I have seen all things comedy


And Larry Sanders is clearly the best. Name a better comedy show. I dare you to try. You'll only end up hurting yourself.

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Better comedy show?

Easy. Arrested Development.





That said, I think The Larry Sanders Show would be an easy #2 on my all-time list.



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Nope, I have to disagree. AD may be one the best ever, and certainly is overflowing with great jokes moreso than just about any other show, but Sanders is more concentrated in its brilliance. AD is a little too wacky, and a little too focused on being clever, to achieve the kinds of excruciatingly real moments of comic genius that Sanders achieves.

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I repeat, Arrested Development.

Or -

Curb Your Enthusiasm

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The Larry Sanders show, although not really a talk show, is necessarily tied to the talk show genre. As a result, it is unable to age as well as other comedy shows that are not tied to very time-specific or topical genres.

Fifty years down the line, people will still be able to watch and enjoy shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. And while they will also be able to enjoy the Larry Sanders Show to some degree, many parts of the show will seem to be quite dated.

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Larry, Curb and Seinfeld are the best comedies. AD is great but doesn't come close. I don't know maybe you need need someone narrorating and setting up EVERY joke for you(which is whats annoying about A.D.) The first 3 shows are more focused, creative and brilliant. (that's why they lasted!!) Oh and people won't like Larry in 50 years cause everyone growing up these days is unappreciative and stupid. Anything made before 2000 seems dated and old to most of my friends.

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AD is just a different kind of show than the other three but this doesn't necessarily mean that it is any less brilliant. I agree that on a first viewing AD comes across as lacking focus, but closer inspection will reveal that this is not the case. It initially seems like the kind of show that is made for people suffering from ADD and that's what I thought at first but after watching the entire show (it might even take a second viewing) it becomes clear that there were nothing was "random" or unfocused. Everything hangs together brilliantly.

The thing is that AD defies the episodic nature of TV shows. For standard TV shows, the single episode is the most basic unit of storytelling. In Curb, Seinfeld, Larry, etc. all the episodes are self standing wholes. In standard shows, stories are played out over the course of a single episode such that each episode can be understood on its own. But in AD, the storylines cut through the episodes. In each episode, various storylines and themes are criss-crossing. So, if you just look at a single episode, then it will appear to be completely unfocused. But if you step back and look at the show as a whole its just as brilliant.

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Larry is best.

As for the not aging well comments, that's only true if you're a shallow 20 something who can't relate to anything before your time.

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Just give me till then to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight.

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Agreed. I wasn't even a teenager yet when Sanders was originally airing. I heard about it, but I wasn't allowed to watch HBO, and I doubt I would have really appreciated the show at that age, anyway. Now that I've seen the whole thing, I can see why people were calling it the best comedy on TV over Seinfeld at that time. I love Arrested, but I'm just more impressed with Sanders. AD is so much fun, but Sanders brings the pain.

AD's style will look dated one day soon, too. So it goes.

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I didn't watch an episode of The Honeymooners until the summer of 1982, when I was 17 and a local station started running them in the afternoon. Took me about ten seconds to grasp the hilarity of the show and another few minutes to realize that Art Carney needed to be indicted for Grand Theft Sitcom. I guess my point is that I'm agreeing with you that a lot of people can't get past the "waah, it doesn't age well because it had some topical humor for the time, waah!" are just morons.

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I respectfully disagree with the argument that Larry isn't as good because it's dated. A lot of classic, highly-respected shows have dated references...I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, even Seinfeld.

IMO, I can overlook the occasional cultural or political references, and still see some brilliant writing, or at the very least, groundbreaking premises. Larry Sanders is definitely in my Top 3. I'd probably put Seinfeld and MTM there as well, with Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm rounding it out. Those two could go higher, but I admit I didn't watch them as regularly as Larry*/Mary/Jerry.

*Sanders


Oh stewardess...I speak jive.

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Seinfeld actually gets more and more dated as time goes by. Most of the high-water moments are still brilliant (and there are lots), but there is also a lot of early-90s stuff that isn't aging perfectly.

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Larry's the best to me. I have to admit, I couldn't get into AD, but I only saw a couple of episodes when it first started, so maybe I should give it another chance. Curb was great, but it seemed like there was a noticable drop off in quality after season 4. It's still very good, but not as good as it was to me.

I also have to say WKRP In Cincinnati is near the top of my list, it still holds up after all these years, and it had a similar setting, so I think Larry Sanders will do just fine for those that appreciate great comedy.

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I'm shocked that I forgot WKRP. I agree that it holds up well...very underrated series, and it's a shame that the music rights issues ruin quite a few scenes.

Oh stewardess...I speak jive.

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Name a better comedy show... You'll only end up hurting yourself.
Translation: I will either disagree if you do, or agree if you do the opposite.

Sorry, I just never saw the point of threads like these. And you haven't seen all things comedy... what a silly subject.

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It is definitely one of the best. Curb, AD, Seinfeld and all contenders as well. On certain days I would even throw The Office (US) in the mix.

Interestingly though the debate on this board seems to be between AD and Larry Sanders. What do they have in common? The great Jeffrey Tambor!

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HEY NOW!

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I think Curb is a better show. So is Mr. Show. So is The State. So is Hardcore TV.

Comedy in general? Bill Hicks. Longmont Potion Castle.

Comedy movies? CORNDOG MAN. PERIOD PIECE by Giuseppe Andrews.

Etc.

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Shuji Terayama forever.

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I laugh more at Community and Arrested Development.

http://tinyurl.com/6tzszfs

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