Created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein, the show ran for six seasons and 90 episodes on the HBO cable television network from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998.
The show stars Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, and Rip Torn and features celebrities playing exaggerated, parodic versions of themselves.
The program has had a marked and long-lasting influence on HBO as well as on television shows in the US and UK such as Curb Your Enthusiasm (which also aired on the same network), 30 Rock, and The Office.
The supporting cast includes Janeane Garofalo, Wallace Langham, Penny Johnson, Linda Doucett, Scott Thompson, and Jeremy Piven.
[3] From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, a stream of American stand-up comedians found success in sitcoms on broadcast network television, including Bill Cosby, Roseanne Barr, Richard Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Paul Reiser, Tom Arnold, Brett Butler, Ellen DeGeneres, Drew Carey, Kevin Brennan and Ray Romano.
I thought I could make the talk show look very real so the audience would buy that part and then slowly suck them into the realities of life once Larry goes behind the curtain.
[4] Alex Pareene commented "Shandling turned down hosting a network late night show to do a brilliant cult hit sitcom about a version of himself who took the deal.
It chronicles the daily life of host Larry (Garry Shandling), producer Arthur "Artie" (Rip Torn), sidekick Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) and their interaction with celebrity guests, the network and others.
Supporting characters commonly struggle for status or power, both within the structure of the show's staff as well as within the broader Hollywood community.
[11] Profanities are used on the show, although not gratuitously, with the writers taking advantage of the freedom allowed by HBO as a subscription cable service.
[4] According to Peter Tolan, early episodes were also recorded with language suitable for broadcast syndication until midway through the second season, when the actors resisted shooting the extra takes.
Four video cameras recorded the show-within-a-show which gives a brighter, less grainy picture[13] and helps distinguish the talk show from the back-stage scenes.
The most common was "Hey now," a phrase Hank repeats in the opening credits of the fictional talk show and whenever he greets someone (though it was intellectual property of the network; season 3, episode 1, "Montana").
"No flipping" is a phrase Larry uses to go to commercial breaks, encouraging the viewer audience not to change to another channel (which was considered public domain; season 3, episode 1, "Montana").
[14] Story arcs include the breakdown of Larry's relationship with his second wife Jeannie (Megan Gallagher) and his abuse of Excedrin tablets.
The story arcs include Larry beginning a new relationship with his ex-wife Francine (Kathryn Harrold) and Hank investing all his money in a street-level revolving restaurant.
Doucett filed a lawsuit against Shandling and producer Brad Grey's company for sexual harassment and wrongful termination, which was settled out of court for $1 million.
Janeane Garofalo decided to leave due to decreasing screen time for her character Paula, the talk show's talent booker.
[19] The main story arc is the increasing pressure from the network to aim for a younger audience that results in Larry deciding to leave the talk show.
Some of the most popular episodes of the season were: "Another List", in which the network threatens to replace Larry with Jon Stewart unless he makes some changes; "The Beginning of the End", in which the talk show gets a new creative consultant who wants to make big changes; "Adolf Hankler", in which Hank has to play Adolf Hitler, while Larry is on vacation and Jon Stewart guest hosts; "Beverly's Secret", in which Beverly (Penny Johnson) tries to tell the father that she's pregnant; "Putting the 'Gay' Back in Litigation", in which Brian sues Phil and the talk show for sexual harassment; and the series finale "Flip", in which the cast gets ready for their final broadcast and Larry and Artie deal with Hank and the emotions of the crew.
[21] In a commentary on the season one DVD, Shandling says the guests were invariably happy to parody their media images and generally shared the same sense of humor as himself and the other writers.
Brooke Allen in the New York Times called it "a comedy series so funny and risque as to make Seinfeld look positively bland".
[28] It helped establish HBO's reputation for quality shows, leading to Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire and Deadwood.
[29] It was followed in its use of celebrity guests, its lack of laugh track, and its comedy of embarrassment by Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office and Arrested Development.
[25] Gervais said in Variety that he was heavily influenced by the show and that "It taught me that flawed characters can be compulsive viewing – seeing them squirm and get their comeuppance.
"[30] Armando Iannucci said that his political satire The Thick of It strove to mix comedy and authenticity in a similar manner to The Larry Sanders Show.
[31] Matt Zoller Seitz wrote in Time Out Los Angeles that it introduced to television the cinematic technique of "walk and talk" where the camera follows the actors as they move around the offices in conversation.
The compilation contains the episodes: "Montana" (Robin Williams); "Hank's Sex Tape" (Henry Winkler, Norm Macdonald); "Larry's Big Idea" (Courteney Cox, David Letterman); "I Was a Teenage Lesbian" (Brett Butler).
On April 17, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a best-of compilation featuring episodes from all six seasons entitled Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show.
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including The Larry Sanders Show.