The first program began on the Showtime cable network in 1986. After a year, it reached critical success, and Shandling relinquished his role as one of Johnny Carson's regular guest hosts on NBC's The Tonight Show, leaving Jay Leno as the primary alternate behind the desk. Shandling and Leno had replaced Joan Rivers as Carson's principal replacements in 1986 when Rivers began her own talk show-the initial program on the fledgling FOX Broadcasting Company network.

     While still in its first run on Showtime, It's Garry Shandling' s Show was licensed by the new FOX Broadcasting Company as part of its second-season Sunday evening lineup. Although plagued by low ratings and hence unable to satisfy FOX's expectations, critics praised Shandling's tongue-in-cheek style. FOX reran the Showtime episodes and then contracted with "Our Production Company" for new installments until 1990.

     The program, set in Shandling's condominium in Sherman Oaks, California, featured comic schtick. Shandling played a single man looking for the right woman. He spent his free time with his platonic friend Nancy (Molly Cheek), his best friend's family (Stanley Tucci and Bernadette Birkett), and his single mother. Much of the show mimicked Shandling's own life, including his actual home in Sherman Oaks and his romances (a girlfriend moved in with Shan­ dling's "character" when his personal domestic life changed).

     The program began with a monologue, introducing the show. Next came a silly theme song, performed by Randy Newman, including the lyrics "Garry called me up and asked if I could write it" and a whistling segment. The "dramatic action" in each episode was simple, built on such premises as Garry's bad dates, or his discovery of a nude photo of his mother from the 1960s. Each situation was resolved with warmth and whimsy, sometimes with the help of audience members.

     Shandling's antics included "breaking the fourth wall"-acknowledgement and direct address of the audience, both in the studio and at home-as part of the show. In one episode, Garry told the audience to feel free to use his "apartment" (the set) while he was at a baseball game. Several people from the audience (perhaps extras) left their seats to read prop books and play billiards in front of the cameras as the program segued into its next scene.

     It's Garry Shandling' s Show often included guest stars. In the pilot, just after Garry's character moved into the condo, he was robbed. That night he dreamed of Vanna White (appearing on the show) giving away his good underwear and other personal belongings as prizes on Wheel of Fortune-for less value than he hoped. His most frequent visitor was his "next-door neighbor," rock musician Tom Petty. In one episode, Petty, who usually appeared with disheveled long hair, wearing loose shirts and tight pants, became part of a neighborhood quartet. He made his entrance walking in line with three middle-aged singers, all four wearing ugly matching plaid wool vests.

     Shandling sometimes used other sight jokes, but most often he exploited running verbal gags. These included the unseen ceiling mirror inscribed with the typed motto, 'Things may be larger than they appear." Another continuing joke involved Larry's ongoing consideration of what to do during the 41 seconds when theme music interrupted the action.

     Some episodes, however, were more serious. One of these featured Gilda Radner near the end of her unsuccessful battle with cancer. This show also presented a Vietnam antiwar theme, detailing how one friend's conduct caused a man to become a prisoner of war. Although the program ended jovially, the action included a darkly lit battle sequence in which uniformed soldiers shot at each other and put holes into Radner's living room set.

     Although each episode of the show was scripted, Shandling was known to improvise his lines. If a scene needed three takes, he often performed differently in each iteration, as though challenging himself to make each retake funnier than the prior one.

     The Larry Sanders Show. which played its first-run episodes on HBO from 1992 until 1998, was the "Mr. Hyde" of Shandling's pair of comedies. The program, which mocked behind-the-scenes activities of post­ prime-time talk shows, painted a more disturbing view of television as a status-bestowing medium. The technique included intertwining fictional characters with guest stars appearing as themselves. By 1995 the show had received Emmy nominations and Cable Ace Awards, but the audience was not large, both because the sophisticated content of the program was not universally attractive and because the program appeared on a premium cable channel with a limited viewership.

     Shandling starred as Larry Sanders, a talk-show host competing with the larger networks' late-night programs. Although Larry is not the biggest fish in the chat pond, it is difficult to realize this from his interactions. He uses his power and position as a celebrity to control his office staff, show crew, and, at times, the general public as portrayed in this fictional world. Larry exposes his deep insecurities only to his executive producer, Artie (veteran character actor Rip Torn) and to his assistant, Beverly (Penny Johnson).

