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“THAT WASN’T A SKETCH… IT WAS A MASSIVE SPASTIC FUCK-UP!”

Running for 89 episodes between 1992 and 1998, The Larry Sanders was one of the funniest and most innovative television shows ever made. Based on the travails of neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders (Garry Shandling), his buffoonish sidekick Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) and their shitkicking producer Artie (Rip Torn), the show was scripted by a team of crack writers that included Jon Vitti (The Simpsons) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad), as well as Shandling himself and his writing partner Peter Tolan. It also boasted a strong supporting cast of actors who, in many cases, would go on to greater acclaim in their own right (Jeremy Piven, Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garafalo).

And if you haven’t seen the show, there’s good news after the jump. The Larry Sanders Show was a send up of the most unappealing aspects of show business and Hollywood culture. There wasn’t anything new in that of itself, but the producers most ingenious innovation was in persuading real celebrities to play cartoonish versions of themselves to that end. Thus we had Ellen DeGeneres having a fling with Larry at a time when, both in real life and on the show, speculation was rife about her sexuality; Alec Baldwin having an affair with Larry’s wife while the couple were separated, only to be booked later as one of Larry’s guests; and Jim Carrey delivering a gushing and (it later transpires) utterly insincere tribute to Larry on the occasion of the show’s finale.

The list of stars who made guests appearances over the course of the series reads like a virtual virtual A-Z of 1990s celebrity, among them Robin Williams, Warren Beatty, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Jon Stewart, Jennifer Aniston, Sharon Stone and (most unforgettably) David Duchovny. In this, The Larry Sanders Show pioneered a new genre of comedy, one that straddled the line between reality and fiction, paving the way for everything from Curb Your Enthusiasm to Entourage to Extras, all the way down the food chain to The Hills.

The good news is that all 89 episodes are now available to watch for free on YouTube. (Search larry01, larry02, larry03 etc.) If you have any plans for the next fortnight, cancel them. Part one of the very first episode is here. Do yourself a favour.