LOS ANGELES (AP) – Garry Shandling was always at his best when he used himself and his own chosen profession as the joke. In just over a decade of groundbreaking television, he not only changed the sitcom forever, but also helped define some of today’s greatest comic talents.
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IT’S GARRY SHANDLING’S SHOW
“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” made no bones about its inherently artificial nature: the actors in this otherwise standard domestic comedy routinely broke the fourth wall to comment on what they were up to or just chat with the studio audience. Even the theme song began with the explanatory lyrics, “This is the theme to Garry’s show….” The 30 minute sitcom ran on Showtime for four seasons from 1986 to 1990. Reruns on Fox helped raise Shandling’s profile before he launched “The Larry Sanders Show.”
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