Over 20 years after it was first aired, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” is back, the first series has been released in the UK on DVD. This was a first-of-its-kind show which broke down the fourth wall allowing characters to speak to the audience.
The Intro
The first episode begins with Garry walking into his new empty house. Garry talks to the audience and opens with a few jokes such as; do fish say “plenty more chicks on the beach when they break up?” and then tells a funny joke about selling his old house, that his landlord owned! It then rolls into the opening credits, the theme tune is very catchy and you will be singing and whistling along at the start of every episode.
Strength Of Jokes
The show has a mix of humour including satire, one-liners, irony and puns. Rather then big individual ‘laugh out loud moments’ the humour comes from the set, interaction with the audience and of course the storylines as all good sitcoms do. Often subtle but always underlying it is an easy-going style of comedy making it a great watch especially after a long day.
Power Of Originality
Given its highly original format it’s a program that can take a little getting into, however, it doesn’t take too long, and once you’re drawn into the set it keeps you there. There is something powerful about being the first-of-its-kind, not just in comedy but with everything, and this show does feel somewhat special because of this.
Watch The Clock
Time flies. Each episode is just over 20 minutes long, but they seem to come and go rapidly, I seemed to wiz through the episodes so quickly. Perhaps it is the way Garry meanders around the set, interacts with the audience and involves special guests, all wrapped around structured storylines. It holds your attention brilliantly.
Why All The Clapping?
There is only one annoying thing about the show, the long clapping at the start of every episode. As soon as Garry walks out the audience clap…forever…loudly…with lots of cheers thrown in, it gets tiring considering each episode is only 20mins long. Whatever the reason for this it is a minor picky negative which shouldn’t detract from the overall show.
DVD Extras
There are some nice extras on the DVD including an interview with Garry Shandling about the show, as well as funny outtakes and commentary on selective episodes. And with the DVD being over 7 hours long there is plenty to enjoy.
Final Thoughts
It is different, it is unique, it is funny, sometimes clever and sometimes silly. A concoction which works well, especially as we now live in a time where our humour seems to be heavily weighted towards funny one-liners on comedy panel shows and sketch shows. A refreshing alternative, 8.5/10.
