart backstage with his name plastered on the front.
Ken Kwapis, who directed the Larry Sanders pilot and 12 other episodes, went on to direct several episodes of Freaks and Geeks and The Office (including their pilot). He was also a producer on Malcolm in the Middle.
Paul Simms, who created NewsRadio and directs/produces Flight of the Conchords, was a writer/executive procuer.
Todd Holland directed 52 or Larry Sanders’ 89 episodes. He would later direct a season’s worth of Malcolm in the Middle and co-create the underrated Wonderfalls.
When The Ben Stiller Show ended, Larry Sanders employed two of it’s young stars - Janeane Garofolo and a pre-Mr. Show Bob Oedenkirk.
David Mirkin, who was the showrunner for arguably the strongest era of The Simpsons (seasons 5 and 6), both wrote and directed for Larry Sanders.
Rip Torn’s work as Larry’s no-nonsense producer Artie was nominated for six Emmies. The character is such an obvious ancestor of 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy that Rip has a recurring role as Jack’s legendary boss Don Geiss.
Three Larry Sanders show alumni would later star on 24 - Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe), Janeane Garofolo, and Penny Johnson (Sherry Palmer). That’s pretty much all the two shows have in common.
Jeremy Piven is known for a different HBO showbiz comedy, but his first significant role was Larry Sanders’ head writer Jerry.
I’m sure I’m missing some too.
The Larry Sanders show is from 1992, but it still feels fresh. It uses a single camera like Arrested Development, and has celebrities playing themselves and parodying their own image like Entourage or Extras. Well worth checking out!
It’s refreshing to see that someone else has discovered this piece of comedy gold after so many years. But, in 1992, I was only 9, so I was more into TGIF hits Fresh Prince, Family Matters, Step by Step etc. I just finished up the second season and am loving it.