Jay Picks the 5 Best Episodes of "The Larry Sanders Show"

Jay here.

Last Thursday the news broke that comedian, Garry Shandling had died at the age of 66 years old. To the comedy world this was a huge loss. Garry was a titan of comedy and revered among his peers for his influential and groundbreaking work throughout the 80's and 90's. You know how they say, "He's an actor's actor."? Well, Shandling was a "comedian's comedian".

When you read all of tweets from celebrities and comics who knew him or worked for and with him, you begin to get a sense of the impact this guy made on comedy. After his hit show, The Larry Sanders Show took its final bow on HBO in 1998, Shandling kind of faded into the background a bit. You get a sense that he had done what he wanted to do. He popped up briefly with fun cameos as the corrupt Senator Stern in 2010's, Iron Man 2 and 2014's, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But it was that HBO show that would be his crowning achievement and arguably one of the most important hits for the paid subscription network.

The main cast of The Larry Sanders Show (clockwise from top left): Jeffrey Tambor, Garry Shandling, Rip Torn, Wallace Langham, Janeane Garofalo, Penny Johnson and Linda Doucett

This was before Oz, The Sopranos and Sex in the City. Many people scoffed at how a sitcom could be successful on HBO? Isn't that a channel just for movies? Today HBO is bigger than ever, driven mostly by the success of its original content. I remember watching Larry Sanders as a teenager. It was like nothing I had seen before. At times it didn't even seem like comedy. It was fresh and new. Shandling famously turned down the opportunity to replace David Letterman on NBC when the host bolted for CBS. Instead he decided to become a different kind of talk-show host, on a fake show that seemed more real and fresh then any other late night. 

It also was a breeding ground for young talent. Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Trainwreck) was a writer and producer on the show. Sarah Silverman, Scott Thompson, Janeane Garofalo, Jon Stewart, the list goes on and on.

And then there was Jeffrey Tambor's show-stealing performance as bumbling sidekick, "Hey Now" Hank Kingsley. Much of what made the show great was just seeing how Larry would react or treat Hank. It was comedy magic. 

Rip Torn was just as brilliant as the show's producer, Artie. His grizzled, no bullshit way of dealing with people was good for laugh after laugh.

In honor of the passing of such a talent, I present for your enjoyment my personal favorite five episodes of The Larry Sanders Show. Be warned, this being an HBO show there is some adult language on display here.

5. "The Spider Episode" (Season 1, Episode 3)

This was the episode that really set the standard for The Larry Sanders Show. When Carol Burnett comes on the show to do a sketch with Larry, the insecure host decides to face one of his biggest phobias and invite a tarantula wrangler onto the show. Hilarity ensues ..... Burnett was fantastic in this episode and earned an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance as herself.

4. "Hank's Sex Tape" (Season 4, Episode 7)

Jeffrey Tambor was always great in this show. Hank Kingsley remains one of the greatest sitcom characters for me and this is one of his best episodes if you want to see how great he is. When raiding Hank's office for stashed candy, the writing staff finds a VHS tape that shows Hank having a threesome with two prostitutes. Being comedy writers, of course they make copies of the tape and spread it around the office for big laughs. Seeing Hank make the women tell him he's "boss" and perform other hysterical role plays is fantastic. This scene with Norm McDonald and Henry Winkler is comedy gold!

3. "Arthur After Hours" (Season 4, Episode 3)

This is Rip Torn's best episode, in my opinion. He was so good in this role as Artie, he was the most quotable character, but his best comedic moments always came when he was drunk. Artie is the quintessential loyal producer. He would do anything for Larry, which makes it tough because Sanders frequently treats him like shit.  In this episode Artie finally has enough and spend a drunken night in the studio where he lashes out at Larry and bonds with the custodian. It's both funny and touching at the same time.

I couldn't find a clip on YouTube from this episode so simply enjoy this great scene of Artie drunk from a different episode ....

2. "The Hankerciser 200" (Season 2, Episode 6)

I love this episode! In fact its really hard for me to choose between this one and the series finale as my favorite. If you watched this show you know that Hank Kingsley was a shameless self-promoter. If someone wanted to put his face on their product he wouldn't think twice about it. When Hank endorses a new ridiculous exercise machine, and Larry's journalist wife threatens to write an article about how it isn't safe, Hank goes off the deep end. The scene where Hank calls Larry's wife an awful name is brilliant. It illustrates how Shandling's job was often just reacting to the craziness around him, and his reactions are genius. Of course, most of his funniest reactions were to Tambor who is at his best in this episode. In this clip watch how great Sanders and Tambor are as they do promo spots for the shows while discussing the problems with the Hankerciser which leads into their fight about Francine.

1. "Flip" (Season 6, Episode 11)

I think the series finale for The Larry Sanders Show is certainly in the discussion for the best final episodes for a show ..... ever. Hmmmmm, maybe that's a list Matt and I should do real soon? Part of the reason for this is that like a real talk show that is ending, there was a season long build up to it. Jon Stewart is picked by the network to replace Larry, and the episodes Stewart was in are really great. There were so many cameos in this finale: Jim  Carrey, Sean Penn, Warren Beatty, David Duchovny (still playing on the is-he-gay-for-Larry shtick), Jerry Seinfeld, Greg Kinear, Bruno Kirby, etc. It really is touching episode, especially for the three main characters, Larry, Artie and Hank. Moving and hysterical "Flip" is the perfect swan songs to one of the great sitcoms of all time.

In this interview Shandling talks about creating the final episode.

And that's my picks. You can find a lot of episodes on YouTube if you've never seen this groundbreaking show before. Also, there is a great collection on DVD/Blu-ray called Not Just the Bes of the Larry Sanders Show, which has a good collection of the best episodes to watch.

For now, enjoy this ..... "No Flipping!"