BBC2 late night telecast.
I remember being shown at BBC2 lates on night sometimes after newsnight or around midnight.
shareMe too, in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
They would often show The Larry Sanders Show and Seinfeld one after the other in this ridiculously late-night slot (the main reason neither really caught on in the UK). I used to tune in for Seinfeld, but gradually came to realise this other more understated show was just as good if not better.
They also showed Grace Under Fire for a while. Not so good.
BBC totally screwed the pooch on this; if C4 had got either Seinfeld and/or Sanders, they'd have been huge in the UK, to rival the far inferior Friends. C4 knew how to promote top-flight US imports, the BBC just seemed embarassed to admit that material this good was coming in from an external source.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."
If C4 had acquired both I doubt that Larry would have reached the steady level of Frasier, for example. Very different shows never mind the swearing. Of course it depends also on the time-slot but there's no way it would have gone before 10.30 or so. Seinfeld probably yes, but the younger demographic would mean Friends would win out 9 times out of 10 in popularity stakes if they were broadcast say at 9.00-9.30.
shareIt was a great travesty that the BBC treated Seinfeld and Larry Sanders with such contempt. I remember that they also used to get cancelled when things like the bloomin' snooker was on !
More recently, the BBC gave Arrested Development the same shoddy treatment.
"If they're beautiful, they're crazy" Woody Allen
The graveyard BBC2 timeslot added to my enjoyment of both shows, they felt like a well kept secret for discerning comedy fans. Quite a few British fans, over the years, have acknowledged feeling the same about this.
shareGiven the nature of the language in Larry Sanders, it was always going to be difficult to place.
However it did do well in its slot and gained a good following.
Its that man again!!
The producers created syndicated versions of The Larry Sanders Show that removed the offending language. Some of those tracks (where you can hear the actors recording lines that would be used for syndication) can be heard under the DVD menus on the 'Complete Series' set.
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