By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders.
Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show
I’m not usually in favor of “Best of…” collections. I like to have everything and decide for myself. But Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show is a truly amazing DVD. They did pick some classic episodes, but it would be worth it just for a standalone behind the scenes piece. The episodes are really the bonus features here.
DVD Review: Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show
Garry Shandling’s personal interviews with some of his noteworthy collaborators are a fantastic piece of inside Hollywood. They let us in on authentic industry relationships and they’re very funny too. You’ll learn more about stars like Jerry Seinfeld here than you would on their own DVDs. The pseudo-hand written title cards are the perfect personal touch.
Deleted scenes are contextualized perfectly. They show us the raw footage, then maybe show us the edited version to show how they used the material. In any case, they use a text intro to explain where the scenes would have gone, or identify on screen which parts were actually used in the show. Complete talk show bits by comedians like Larry Miller are funnier than anything they bring to real talk shows.
Of course the extended documentary is a complete portrait of the show. Host Greg Kinnear gives it more personality than the usual studio-produced fare, and the talking heads seem to get a chance to really tell their stories, not just buzz, buzz, buzz. Everything about this set is great though, down to the self-referential disc jackets.
Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show comes out to DVD April 17th.
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