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By
WADE GOSSETT
It's been nine years since
The Larry Sanders Show concluded its critically
acclaimed run on HBO and went off the air. And the
entire first season has been available on DVD
since 2002. So, it's only natural and normal for
fans of this terrific series to have expected the
entire second season to be released at some point,
followed by the third, fourth, fifth and sixth
seasons every few months. But after five years of
waiting, the newest DVD installment is Not Just
the Best of the Larry Sanders Show, which seems to
be a compilation of 23 episodes only. Many fans
are up in arms, vowing not to buy the DVD set in
order to punish Sony for such dastardly, craven
behavior. Their assumption is that this is a way
to squeeze the fans while they wait for the
inevitable release of all the episodes.
These fans are dead wrong. They should sit down,
draw a breath, and try to understand that DVD is a
medium, and the quality of a particular set may
not be as apparent when compared with one's
artificial expectations.
I will explain: As a fan of The Larry Sanders Show
I'm as anxious as anyone else to possess the whole
series, unedited and uninterrupted, and with a
perfect digital transfer. But while Not Just the
Best of the Larry Sanders Show is not a substitute
it is also an excellent DVD set on its own right.
It is certainly not a compromise. What Garry
Shandling has done is pretty unique: He has culled
his favorite episodes, and added a treasure trove
of original material that would have deserved to
be released by themselves.
Imagine: Four episodes include commentary tracks
that feature some combination of Shandling,
co-executive producer & writer Peter Tolan, and
directors Todd Holland and Judd Apatow. Then there
are interviews with the cast, as well as guest
stars (Jeremy Piven, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Penny
Johnson, Linda Doucett, Wallace Langham, Janeane
Garofalo, Sarah Silverman, Scott Thompson, and Bob
Odenkirk) and extremely revealing (almost
uncomfortably, I'd say) personal interviews with
Shandling and Alec Baldwin, Sharon Stone, Linda
Doucett, David Duchovny, Ellen DeGeneres, Jon
Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Petty and Carol
Burnett.
As if this is not enough, several episodes have
deleted scenes, and there's a making-of featurette
that's really a full-fledged documentary that runs
about an hour-and-a-half and explores the series
in great depth -- it is hosted by Greg Kinnear,
and it features interviews with cast members and
HBO executives, but the highlight is a sketch with
Shandling and Bruno Kirby, who sadly died
recently.
Honestly, this is a fantastic DVD set, which
you'll want to own, regardless of when and how the
entire series becomes available. Buy it, watch and
enjoy it. |
