| It's Garry Shandling's Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel |
| Starring | Garry Shandling Geoffrey Blake Molly Cheek Jessica Harper Scott Nemes Michael Tucci Co-Starring: Bernadette Birkett Ian Buchanan Barbara Cason Paul Willson |
| Theme music composer | Joey Carbone |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Bernie Brillstein Brad Grey Garry Shandling |
| Producer(s) | Jeff Franklin Jim Geoghan Al Jean Mike Reiss |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Showtime |
| Original run | September 10, 1986 – May 25, 1990 |
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience. In the UK its format would inspire Sean Hughes to create Sean's Show.
Contents |
The 30 minute series stars Garry Shandling as, more or less, himself: a neurotic, somewhat self-obsessed stand-up comedian, who just happens to be aware he is a TV sitcom character. Garry spends just as much time interacting with the studio audience as he does the regular cast members, offering up opening monologues and show-closing summations of the episode's events (much like George Burns on The Burns and Allen Show). On Garry's show, however, all the supporting characters know they are on a TV show, not just Garry; and the studio audience is often in the storyline. In one episode, Garry invites them to make themselves at home after he leaves the scene (they end up throwing a raucous party); in another, a surprise birthday party for Garry's mother goes awry when the audience's shout of "Surprise!" causes her to have a heart attack. In a memorable episode, Garry moves out of town, with his apartment (and show) taken over by Red Buttons; when Garry tries to return, his friends admit they like Red better.
At the time of the show's production, Garry Shandling actually lived in Sherman Oaks, CA, just like the character on the TV show. His condominium on the show was styled to be just like his real-life condo, down to the room layout and the furnishings.[1]
Storylines were often manipulated by Shandling to create more favorable outcomes, or simply to speed things along (one episode ended years later, for example). On America's presidential election night in 1988, Showtime presented a live episode wherein Shandling brought in Soul Train host Don Cornelius to incorrectly announce that Michael Dukakis had soundly defeated George H. W. Bush.
The show's bouncy, well-remembered theme song was "This is the Theme to Garry's Show", sung by Los Angeles musician Bill Lynch.[2] The song's lyrics are self-referencing, explaining how the song came to be ("Garry called me up and asked if I would write his theme song") and asking what the listener thinks of it.
Considered a critical and niche success,[3] It's Garry Shandling's Show ran 72 episodes and was on the air for four seasons (1986–1990). The show was later picked up by Fox Broadcasting Company from 1988 to 1990 as part of its Sunday night lineup; Fox began airing the show from the beginning, but due to longer seasons for network shows versus cable, had caught up by the time the show left Fox in March 1990. New episodes continued for a few months thereafter on Showtime. The show introduced much of the country to Shandling and paved the way for his more successful run as late-night talk show host Larry Sanders on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show.
Throughout the series, the cast was divided into the "Starring" cast, whose names were featured in the opening credits; the "Co-Starring" cast and the "Guest Starring" cast, both of which had the actors' names featured in the end credits.
While fighting ovarian cancer, Gilda Radner guest-starred as herself on the show in 1988 in what would be her final television appearance. When Shandling asked her why she had not been seen on television for a while, Radner replied, "Oh, I had cancer. What did you have?"
The show was created and written by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. Shandling wrote 15 episodes of the show. Garry, Alan and Garry's manager Brad Grey were the executive producers of the show.
In the U.S., the show aired on Showtime: the first season aired on Wednesdays and the rest of the series aired on Sundays.
| Season | Episodes | Premiere Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | September 10, 1986 | April 10, 1987 |
| 2 | 17 | October 25, 1987 | March 18, 1988 |
| 3 | 20 | October 21, 1988 | April 21, 1989 |
| 4 | 19 | November 10, 1989 | May 25, 1990 |
Seasons 1 and 2 of the show were aired in the UK on BBC2 over three series from 1987 to 1990. The airdates did not follow the original episode sequence. An initial season of 10 episodes aired on Sunday nights at 18:50 BST from 5 July-20 September 1987. Two further episodes were aired on 19 November and 3 December, 1987. A second season of 8 episodes, drawn from the end of series 1 and the beginning of series 2 was shown on Tuesday nights at around 22:20 BST from 31 May-2 August 1988. A Christmas special was shown on Christmas Eve 1989, preceding a third and final season, returned to Sunday nights at 18:10 GMT, which ran 18 February-15 April 1990.
