There’s More “Funny” In The 25 Minutes Of This Than In The 1 Hour Of Shameless

I mean any episode of Shameless, ever, even when it was good, and I’ve watched ‘Em all, that had Fiona in ‘em. I just watched Ep 1 of Larry Sanders for the first time in 28 years, and it rocks balls. Wall-to-wall funny. Inspired writing. Is it better than the first 4 seasons of Veep? Maybe, maybe not; but this trip down memory lane convinced me that 30 minutes is the max time for a funny TV series (Sanders actually clocks in at 25 minutes). That is 1 of many problems with HBO’s clusterfuck, Succession. It is just too long, not to mention too self-congratulatory. It’s a borderline personality disorder of an attempted comedy. Larry Sanders, on the other hand, is a satisfying money shot.