Garry Shandling
Encyclopedia
Garry Emmanuel Shandling (born November 29, 1949) is an American
comedian
, actor
and writer
. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show
and The Larry Sanders Show
.
Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms such as Sanford and Son
and Welcome Back, Kotter
. He made a successful stand-up performance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and became a frequent guest-host on the show. Shandling was for a time considered the leading contender to replace Carson (other hopefuls were Joan Rivers
, David Letterman
and David Brenner
). In 1986 he created It's Garry Shandling's Show
, for the pay cable channel Showtime. It was nominated for four Emmy Awards (including one for Shandling) and lasted until 1990. His second show, The Larry Sanders Show
, which began airing on HBO in 1992, was even more successful. Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won in 1998, along with Peter Tolan
, for writing the series finale.
During his three-decade career, Shandling has been nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, along with many other awards and nominations.
, Illinois
, into a Jewish family. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona
, the son of Muriel, a pet store proprietor, and Irving Shandling, a print shop owner. He had an older brother, Barry, who died of cystic fibrosis
when Garry was 10. Shandling attended Palo Verde High School
. After graduation, he attended the University of Arizona
, at first majoring in electrical engineering
, but eventually completing a degree in marketing
and pursuing a year of postgraduate studies in creative writing
.
In 1973, Shandling moved to Los Angeles
, California
. He worked at an advertising agency
for a time, and then sold a script for the popular NBC
sitcom Sanford and Son
. Shandling's script became the November 21, 1975 episode titled "Sanford and the Rising Son," in which Ah Chew (played by Pat Morita
) turned junkyard owner Fred Sanford's (played by Redd Foxx
) house into a Japanese restaurant. Shandling also wrote the script for the Sanford and Son episode, "The Committee Man", in which Fred Sanford represents the community of Watts on the Los Angeles
Mayor's Committee. In addition to "Sanford and Son," Shandling wrote scripts for the sitcoms Welcome Back, Kotter
and Three's Company
.
In 1977, Shandling was involved in an auto accident in Beverly Hills that left him in critical condition for weeks. He later turned the accident into part of his stand-up comedy
act.
In 1979, Shandling was one of about eighteen comedians who crossed the picket line during the (CFC) Comedians for Compensation strike. Other notable comics to have done so included Yakoff Smirnoff and Mike Binder
. According to William Knodelseder's "I'm Dying Up Here", before the strike, Mitzi Shore hadn't booked Shandling in the Comedy Store's regular lineup. Shandling was the descendant of a notable family with holdings in manufacturing, which may have led to anti-union views and he may have been using the stand-up comics striking as an opportunity to get out of sitcom writing by getting noticed as a stand-up comedian.
His persona was an anxiety-ridden, grimacing, guarded, confused man on the verge of losing control. After a couple of years on the road, a talent scout from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
caught his act and booked him to appear as a guest host on March 18, 1981. Shandling began substituting for Carson on a regular basis, along with Joan Rivers, until 1985.
In 1984, he performed his first stand-up special, "Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas", for Showtime, followed by a second televised special in 1986, "The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special", also for Showtime. In 1991, a third special, "Garry Shandling: Stand-Up", was part of the HBO Comedy Hour.
Shandling still performs stand-up comedy and tours the U.S. each year. He also continues to perform on various television talk shows. Some of his stand-up performances can be viewed on YouTube, including his first appearance on The Tonight Show and some of his Comic Relief act.
went on to create the surreal comedy series It's Garry Shandling's Show
in 1985. It ran for 72 episodes on the Showtime cable television
network through 1990. The edited reruns played on the Fox network
beginning in 1988. Shandling wrote 15 episodes of the show.
The series subverted the standard sitcom format by having its characters openly acknowledge that they were all part of a TV show. Building on a concept that harked back to The Burns and Allen Show, in which George Burns
would frequently break the "fourth wall
" and speak directly to the audience, Shandling's show went so far as to incorporate the audience and elements of the studio itself into the storylines, calling attention to the artifice of the show.
The show was nominated for four Emmy awards including one for Shandling. He won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in a Series, and won four CableACE awards, two for Best Comedy Series. The show also won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy in the Television Critics Association Awards.
