This was a smart,funny and very cynical show that showed Hollywood behind and in front of the cameras. This show may have been about Larry, but some of its funniest moments were all about Hank. Hank Kingsley was one of the most hysterically funny characters in TV history. Hank had such an underlying sense of poignancy and humanity that you had to feel bad for him. One of my favorite scenes from the series is when Artie put Hank into a headlock to keep him from speaking at Larry's roast. Hank actually sat back down at the roast after the headlock as if nothing had happened - imagine the low self worth the man must have had to not just storm out of the banquet hall. Another funny episode is where Hank insists on having Phil write up a script for "Hank's Hot Potato," a backwards, confusing game of Hot Potato. After Phil writes something that includes the audience shouting out a profanity at Hank, all Hank can do is comment on the fact that the audience wasn't supposed to have a line. My favorite episode has to be the one with "Hank's Look Around Restaurant". The tables moved around so you have a different view every few minutes. Everyone knew it was a bad idea, but Hank wanted it so badly. When Larry is eating there, the tables creak and wobble and the glasses tip over...it kills me every time. To quote Artie, "That's great television, my friend." And of course, Rip Torn was superb as Artie, the producer whose years of experience in Tinseltown had made him bitter, over-aggressive, disenchanted to the point of being total sullen, and perhaps more realistic than anyone else in that environment.
As for the delay on releasing seasons two through six on DVD, I think it comes down to three problems -
1. The first season DVD's did not sell well.
2. The lawsuit between Shandling and the executive producer of this show over profits.
3. The music embedded in the episodes may make releasing the episodes intact very expensive thanks to the RIAA.
There's actually an explanation for season one not selling well. If you go back and watch season one, the characters are struggling to find themselves, and the show is just not that funny yet. As for the lawsuit involving Shandling, these things can eventually be resolved. However, since the RIAA is the uncompromising money-hungry killjoy that is keeping so many good series off of DVD, I think that this might be the sticking point of making any progress. The RIAA is currently the troll on the bridge keeping Alley McBeal, Daria, and WKRP in Cincinatti off of DVD because copyrighted music is such a central part of these shows. All of these shows, including Larry Sanders, were on the air prior to the TV-on-DVD era, so the fact that nobody anticipated this problem is really nobody's fault. This is all really too bad, since Larry Sanders is classic comedy that is no longer shown on HBO due to the years since the series ended (1998 was its final year), and when it was on Bravo the episodes were never shown uncut due to censorship issues. I just hope that not so much time passes that it is finally decided that due to its format, this show is so "nineties-centric" with all of its guest stars that it is too dated to be a success on DVD. |
The Larry Sanders Show - The Entire Second Season dvd movie.