Comedy legend Garry Shandling passed away at age 66 on Thursday, but before his death he ensured the return of one of his most iconic shows back on the network it originally aired.
Many comedy fans flocked online to try and rewatch The Larry Sanders Show in honor Shandling’s memory, but they soon found that the show wasn’t streaming online, and a $20 DVD set on Amazon quickly went out of stock. The late-night TV parody aired on HBO from 1992 to 1998, but it wasn’t available on HBO’s streaming platform either—and there’s a reason for that. HBO didn’t own some of its earliest TV shows.
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Sony Pictures Television owns the rights for The Larry Sanders Show, and it streamed exclusively on Crackle, Sony’s streaming platform that also airs Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, until the rights returned to Sony about two months ago. Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko confirmed that Shandling negotiated a deal to return The Larry Sanders Show to HBO.
“I loved Garry,” he told The Wrap. “We were fulfilling his wishes to see the show move to HBO.”
The Larry Sanders Show is not yet available on HBO’s streaming services.
“Garry ushered in the modern period of original programming at HBO with his brilliant masterpiece, The Larry Sanders Show,” an HBO statement read. “All of us at HBO have a special place in our hearts for him not only for his enormous talent but for his kindness and decency. We will miss him terribly.”
Shandling and The Larry Sanders Show, which was a satire of late-night TV and Hollywood, had a profound effect on the people who work in late-night today. Both Conan O’Brien and Seth Meyers took time to honor Shandling, his legacy, and his influence on them.
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O’Brien had Shandling on his show over the years, so he also took the time to look back on those moments.