On October 20, 2009, Shout! Factory
released It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series on DVD. The 16-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes. The first season was released individually on April 15, 2010.
sitcom The Larry Sanders Show
. It ran for 89 episodes through 1998 on the cable network HBO. It garnered 56 Emmy Award
nominations and three wins. In an interview, he stated that he based the show on his experiences guest hosting The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
The show was a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Larry Sanders, fictional host of a talk show entitled The Larry Sanders Show. It sardonically depicted the talk-show business as a den of vipers, with egomaniacal celebrities, clueless network executives, drug addiction, broken marriages, cutthroat competition and comedic camaraderie.
In 1993, NBC offered Shandling $5 million to take over the late-night talk show Late Night
when host David Letterman
announced his highly publicized move to CBS
, but Shandling declined. The Larry Sanders Show later spoof
ed the network's efforts to find a Letterman successor, making it appear to be Tom Snyder
.
Shandling wrote 38 episodes of the show, and directed three in the show's final season. Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show; five for acting, seven for writing and six for being co-executive producer with Brad Grey
. He won one Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for the series finale Flip. He has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) in 1994 and 1995. He won two American Comedy Awards for Funniest Male Performance in a Comedy Series, eight CableACE awards and a BAFTA Award.
It is the most successful show Shandling has created. The show also influenced other shows such as Entourage
, Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm
in which guest stars play themselves in episodes of the series.
In 2002, TV Guide
named The Larry Sanders Show as 38th Greatest Show of All Time. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly
ranked the show the 28th Best Show of the past 25 years. It was also included on Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time.
The first season was re-released in 2007 along with a Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show which are Shandling's pick of the best 23 episodes.
On November 2, 2010, Shout! Factory released The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series on DVD. The 17-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes.
, eleven CableACE Awards (seven for The Larry Sanders Show and four for It's Garry Shandling's Show), a BAFTA Award and was nominated for two Writers Guild of America Award
s for The Larry Sanders Show. He has also received three American Comedy Awards
, two Satellite Award nominations, and in 2004 he was presented with the Austin Film Festival
's Outstanding Television Writer Award.
, Dr. Dolittle
(1998) as the voice of a live-action pigeon, the David Rabe play adaptation Hurlyburly
(1998), and Trust the Man
. Shandling wrote and starred in director Mike Nichols
' What Planet Are You From?
(2000), and co-starred with Warren Beatty
and others in Town & Country
. Again voicing an animal, Shandling co-starred as Verne the turtle in the computer animated comic strip
adaptation Over the Hedge
(2006). He appeared in Iron Man 2
(2010), as Senator Stern.
Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 1995, and the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004. At the first Emmy hosting job, Shandling cracked up the audience by saying "I auditioned to play the Vice President on The West Wing, but they said 'No, too Jewish'", a reference to real-life Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman during the 2000 Presidential campaign. He appeared in Caroline in the City
in 1998.
In 2006, comedian Ricky Gervais
interviewed Shandling for a British documentary, citing him as a comic influence. The reviews of British TV critics were mixed – one Guardian
reviewer described it as "the uneasiest interview ever", another as Gervais' most interesting but the general consensus was that it felt "awkward", a hallmark of both the artists' comedic styles.
Shandling starred as himself representing Fox Mulder
alongside Téa Leoni
as Dana Scully
in The X-Files
season 7 spoof episode "Hollywood A.D."
Shandling, along with co-author David Rensin, wrote the book Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders written in the voice of his alter ego, Larry Sanders.
and wrongful termination, which was settled out of court for $1 million.
To promote Not Just the Best of The Larry Sanders Show, he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman
, where he explained that he plays a lot of basketball and has just started boxing. He has also mentioned on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
that he has a pet snake. Shandling was one of only a few people to attend Farrah Fawcett
's funeral.
song "Revolution Part 2," Gibby Haynes
sings a long chorus of Shandling's name interspersed with those of other famous actors. Haynes said that Shandling was "just one of those people who haunt me." A few years later, the Butthole Surfers made an appearance playing themselves on The Larry Sanders Show in the episode "The Prank".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience...
and The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
.
Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms such as Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
and Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
. He made a successful stand-up performance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and became a frequent guest-host on the show. Shandling was for a time considered the leading contender to replace Carson (other hopefuls were Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
and David Brenner
David Brenner
David Brenner is an American standup comedian, actor, author, and filmmaker.-Career:Born and raised in poor areas of Philadelphia, Brenner found comedy a major source of relief from the daily trials and tribulations he faced in his youth. His neighborhood has been one of the top-ranked crime...
). In 1986 he created It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience...
