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Before the internet and before reality TV there was It’s Garry Shandling’s Show! An nnovative, sharp, surreal blend of reality within the confines of a hilarious sitcom. This is Garry Shandling’s visionary TV series. In 1986 Garry Shandling was poised to become a permanent guest host on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. Instead he took a chance of an offer from fledgling network Showtime to create his own television series.
The show was a surreal look at the daily life of a young single man who is a comedian. ‘Its Garry Shandling’s Show’ was not a typical sitcom. Shandling would break the ‘fourth wall’ to include the studio audience and the viewers at home in on the actual making of the show. Experimenting with the sitcom form meant inviting the audience onto the set, playing with the passage of time (it’s now two weeks later) and generally exploding the genre and making art of the debris.
Teaming up with Saturday Night Live’s Alan Zweibel, Shandling ‘put on a fourth grade play’ every week for four seasons. With a crew of talented young writers including Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Al Jean, Michael Reiss and David Mirkin, who would go onto to Seinfield and The Simpsons and Ed Solomon who wrote Men In Black, television history was made. Over the years, guest stars (playing themselves) included Tom Petty, Rob Reiner, Vanna White, Red Buttons, Dan Akroyd, Martin Mull, Gilda Radner (in her last TV performance), Carl Reiner, Chevy Chase, Jeff Goldblum, Don Cornelius, The Turtles and many more.
From it’s unforgettable theme song to it’s closing credits, ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’ was award winning, mind bending television for 4 seasons and it’s influence is clearly seen in the best TV comedies through the decades to follow.
Enjoy all 16 episodes from the first of four seasons of this much loved classic now on DVD.
Special Features -
5 commentaries
"Getting there" - The Road To The Show
Outtakes
Television Parts - Sketches :
'Gary Dates Miss Maryland' and 'Garry's Car'
Booklets
- Revelation Films
- 12
- Garry Shandling
- English
- 4
- 2
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4 instalments of £9.99 with clearpay Learn more
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Before the internet and before reality TV there was It’s Garry Shandling’s Show! An nnovative, sharp, surreal blend of reality within the confines of a hilarious sitcom. This is Garry Shandling’s visionary TV series. In 1986 Garry Shandling was poised to become a permanent guest host on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. Instead he took a chance of an offer from fledgling network Showtime to create his own television series.
The show was a surreal look at the daily life of a young single man who is a comedian. ‘Its Garry Shandling’s Show’ was not a typical sitcom. Shandling would break the ‘fourth wall’ to include the studio audience and the viewers at home in on the actual making of the show. Experimenting with the sitcom form meant inviting the audience onto the set, playing with the passage of time (it’s now two weeks later) and generally exploding the genre and making art of the debris.
Teaming up with Saturday Night Live’s Alan Zweibel, Shandling ‘put on a fourth grade play’ every week for four seasons. With a crew of talented young writers including Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Al Jean, Michael Reiss and David Mirkin, who would go onto to Seinfield and The Simpsons and Ed Solomon who wrote Men In Black, television history was made. Over the years, guest stars (playing themselves) included Tom Petty, Rob Reiner, Vanna White, Red Buttons, Dan Akroyd, Martin Mull, Gilda Radner (in her last TV performance), Carl Reiner, Chevy Chase, Jeff Goldblum, Don Cornelius, The Turtles and many more.
From it’s unforgettable theme song to it’s closing credits, ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’ was award winning, mind bending television for 4 seasons and it’s influence is clearly seen in the best TV comedies through the decades to follow.
Enjoy all 16 episodes from the first of four seasons of this much loved classic now on DVD.
Special Features -
5 commentaries
"Getting there" - The Road To The Show
Outtakes
Television Parts - Sketches :
'Gary Dates Miss Maryland' and 'Garry's Car'
Booklets
- Revelation Films
- 12
- Garry Shandling
- English
- 4
- 2
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Customer Reviews
Top Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are independent and do not represent the views of Zavvi.
Great tv
Larry Sanders is shandling's most famous character, but it was as Garry Shandling that he made his sitcom debut. This intelligent, ground breaking series harks bark to 50s tv shows, with Shandling constantly talking to camera, involving the studio audience (distributing money to them, inviting them onto the set) and even having a competition for one home viewer to star in the show. Cars are golf carts, trains are toys and a visit to a drive-in is accomplished with forced perspective toy cars, the models gradually getting smaller towards the screen. If all this sounds like a mess, it works outrageously well, drawing you in, and making you feel a real part of what's going on. It's the warmest, friendliest sitcom ever made, a total shock if you're only familiar with Larry Sanders' swearing and cynicism. The dvd has all the episodes, but commentaries only on a couple of episodes. I think there were four series in all, so presumably shandling couldn't find the time. There's a documentary interview with garry and there are a couple of sketches from shandling's appearances on mike nesmith's tv show which are reasonably funny. If you're used to the extras on Seinfeld dvds, this boxset would come as a bit disappointing. The big booklet inside has an episode guide. Great tv, maybe not worth £30 to buy.
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