| Season | Episodes | Premiere Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 5 July, 1987 | 20 September, 1987 |
| # | 2 | 19 November, 1987 | 3 December, 1987 |
| 2 | 8 | 31 May 1988 | 2 August 1988 |
| # | 1 | 24 December 1989 | |
| 3 | 8 | 18 February, 1990 | 15 April, 1990 |
| № | Title | Airdate (U.S.) | Airdate (U.K.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Day Garry Moved In" | Wednesday, September 10, 1986 | Sunday, July 5, 1987, 18:50 |
| 2 | "Grant Gets Broken" | Wednesday, September 17, 1986 | Sunday, July 12, 1987, 18:50 |
| 3 | "Garry Throws a Surprise Party" | Wednesday, September 24, 1986 | Sunday, July 19, 1987, 18:50 |
| 4 | "Foul Ball" | Wednesday, October 1, 1986 | Sunday, July 26, 1987, 18:50 |
| 5 | "The Graduate" | Wednesday, October 8, 1986 | Sunday, August 2, 1987, 18:50 |
| 6 | "It's Garry's Problem, But It's JoJo's Show" | Wednesday, October 15, 1986 | Thursday, November 19, 1987, 22:10 |
| 7 | "Garry Met a Girl Named Maria" | Wednesday, January 23, 1987 | Sunday, August 9, 1987, 18:50 |
| 8 | "Grant's Date" | Wednesday, January 30, 1987 | Sunday, September 13, 1987, 18:50 |
| 9 | "Pete Has an Affair" | Wednesday, February 6, 1987 | Tuesday, May 31, 1988, 22:25 |
| 10 | "Fate" | Wednesday, February 13, 1987 | Sunday, August 16, 1987, 18:50 |
| 11 | "The Morning After" | Wednesday, February 20, 1987 | Sunday, August 23, 1987, 18:50 |
| 12 | "Sarah" | Wednesday, March 6, 1987 | Thursday, December 3, 1987, 22:10 |
| 13 | "Laffie" | Wednesday, March 13, 1987 | Tuesday, June 7, 1988, 22:20 |
| 14 | "Dial L for Laundry" | Wednesday, March 20, 1987 | Tuesday, June 28, 1988, 22:20 |
| 15 | "Dinner with Garry" | Wednesday, April 3, 1987 | Sunday, September 20, 1987, 18:50 |
| 16 | "Force Boxman" | Wednesday, April 10, 1987 | Tuesday, July 5, 1988, 22:20 |
| № | Title | Airdate (U.S.) | Airdate (U.K.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | "Who's Poppa?" | Sunday, October 25, 1987 | Tuesday, July 12, 1988, 22:20 |
| 18 | "No Baby, No Show" | Sunday, November 6, 1987 | Tuesday, July 19, 1988, 22:20 |
| 19 | "The Fugitive" | Sunday, November 13, 1987 | Tuesday, July 26, 1988, 22:15 |
| 20 | "The Schumakers Go to Hollywood" | Sunday, November 20, 1987 | Tuesday, August 2, 1988, 22:00 |
| 21 | "Nancy Gets Amnesia" | Sunday, November 27, 1987 | Sunday, February 18, 1990, 18:10 |
| 22 | "It's Garry and Anjelica's Show (Part 1)" | Sunday, December 4, 1987 | Sunday, March 18, 1990, 18:10 |
| 23 | "It's Garry and Anjelica's Show (Part 2)" | Sunday, December 11, 1987 | Sunday, March 25, 1990, 18:10 |
| 24 | "It's Garry Shandling's Christmas Show" | Saturday, December 17, 1987 | Sunday, December 24, 1989, 17:05 |
| 25 | "Killer Routine" | Sunday, January 8, 1988 | |
| 26 | "Mr. Sparks" | Sunday, January 15, 1988 | Sunday, February 25, 1990, 18:15 |
| 27 | "The Soccer Show" | Sunday, January 22, 1988 | Sunday, April 15, 1990, 18:25 |
| 28 | "Our Town" | Sunday, January 29, 1988 | Sunday, April 8, 1990, 18:20 |
| 29 | "Save the Planet" | Sunday, February 5, 1988 | |
| 30 | "The Grant Shuffle" | Sunday, February 12, 1988 | |
| 31 | "Go Go Goldblum" | Sunday, March 4, 1988 | |
| 32 | "Garry Falls Down a Hole" | Sunday, March 11, 1988 | Sunday, April 1, 1990, 18:10 |
| 33 | "Mr. Smith Goes to Nam" | Sunday, March 18, 1988 |
| № | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 34 | "Goin' Places" | Sunday, October 21, 1988 |
| 35 | "Pete's Got a Secret" | Sunday, October 28, 1988 |
| 36 | "What's Happening to Me?" | Sunday, November 4, 1988 |
| 37 | "Live Election Show" | Sunday, November 11, 1988 |
| 38 | "The Natural" | Sunday, December 2, 1988 |
| 39 | "Home Sweet Home" | Sunday, December 30, 1988 |
| 40 | "Vegas (Part 1)" | Sunday, January 6, 1989 |
| 41 | "Vegas (Part 2)" | Sunday, January 13, 1989 |
| 42 | "Save Mr. Peck's (Part 1)" | Sunday, February 3, 1989 |
| 43 | "Save Mr. Peck's (Part 2)" | Sunday, February 10, 1989 |
| 44 | "Save Mr. Peck's (Part 3)" | Sunday, February 10, 1989 |
| 45 | "Ruth's Place" | Sunday, February 17, 1989 |
| 46 | "Garry Acts Like a Moron" | Sunday, February 24, 1989 |
| 47 | "Kramer vs. Grant" | Sunday, March 3, 1989 |
| 48 | "Grant Goes to the Dogs" | Sunday, March 10, 1989 |
| 49 | "Big Brother" | Sunday, March 17, 1989 |
| 50 | "Going, Going, Gone" | Sunday, March 31, 1989 |
| 51 | "Garry Goes Golfing" | Sunday, April 7, 1989 |
| 52 | "Mum's the Word" | Sunday, April 14, 1989 |
| 53 | "Worry Wart" | Sunday, April 21, 1989 |
| № | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | "First Show of the Fourth Season" | Sunday, November 10, 1989 |
| 55 | "Take My Wife, for Example" | Sunday, November 17, 1989 |
| 56 | "Nathan's Sheer Madness" | Sunday, November 24, 1989 |
| 57 | "SuperGrant" | Sunday, December 1, 1989 |
| 58 | "Dinner at Eddy King's House" | Sunday, December 8, 1989 |
| 59 | "The Proposal" | Sunday, January 12, 1990 |
| 60 | "Firehose" | Sunday, January 19, 1990 |
| 61 | "The Day Howard Moved In" | Sunday, January 26, 1990 |
| 62 | "The Wedding Show" | Sunday, February 9, 1990 |
| 63 | "The Honeymoon Show" | Sunday, February 16, 1990 |
| 64 | "Shandling vs. Mull" | Sunday, March 9, 1990 |
| 65 | "Leonard Gets Metaphysical" | Sunday, March 23, 1990 |
| 66 | "Chester Gets a Show" | Sunday, March 30, 1990 |
| 67 | "My Mother the Wife" | Sunday, April 6, 1990 |
| 68 | "Family Man" | Sunday, April 13, 1990 |
| 69 | "Mad at Brad" | Sunday, May 4, 1990 |
| 70 | "The Last Show" | Sunday, May 11, 1990 |
| 71 | "The Talent Show" | Sunday, May 18, 1990 |
| 72 | "Driving Miss Garry" | Sunday, May 25, 1990 |
The show was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards. It won five CableACE Awards (three for Best Comedy Series and two for Garry Shandling). It won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in a Comedy Series-Cable or Syndicated, and an award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy in 1988 from the Television Critics Association.
On October 20, 2009, Shout! Factory released It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 16-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes.[4] Time praised the set's release, writing "As self-referential comedies went, you never meta better one",[5] while Entertainment Weekly named it one of the best TV on DVD releases of 2009.[6]
The first season of the series was released as a stand-alone title in America in April 2010,[7] and the first two seasons have been released in the United Kingdom by Fabulous Films (which owns the distribution rights to many of Shout! Factory's releases) with the US sets' extras ported in their entirety.
The show was shown on TV Land Canada until 2010.