     On screen, Larry is smooth and controlled, but behind the scenes, he is manipulative and disturbed, descending frequently into paranoia and temper tantrums. His interactions with his office employees feature a peculiar style of communication. Each staff member or guest has a clear position in an invisible hierarchy. This situation is accepted because the strong office culture is dominated by constant job insecurity. People with greater clout are allowed to act abusively to those with less status. In one show, it seems clear that a staff member will be fired, but Larry cannot decide which person. Facing the tension mounting within the office, one writer breaks down with anxiety, creates several ugly scenes and-predictably-is chosen to lose his job.

     Office relations are not the only storyline. Plots derived from typical talk show circumstances include contract renegotiations, strange sponsors needing odd on-air celebrity endorsements, marriages and relationships, problems with guests, and difficulty managing public images. During the program's run, Larry is married (to Megan Gallagher), divorced, and involved in a live-in arrangement with another ex-wife (Kathryn Harrold). These relationships exhibit little tenderness; instead, the unions are portrayed as fitting Larry's profession and lifestyle. If love blocks his career in any way, love ends.

     Many of the show's elements focus on Larry's relationship with his sidekick, Hank Kingsley, played to perfection by Jeffrey Tambor. Hank is presented as an essentially talentless individual who has made an incredibly successful career by translating his position as hanger-on into highly recognizable celebrity status. He makes additional money by endorsing cheap products; he gets dates because of his proximity to Larry; and he uses his status to bully other members of the show's staff. Larry tolerates Hank because he is, at once, confidante and pitch-man, as responsible for Larry's success as are Sanders's own skills.

     In the final seasons of The Larry Sanders Show, questions about sexual preferences shaped absorbing storylines. "Everybody Loves Larry" hints that the X­ Files star David Duchovny may be sexually attracted to Sanders. In the final episode, "Flip" (May 1988), this storyline plays out in a hotel room where Duchovny crosses and uncrosses his legs in homage to Sharon Stone's infamous scene in the film Basic Instinct. Duchovny declares that his feelings for Sanders are the same as his feelings for a woman, "It's definitely a heterosexual feeling, but it's directed at you." When Ellen DeGeneres announced she was gay, ABC used the incident to hype her sitcom, Ellen. The Larry Sanders Show parodied the fuss with "Ellen, or Isn't She?" In that episode, Sanders asks DeGeneres to come out on his program. The acting and writing in these episodes garnered accolades from television critics and earned an American Comedy Award for Duchovny.

     While the program was in production, Shandling was twice involved in courtroom battles with persons linked to the show. In 1994, series regular Linda Doucett ended her seven-year personal relationship with Shandling and was subsequently fired from the program. In a lawsuit she charged him with sexual discrimination and harassment; the case eventually was resolved without litigation. When executive producer Brad Grey (who was also Shandling's manager) dropped Shand ling as a client after 18 years, Shandling litigated, claiming conflict of interest for prior business arrangements. Grey countersued. Just before their scheduled court date, Grey and Shandling settled.

     In addition to the subplot with Duchovny, the final episode of The Larry Sanders Show lampoons the legal activity in Shandling's own life, while sending several ongoing storylines on fictional Stage 11. The episode chronicles the end of Sanders's relationship with his talent agent, Stevie Grant-as manny, cocaine-snorting yuppie, and Shandling's ex-girlfriend Doucett appears briefly. A long list of Hollywood's top talents, including Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, and Jerry Seinfeld, guest star, with country music star Clint Black singing a tribute reminiscent of Bette Midler's farewell on Johnny Carson's final episode of The Tonight Show.

     Signing off the air as Sanders, Shandling gave a soliloquy about TV comedy. "Television is a risky business. You want to entertain. You want to try to do something new every night. You want to say something fresh. Nine times out of ten, you end up with The Ropers [a short-lived spin-off of the sitcom Three's Company]. Hopefully, occasionally, there are nights when we are not one of those nine."

     The consistent quality of Shandling's two series translated into critical acclaim, and numerous awards and nominations. It's Garry Shandling' s Show on Cable Ace honors for Best Comedy Program, Actor, and Writing. The Larry Sanders Show's Rip Tom received the 1996 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences also recognized the series' final season with a writing award for Shandling and Peter Tolan, and honored Todd Holland for directing. In 1999 the program won the George Foster Peabody Award for outstanding achievement in broadcasting and cable.

     Shandling used It's Garry Shandling's Show to push television to its whimsical extreme. With The Larry Sanders Show, he presented the funny side of televi­sion at its worst. In each case, he explored the medium intelligently and inventively, creating an arena to con­sider what television can be, rather than continuing the hackneyed stereotypes and norms.