The word “groundbreaking” is thrown around a lot.  It seems that almost every new thing is “groundbreaking”, whether it be a TV show, movie, book, scientific idea, or causal statement.  What ground is being broken is often left undescribed and, more often than not, whatever being discussed is quickly forgotten, and ends up being not being in any way “groundbreaking”.  

In Garry Shandling’s career, he created two TV shows that gained that very description, first with It’s Garry Shandling’s Show in the 80s, then The Larry Sanders Show in the 90s.  Where Shandling’s shows differ from others labelled groundbreaking is the fact that the shows were actually groundbreaking.  Both shows were sitcoms that absolutely shattered the norms of how a television comedy should be structured.  Unfortunately, as influential as they were, the shows did fall to the wayside after going off-the-air, and it is likely that you may have Googled Shandling’s name before reading this article to try and figure out who this guy is.

If you did Google Garry Shandling’s name, you no doubt saw that he passed away on March 24th at the age of 66.  The news sent reverberations throughout the comedy community, with many comedians taking to Twitter to discuss the late comedy legend.  What became apparent very quickly is that just about everyone in the industry loves Garry Shandling, and it is safe to say that your favorite comedy show was influenced by his work.

Let us start with his first sitcom, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.  Running for four seasons, the show is most known for its constant breaking of the fourth wall.  In fact, the very first scene of the very first episode consists of Shandling walking on stage and talking directly to the audience.  More than once in the show’s run, the show called upon the studio audience to get on stage and be a part of the show.  The structure was loose by any standards, but when taken in context with what other sitcoms were airing in the late 80’s, the format is absolutely mind blowing and totally unique.

If it was even possible, Shandling topped himself with The Larry Sanders Show.  This time, Shandling played the titular host of a late night talk show program.  The show captured every aspect of hosting a talk show, on stage and off, and both aspects shone.  While it was not a totally unique concept to have a TV show about a TV show, The Larry Sanders Show was so fraught with realism and straight-up quality writing that it sets itself apart.  The half of the show that is Larry Sander’s fictional talk show is good enough that it could be confused for a real late night program, and the half that is the inner workings of the television industry is a perfect contrast of average workplace mundane and showbiz magic.  Also notable is the absolute lack of a laugh track, as the show relied less on formulated jokes and focused on genuinely funny dialogue between characters, trusting that the viewers are clever enough to know when to laugh.

Out of context, neither of these shows really seem all that special.  We live in a world of 30 Rock, of The Office, of shows that aren’t afraid to acknowledge the audience and parody themselves.  This is not a concept that is new to us.  Turn back the clock a few decades, and the only comedy available on the airwaves was heavily structured, joke-every-page sitcoms that forced the humor down the audience’s throat.  While shows like that definitely still exist, it is because of the work Garry Shandling did in television that an alternate path was paved, making way for smarter, subversive, and aware comedy.  The modern world of TV comedies came to be because of Shandling.  As long as there is still humor on the airwaves, this world will always be a Garry Shandling world.