, for the pay cable channel Showtime. It was nominated for four Emmy Awards (including one for Shandling) and lasted until 1990. His second show, The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
, which began airing on HBO in 1992, was even more successful. Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won in 1998, along with Peter Tolan
Peter Tolan
Peter James Tolan III is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Tolan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts where he was a perrenial favorite in the high school's dramatic productions. Before leaving to pursue a career in Hollywood, Tolan founded a theater...
, for writing the series finale.
During his three-decade career, Shandling has been nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, along with many other awards and nominations.
Early life and career
Shandling was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, into a Jewish family. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, the son of Muriel, a pet store proprietor, and Irving Shandling, a print shop owner. He had an older brother, Barry, who died of cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
when Garry was 10. Shandling attended Palo Verde High School
Palo Verde High School (Arizona)
Palo Verde High School is located at 1302 S. Avenida Vega in southeast Tucson, Arizona. The school has been open since 1963. Its current principal is Mrs. Janna Acevedo. The origin of the school's name comes from the surrounding Palo Verde trees, native to Tucson. Its mascot is the Titan and the...
. After graduation, he attended the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, at first majoring in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
, but eventually completing a degree in marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and pursuing a year of postgraduate studies in creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
.
In 1973, Shandling moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He worked at an advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
for a time, and then sold a script for the popular NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
. Shandling's script became the November 21, 1975 episode titled "Sanford and the Rising Son," in which Ah Chew (played by Pat Morita
Pat Morita
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
) turned junkyard owner Fred Sanford's (played by Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
) house into a Japanese restaurant. Shandling also wrote the script for the Sanford and Son episode, "The Committee Man", in which Fred Sanford represents the community of Watts on the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Mayor's Committee. In addition to "Sanford and Son," Shandling wrote scripts for the sitcoms Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
and Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
.
In 1977, Shandling was involved in an auto accident in Beverly Hills that left him in critical condition for weeks. He later turned the accident into part of his stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
act.
Stand-up comedy
In an interview, he said that he became a stand-up comedian because he was frustrated by situation comedy's formulaic writing. In 1978, Shandling performed his first stand-up routine at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.In 1979, Shandling was one of about eighteen comedians who crossed the picket line during the (CFC) Comedians for Compensation strike. Other notable comics to have done so included Yakoff Smirnoff and Mike Binder
Mike Binder
Mike Binder is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.-Life and career:A native of Detroit, Mike Binder grew up in Birmingham, one of the city's suburbs, and attended Camp Tamakwa, which formed the basis for his 1993 film Indian Summer...
. According to William Knodelseder's "I'm Dying Up Here", before the strike, Mitzi Shore hadn't booked Shandling in the Comedy Store's regular lineup. Shandling was the descendant of a notable family with holdings in manufacturing, which may have led to anti-union views and he may have been using the stand-up comics striking as an opportunity to get out of sitcom writing by getting noticed as a stand-up comedian.
His persona was an anxiety-ridden, grimacing, guarded, confused man on the verge of losing control. After a couple of years on the road, a talent scout from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
caught his act and booked him to appear as a guest host on March 18, 1981. Shandling began substituting for Carson on a regular basis, along with Joan Rivers, until 1985.
In 1984, he performed his first stand-up special, "Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas", for Showtime, followed by a second televised special in 1986, "The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special", also for Showtime. In 1991, a third special, "Garry Shandling: Stand-Up", was part of the HBO Comedy Hour.
Shandling still performs stand-up comedy and tours the U.S. each year. He also continues to perform on various television talk shows. Some of his stand-up performances can be viewed on YouTube, including his first appearance on The Tonight Show and some of his Comic Relief act.
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Shandling and co-writer Alan ZweibelAlan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live, PBS' Great Performances, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.-Early life:...
went on to create the surreal comedy series It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience...
in 1985. It ran for 72 episodes on the Showtime cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network through 1990. The edited reruns played on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
beginning in 1988. Shandling wrote 15 episodes of the show.
The series subverted the standard sitcom format by having its characters openly acknowledge that they were all part of a TV show. Building on a concept that harked back to The Burns and Allen Show, in which George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
would frequently break the "fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
" and speak directly to the audience, Shandling's show went so far as to incorporate the audience and elements of the studio itself into the storylines, calling attention to the artifice of the show.
The show was nominated for four Emmy awards including one for Shandling. He won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in a Series, and won four CableACE awards, two for Best Comedy Series. The show also won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy in the Television Critics Association Awards.
On October 20, 2009, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
released It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series on DVD. The 16-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes. The first season was released individually on April 15, 2010.
