One thing does not make any sense about the Larry Sanders show.

Submitted by bobbyOrrMan t3_zr1n21 in television

Finally thanks to running out of stuff to watch during the lockdown, I got around to The Larry Sanders show. It has not made me laugh out loud once. But I appreciate at the time it was genuinely different. And allegedly a good inspiration for a ton of modern comedy writers.

But theres a recurring issue in most if not all of the episodes that never made sense. They state repeatedly their show is taped all week and then edited and aired on friday night. YET VERY OFTEN we see some horse crap about how they only have 10 seconds to live and Larry has to rush from the far side of the floor to his seat and I do not understand why that is. There was a whole episode about how he wanted to pee but he only has 30 seconds at a time and people keep getting in his way to the can.

It makes zero sense. Same about when they whine they are short on time or long on time and have to move quickly, or stretch a boring conversation to fill.

ITS TAPED!
ITS EDITED!
ITS AIRED AT THE END OF THE WEEK!
NONE OF THIS IS AN ISSUE FOR YOUR SHOW, LARRY!

half the episodes show Larry at his home on friday night, watching his show and either loving himself or critiquing himself.

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H2Oloo-Sunset t1_j116y0e wrote

I haven't seen it for a while, but I think you are mistaken. It is a daily show taped live late afternoon and airs on the same day late night. It was described as a Jay Leno/David Letterman kind of show.

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headphones_J t1_j15amd5 wrote

Yep, it's basically the Tonight Show, as Garry Shandling was a frequent guest host for Johnny Carson.

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bobbyOrrMan OP t1_j12oeqv wrote

Yeah somebody else just gave a thorough explanation and it makes more sense now. They dont really get into much detail in the show-within-the-show so I dont know how anything worked. Some of it seems silly to me.

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chriskiv97 t1_j126fy4 wrote

It’s pre-recorded, but the show is recorded “Live on Tape,” as Hank Kingsley proudly announces at the top of every show. That means that the show is filmed start-to-finish in its entirety, with the same timing that will be used in the broadcast. Also, the show airs every weeknight, and each night’s show is filmed that afternoon - the same way Colbert, Kimmel and the others do it today, with the exception of pre-taped and edited segments that take a little longer (and were significantly rarer in the late 90s). Some of the drama is certainly manufactured for the show, but the time constraints largely make sense imo.

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bobbyOrrMan OP t1_j12oayq wrote

ok cool thats a good explanation. but then it means Larry is either weird or superstitious or vain. He always has to watch his friday night show from home in his jammies and since he cant keep a woman the poor bastard is usually alone. First two seasons he had wives.

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lostdrum0505 t1_j12q18u wrote

The entire show is about how vain Larry is, so yep.

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bobbyOrrMan OP t1_j12t5hm wrote

OHHH!!! now it all makes sense. I was wondering why this obnoxious jerk was the focus of a TV series.

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krakenfury_ t1_j12szhz wrote

My wife watched the entire series and I watched a smattering of episodes with her. I mean how do you not at least laugh at Hank? I'll grant that much of the humor is quite dry, but Hank is such a ridiculously hilarious loser.

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bobbyOrrMan OP t1_j12tep0 wrote

I think its cuz I felt like a loser the whole time growing up that I just never find them funny in a TV show, especially not when they are the butt-monkey.

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Based_Ment t1_j11pwm0 wrote

Everything on those late night talk shows is timed down to the minute..they air at night but the actual production is really shot like the Larry Sanders show is during the day. They only have a couple of hours to edit footage before they air so they really do have to track every second.

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emmapepper t1_j13ygnm wrote

I was in elementary school when the Larry Sanders show was on, but I thought Garry Shandling's name was Larry Sanders until I was in my late 20s. I also thought Brett Butler's name was Grace until around the same time.

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Fthewigg t1_j145byd wrote

Whether you find it funny or not is purely subjective, but I think it’s fair to say that this show is a great time capsule of its era. Talk shows like this focus on the biggest stories at the time. Hell, the opening episode has them pitching the Garden Weasel.

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