Larry Sanders was another one of those shows I started watching just before it went off the air, so it's nice to see the first season being released on DVD. The characters on this show kill me. You have Larry (Garry Shandling), the host of "The Larry Sanders Show", his sidekick Hank (Jeffrey Tambor), Paula (Janeane Garofalo) the talent booker, Jerry (Jeremy Piven) the head writer, Jeannie (Megan Gallagher - Millennium), Larry's Wife and Arthur (the very talented Rip Torn) as the producer of the show. I can hardly wait until Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall) makes his appearance in the later seasons.
"The Larry Sanders Show" gives us a glimpse into what might go behind the scenes of a talk show. Since the show is a combined talk show/comedy, it features a ton of special appearances. Among those who show up in season one: Dana Delaney, David Spade, William Shatner, Carol Burnett, Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, Mimi Rogers, Michael Richards, Robin Williams, George Foreman, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Mull, Richard Simmons, and Bob Saget. Wow!
The set comes with custom packaging that doesn't really work. It's a 3 panel fold-out with a single sheet containing episode information that sits between the panel folds. It's not ideal, and I would prefer something like Fox uses for their releases which has another panel that contains the sheet. I'm assuming this will be the same type of packaging that will be used for "All in the Family" which comes out in March.
Video
The majority of "The Larry Sanders Show" was shot on 16mm with the footage from the show (the fake talk show) shot on video. Since the show used 16mm, there is some evident grain in the picture. It's not as bad as the grain on "Sex and the City: Season One", but it is noticeable. I noticed a bit of dust on the print in most episodes, with episode 5 being pretty bad.
Audio
"The Larry Sanders Show" is presented in Dolby Surround, but it really isn't needed. The show is dialog-heavy so the center speaker is used almost exclusively, with very, very few effects coming from the rears. I noticed the audience applause a few times in the 13 episodes.
There's only one extra on this DVD; the featurette "Garry Shandling Talks...'No Flipping'". This 28 minute featurette is an interview with Garry Shandling conducted by Tom Shales (Washington Post). Garry talks about the idea behind "The Larry Sanders Show", the episodes and the order they were shot in, the difficulties with having 4 film cameras and 3 video cameras shooting the show, the casting of the characters and the guests that appeared on the show. It's an entertaining time.
Summary
"The Larry Sanders Show" continues the excellent HBO shows that are out on DVD. This is one of those DVDs that I'll probably watch again, which I hardly say. I can't think of a bad episode out of the 13 featured in season one and I'm going to look forward to season two. Oh, BTW - NO FLIPPING!