The Larry Sanders Show
In 1992, Shandling launched another critical and commercial success by creating the mock behind-the-scenes talk showTalk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
sitcom The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
. It ran for 89 episodes through 1998 on the cable network HBO. It garnered 56 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations and three wins. In an interview, he stated that he based the show on his experiences guest hosting The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
The show was a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Larry Sanders, fictional host of a talk show entitled The Larry Sanders Show. It sardonically depicted the talk-show business as a den of vipers, with egomaniacal celebrities, clueless network executives, drug addiction, broken marriages, cutthroat competition and comedic camaraderie.
In 1993, NBC offered Shandling $5 million to take over the late-night talk show Late Night
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
when host David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
announced his highly publicized move to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, but Shandling declined. The Larry Sanders Show later spoof
Spoof
-General uses:* Parody by imitation* Satire, a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject* Forgery of goods or documents* Spoof , a guessing game...
ed the network's efforts to find a Letterman successor, making it appear to be Tom Snyder
Tom Snyder
Thomas James "Tom" Snyder was an American television personality, news anchor and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows The Tomorrow Show, on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Late Late Show, on the CBS Television Network in the 1990s...
.
Shandling wrote 38 episodes of the show, and directed three in the show's final season. Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show; five for acting, seven for writing and six for being co-executive producer with Brad Grey
Brad Grey
Brad Alan Grey is the Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a position he has held since 2005. Under Grey’s leadership, Paramount has finished No.2 in market share in 2008, 2009 and 2010 despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors.Since arriving at Paramount in 2005,...
. He won one Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for the series finale Flip. He has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) in 1994 and 1995. He won two American Comedy Awards for Funniest Male Performance in a Comedy Series, eight CableACE awards and a BAFTA Award.
It is the most successful show Shandling has created. The show also influenced other shows such as Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
, Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
in which guest stars play themselves in episodes of the series.
In 2002, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
named The Larry Sanders Show as 38th Greatest Show of All Time. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
ranked the show the 28th Best Show of the past 25 years. It was also included on Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time.
The first season was re-released in 2007 along with a Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show which are Shandling's pick of the best 23 episodes.
On November 2, 2010, Shout! Factory released The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series on DVD. The 17-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes.
Other Awards and nominations
He has won two British Comedy AwardsBritish Comedy Awards
The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...
, eleven CableACE Awards (seven for The Larry Sanders Show and four for It's Garry Shandling's Show), a BAFTA Award and was nominated for two Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
s for The Larry Sanders Show. He has also received three American Comedy Awards
American Comedy Awards
The American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States from 1987 to 2001 recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films...
, two Satellite Award nominations, and in 2004 he was presented with the Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...
's Outstanding Television Writer Award.
Other work
Shandling has appeared occasionally in movies, beginning with a cameo as dental patient Mr. Vertisey in The Night We Never Met. He played supporting roles in the 1994 films Love Affair and Mixed NutsMixed Nuts
Mixed Nuts is a motion picture comedy directed by Nora Ephron, based on the French comedy film, Le Père Noël est une ordure . Its cast includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Juliette Lewis and Adam Sandler...
, Dr. Dolittle
Dr. Dolittle (film)
Dr. Dolittle is a 1998 American family comedy film starring Eddie Murphy as a doctor who discovers that he has the ability to talk to animals...
(1998) as the voice of a live-action pigeon, the David Rabe play adaptation Hurlyburly
Hurlyburly
Hurlyburly is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984.-Plot:More than three hours long, Hurlyburly focuses on the intersecting lives of several low- to mid-level Hollywood players in the 1980s. Fueled by massive amounts of drugs, they attempt to find some meaning in their isolated,...
(1998), and Trust the Man
Trust the Man
Trust the Man is a 2006 romantic comedy film, starring David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was directed and written by Bart Freundlich. The film primarily deals with three relationships, and a realization of just how important those relationships are...
. Shandling wrote and starred in director Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
' What Planet Are You From?
What Planet Are You From?
What Planet Are You From? is a 2000 comedy film starring Garry Shandling and Annette Bening. It was directed by Mike Nichols.-Plot:A denizen of a faraway planet occupied only by highly evolved males is ordered to find a female human, impregnate her and bring the baby back to the planet...
(2000), and co-starred with Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
and others in Town & Country
Town & Country (film)
Town & Country is a 2001 film starring Goldie Hawn, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton and Garry Shandling and directed by Peter Chelsom. It is a romantic comedy in which Beatty plays New York City architect Porter Stoddard, with Keaton as his wife and Hawn and Shandling as their best friends. It holds...
