Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17279 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-06-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 168 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Larry Sanders Show Garry Shandling is Larry Sanders, host of a fictitious chat show. But the real The Larry Sanders Show (1992-98), was alongside Sienfeld, one of the great cult successes of 1990's American TV. Nominally a sitcom, the naturalistic acting, uncensored strong language and absence of canned laughter lend the show a distinctive pseudo-documentary feel, as every week some of the top names in US entertainment appear as themselves. The viewer can't help but wonder just how much these celebrities are for real, and how much they are having us on when, for example, Billy Crystal seems so mercenary about using the episode "The Talk Show" to plug his movie, Mr Saturday Night. Other guests on the seven episodes of this DVD include Dana Carvey ("The Guest Host"), Alex Baldwin ("The List"), Robin Williams ("Montana"), Henry Winkler ("Hank's Sex Tape"), Courtney Cox ("Larry's Big Idea") and Brett Butler ("I Was a Teenage Lesbian"--a bonus episode exclusive to DVD). Clever and caustic, rather than laugh-out-loud funny, this release offers good value at 167 minutes, though the only DVD extra is a trailer. The picture on the first five episodes is soft and grainy. That matters improve considerably for the last two episodes suggests this is because of poor original tapes rather than a bad transfer. --Gary S. Dalkin

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Stereo English
Dolby Digital Stereo
What Planet Are You From Trailer

Synopsis
This collection features seven episodes of Garry Shandling's popular comedy series set around a fictional TV talk show. Guest stars include: Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Alec and Daniel Baldwin, Robin Williams, Henry Winkler, Courteney Cox, David Letterman, and others. Episodes include: "The Guest Host," "The Talk Show," "The List," "Montana," "Hank's Sex Tape," "Larry's Big Idea," and the DVD-exclusive episode, "I Was a Teenage Lesbian."

Customer Reviews

Plenty of laughs..
I agree with other reviewers: this collection is by no means the best of Larry Sanders, but it's still way ahead of most sitcoms. I can't recall which were my favourites, but one or two on this DVD were eye-wateringly funny, whilst the others were good and a nice reminder of a series I discovered by chance and grew to love very quickly. Sound quality poor but just turn the volume up....and don't miss those intros!

A fugue in insecurity
Granted, it would be wonderful to have all the series on DVD and lots of extras but these episodes still illustrate the show's qualities: more like a one act play than a sitcom.

The complex interdependence of Larry, Artie and that fragile monster Hank is especially compelling: "a fugue in insecurity", as one TV critic put it. It's especially touching to see the way in which egotism and art combine when Larry chooses to watch reruns of himself on his nights off, both enslaved to and (sort of) ennobled by the medium - an artist of sorts. Incidentally, he picture quality is roughly the same as you'd get on an ordinary TV - it's not really a problem, in my view.

Art imitating life
First of all, let me stress that on comedy value alone, this show deserves 5 stars... but the DVD is a bit of a let down. Still, shamefully, it's the only 'Larry Sanders' available at the time of writing this review, which makes it indispensable... for now. This series charts the trials and tribulations of Larry Sanders (Garry Shandling), a talk show host with a late-night show, which is a show within a show. We see the behind-the-scenes machinations, interspersed with snippets from 'The Larry Sanders Show', complete with real guests and a real studio audience.

GOOD BITS:-

1) The comedy - 'The Larry Sanders Show' is quite simply one of the funniest and most brilliant series ever to come out of the US. It's art imitating life in such a way that it is highly believable and realistic too.

2) The cast - Larry Sanders is but a thin disguise of the real Garry Shandling. Neurotic, self-obsessed, and barely able to hide his contempt for the entertainment industry (and his rivals), Sanders is, however, instantly likeable. Rip Torn plays his producer, Artie, the 'old campaigner' who knows every trick in the book. Despite embodying everything that Larry hates about the industry (double-dealing, two-facedness etc.), he would be lost without him. Many of the funniest lines are reserved for Artie, and Rip Torn's comic timing is simply brilliant. And then there's Hank Kingsley... played by Jeffrey Tambor, Hank is Larry's put-upon sidekick, who is generally not good for much, and not very good at that either. Despite having a minor role in the 'Show', Hank's character is a major part of this series, and again, some of the best lines are reserved for poor old Hank. Indeed, my favourite episode on here is 'Hank's Sex Tapes', which concerns the finding of an illicit video Hank has made of himself with a couple of hookers, which threatens his career and threatens to embarrass Larry to boot.

3) The guests - Despite being a 'spoof' series about a chat show host, 'Larry Sanders' always has genuine guests, usually of the highest calibre. But instead of watching their interviews, you are mostly treated to the behind-the-scenes aspects. You name them, and they have probably at one point or another been on 'Larry Sanders'. Again, you never quite know if a star's relationship with Larry is really that tense (or that good)

BAD BITS (In order of importance):-

1) The picture quality is dreadful. It's like watching a DVD through a net curtain. This is partly understandable because this DVD was made a while ago, but it really looks like someone has put it through Photoshop and clicked on 'Posterize'. Also, the sound quality is not great.

2) Are these 7 episodes really 'The Best Of Larry Sanders'? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, any Larry Sanders is better than none (and most other comedies as well), but around half of these episodes don't really merit 'Best of' status. Indeed, 'Hank's Sex Tapes' and 'Montana' are truly hilarious and typical of the rest of 'Larry Sanders', but the others are not very well chosen for a disc that most people will buy to get a taste of what this magnificent series is all about. Generally, the episodes do work as stand-alone shows where you don't need to know any background, but some of the episodes in this particular selection are more dependant upon the viewer's understanding of the characters, and as such, may not be a great place to start for the uninitiated.

3) Extras - apart from a trailer for a stupid movie starring Garry Shandling, there are no extra features at all.

4) (A personal gripe!) Why don't Columbia Tristar get off their backsides and give us the full series releases that this award-winning and brilliant show deserves, instead of this 'stop-gap' measure? This disc should really be obsolete, and isn't great value for money.

All in all, 5 star comedy, but a 2 star DVD... but since it's my favourite series, I can't bring myself to give this anything less than 4 stars.