The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling

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Garry Shandling:

What's the date today?

- Is it April 1st?

- All:
The 30th.

- March 30th?

- Woman:
The 30th.

( construction noise )

It is March 30th.

It is March 30th

and I have just come--

and it's about 3:30.

I've just come

from my series

that I'm working on.

I've just been writing scripts.

We start shooting May--

the first week in May,

and so we haven't

been out here

shooting anything

about the house

because I've been

working on scripts,

because that's how

I make my f***in' living.

- ( music playing )

- So the house

has been coming along

and they've already

been doing the framing.

- Tom, how's it going?

- Tom:
Pretty good.

- You wanna say hello?

- No.

- ( laughing ) How are you?

- Fine. How are you, Garry?

Tom's doing

all the framing.

- Mm-hmm.

- It's going excellent.

You can tell

from the frames

that are just around

his sunglasses

what a good framer he is.

How we coming along?

You have any suggestions?

Tom:

Gettin' done

what you want.

- That's all I care about.

- OK.

You wanna discuss

this kitchen in there?

The ceiling,

what you want in there?

( stuttering )

Yeah, I got decisions

on that already.

And what

you wanna do

with the skylights.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause they're telling me

put the skylights in.

You don't want

any skylights.

OK, we'll take care

of it today.

We're gonna get it

done, aren't we?

- Seriously?

- We're OK if we get

some answers today

we should be--

We're gonna do all

the answers today.

- Please.

- Yeah.

- Murphy.

- ( Murphy barks )

- Tom:
Shake it.

- There you go.

David Letterman,

eat your heart out.

David Letterman:

Garry, what were

we talking about?

Can I ask you about

your involvement

in this show?

In, uh, ( stuttering )

in "Late Night"-- NBC?

- Oh, boy.

- Letterman:
Yeah.

Because it seems to me

when at first

it seemed like

I was going away,

Dana Carvey was

gonna host the show--

- All hell broke loose.

- Oh, yeah, that's right.

- I'm sorry.

- ( laughter )

And, uh, Dana Carvey

was gonna be the guy.

Now let me say

that you said,

"Well, Mr. Big Shot

passed on 12:
30."

- Oh, no, no.

- Which was very funny.

- Yeah, no, I said--

- But you're leaving.

- ( stuttering ) I said--

- Well, you're leaving

- the 12:
30 spot.

- That's right, yeah.

Conan O'Brien:

When I was being considered

for the "Late Night Show"

and I was this

long shot unknown in '93

the other name

was Garry Shandling.

Letterman:

Did they make you

a big offer

- to take this job?

- They made me an offer

that was--

it was gigantic.

- Yeah?

- It was one-third of yours.

- No, no, no.

- ( laughter )

That's funny.

Thank you. All right.

All right, we're all

enjoying a good laugh

at my expense.

O'Brien:

And I remember

people reporting that

like that's just

going to happen.

- ...how much?

- I'm your biggest fan--

not your biggest fan.

There's probably

some nut

who has posters

of you up, but...

Me being told,

in confidence,

"Look, it's not

gonna be you.

It's gonna be Garry,

but you did--

you had

a great audition

and this is gonna--

something good's

gonna happen for you."

( music playing )

And I remember thinking

at the time,

"I don't see

Garry Shandling

doing the same thing,

more or less,

night after night

after night."

But did you ever

seriously consider

this all

could now be yours.

Take a look around.

This studio full

of fabulous prizes

could all

be yours now.

Well,

I like the clock.

Yeah, peel that off

of there for him.

Can you--

can you just...

O'Brien:

He was approaching comedy

- as an artist.

- Letterman:
Conan can get

his own clock.

And the people who

look at it as an art,

as I think Garry did,

it's an artistic journey

for them.

That's what

makes them great,

but it also means

they can't crank it out

for all of eternity.

( music playing )

Shandling:

I thought,

"Is there a way

that I can learn

about myself and the world

and people

and get down into that sh*t

and the essence

of people's lives

and how they cover it

on a talk show?

Or can I do it on a show

about a guy

who hosts a talk show?"

And realized that

it isn't about a guy

who hosts a talk show.

It's the ability

to have that world

within which you could tell

the story of human beings.

- Woman:
Hank?

- Hey now.

Look, I'd like

to make sure

you have

everything now

before the show

'cause there

won't be time

for you to go back

to your dressing room.

Fine. Thank you.

Thank you.

Make sure

that they have

( stuttering )

a pillow and Drambuie

on the helicopter.

- Woman:
Sure. OK.

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

- ( music playing )

It's like she's living

in the seventies.

She's definitely

gonna catch someone.

Someone. Something.

Shandling:

Ah, you improvised

and it caused you

some trouble!

- I'm so sorry!

- Uh-huh!

- I was focused on--

- Knock yourself out.

Beverly:

You want the door closed?

Larry:

I'll tell you what.

Oh, leave it open.

- Oh.

- Close it.

That's fine.

Close it.

You want it open

or closed?

- Closed.

- I'm getting you some coffee.

- OK?

- She is real.

- Man:
Yeah.

- ( music playing )

- Man:
Oh, anytime? Oh, OK.

- Shandling:
Yup.

Man:

Let's talk about

"The Larry Sanders Show."

We're here on the set.

- It's beautiful.

- So, actually,

I had an idea

about five years ago

to do a show about a guy

who hosts a late night show.

I always thought

that would be fun to do

'cause I find

the personality

of these guys

really fascinating.

I mean, it's like-- this is how

I think of it--

the only thing worse

than being on TV every night

is wanting to be

on TV every night.

- ( laughter )

- Hank:
And now because

his Uncle Ray

owns the place

( elongating )

Larry Sanders!

( audience cheering )

And C. Calling mark.

Shandling:

I had made the mistake

in my first series

"It's Garry Shandling's Show."

I got lazy because it's very

hard work,

and I started

to let the show

get out of my hands

and it turned into a bit

of a cartoon.

Larry, you

might not recognize

this little girl...

Shandling:

That was what motivated me

to do "Larry Sanders,"

is I needed

to do a show

where I could be allowed

to explore reality...

Stand-up comics

who think

they're f***in' actors

make me sick.

You're absolutely correct.

Shandling:

...and have

that support system

and everyone understanding.

That's what we're doing

here, everybody.

Are you in or you out?

( music playing )

- Man:
Episode 209...

- Larry:
Is there any way

the sound guy can help me

with the sound?

It feels a little weak.

All right,

thanks for the help.

Man:

Slating the off camera.

OK, so this

is a talk show segment.

I'm gonna start

and then stop

and then start again,

but you'll understand

what I'm doing

'cause I'll explain it

as we go.

My next-- well,

we'll pretend we're right

in the middle of the show.

Man:

Just a second, I think

we're slating some cameras.

- We all slated?

- Man #2:
I'm done.

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