. Again voicing an animal, Shandling co-starred as Verne the turtle in the computer animated comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
adaptation Over the Hedge
Over the Hedge (film)
Over the Hedge is a 2006 computer animated family action comedy film based on the characters from United Media comic strip of the same name. Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, and produced by Bonnie Arnold, it was released in the United States on May 19, 2006.The film was produced by...
(2006). He appeared in Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
(2010), as Senator Stern.
Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 1995, and the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004. At the first Emmy hosting job, Shandling cracked up the audience by saying "I auditioned to play the Vice President on The West Wing, but they said 'No, too Jewish'", a reference to real-life Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman during the 2000 Presidential campaign. He appeared in Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City is an American situation comedy that ran from September 21, 1995 to April 26, 1999 on the NBC television network. It starred Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy. The series premiered in the two-hour Thursday night block led by Friends.-Premise:Caroline Duffy is a...
in 1998.
In 2006, comedian Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
interviewed Shandling for a British documentary, citing him as a comic influence. The reviews of British TV critics were mixed – one Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reviewer described it as "the uneasiest interview ever", another as Gervais' most interesting but the general consensus was that it felt "awkward", a hallmark of both the artists' comedic styles.
Shandling starred as himself representing Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
alongside Téa Leoni
Téa Leoni
Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
as Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
in The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
season 7 spoof episode "Hollywood A.D."
Shandling, along with co-author David Rensin, wrote the book Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders written in the voice of his alter ego, Larry Sanders.
Personal life
Shandling is unmarried and has divulged little about his personal life. He shared an apartment with actress fiancee and onetime Playboy model Linda Doucett from 1987 through 1994; on The Larry Sanders Show, Doucett portrayed Darlene, Hank Kingsley's doting assistant. After their breakup, she was written off the show. Doucett then filed a lawsuit against Shandling and producer Brad Grey's company for sexual harassmentSexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
and wrongful termination, which was settled out of court for $1 million.
To promote Not Just the Best of The Larry Sanders Show, he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, where he explained that he plays a lot of basketball and has just started boxing. He has also mentioned on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
that he has a pet snake. Shandling was one of only a few people to attend Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
's funeral.
In popular culture
In the Butthole SurfersButthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
song "Revolution Part 2," Gibby Haynes
Gibby Haynes
Gibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, and painter, and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
sings a long chorus of Shandling's name interspersed with those of other famous actors. Haynes said that Shandling was "just one of those people who haunt me." A few years later, the Butthole Surfers made an appearance playing themselves on The Larry Sanders Show in the episode "The Prank".
As Writer
- Sanford and SonSanford and SonSanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
(1975–1976) (TV) - Welcome Back, KotterWelcome Back, KotterWelcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
(1976) (TV) - The Harvey Korman Show (1978) (TV)
- Garry Shandling: Alone in Vegas (1984) (TV)
- The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special (1986) (TV)
- It's Garry Shandling's ShowIt's Garry Shandling's ShowIt's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience...
(1986–1990) (TV) - The Larry Sanders ShowThe Larry Sanders ShowThe Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
(1992–1998) (TV) - What Planet Are You From?What Planet Are You From?What Planet Are You From? is a 2000 comedy film starring Garry Shandling and Annette Bening. It was directed by Mike Nichols.-Plot:A denizen of a faraway planet occupied only by highly evolved males is ordered to find a female human, impregnate her and bring the baby back to the planet...
(with Michael Leeson, Ed SolomonEd SolomonEd Solomon is an American writer, producer and director. After graduating from Saratoga High School and UCLA, Solomon came to fame as one half of the writing duo that created the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its sequel.Solomon was born in Saratoga, California...
, and Peter TolanPeter TolanPeter James Tolan III is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Tolan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts where he was a perrenial favorite in the high school's dramatic productions. Before leaving to pursue a career in Hollywood, Tolan founded a theater...
) (2000)
External links
- Garry Shandling on Charlie Rose via Google Video (2006) in 2002
- AllMovie.com: Garry Shandling
- Museum of Broadcasting: It's Garry Shandling's Show / The Larry Sanders Show
- The New York Times (Jan. 28, 2007): "Hey Now: It's Garry Shandling's Obsession", by Jacques Steinberg
- The BBC.co.uk Guide to Comedy: It's Garry Shandling's Show
- Filmbug.com: Garry Shandling
- Newsday (April 15, 2007): "Fast Chat - Garry Shandling", by Frank Lovece