Influential and innovative comedian, actor and writer Garry Shandling died unexpectedly in Los Angeles, aged 66. He was nominated twice for the Golden Globes as best actor in television series-musical or comedy for his leading role in the Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998). In 1995 he lost to Tim Allen (Home Improvement), and in 1996 to Kelsey Grammar (Fraser). His show was nominated in 1997 but lost to 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Shandling  was interested in comedy from an early age, but grew up far from show business in Arizona, where studied electrical engineering. He told the HFPA in an interview: " I was a funny kid and I was interested in comedians. I used to listen to Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner albums, but I didn't know if I was funny enough to make a living…” Moving west  to Los Angeles he did pick up writing. He wrote advertising copy, then peddled sitcom scripts and honed his stand-up comedy skills. He rose fast. A guest appearance in 1981 on the Johnny Carson show earned praise  from  America's dean of comedy, and Garry was on his way: first as a frequent guest performer, then as guest host.

He soon developed his experience on both sides of the host's desk to the first of two shows he conceived, wrote, produced and starred in,  It's Garry Shandling's Show  for  Showtime. It was innovative and cerebral.  It followed sitcom conventions, but at the same time sent them up: its characters, led by Shandling, were presented as actors on a set, reciting their lines. The show ran for four seasons and won popular following and critical acclaim, Emmy nominations and CableAce awards every season, 1986-90.
 

Two years later he was back, this time on HBO, with another iteration of that reflected-reality concept, The Larry Sanders Show, which ran for six seasons, and established Shandling's status as a seminal and influential talent in American comedy. Shandling/Sanders was a composite of all iconic and revered late night talk show hosts – Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno. The New York Times wrote that ”Mr. Shandling offered a jaundiced insider view of the television business. (His) Larry was egotistical and anxiety-ridden. His producer, Artie, (Rip Torn) was ruthless and deceitful. His sidekick, Hank, (later Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Tambor) was eager to please and almost completely clueless". Dozens of actors, musicians and other celebrities appeared as themselves, adding to the realism within the fiction.

After the series ended, Shandling continued writing producing and acting, but mostly in films. In 2000 he gave the HFPA a press conference for one of them, What Planet Are You From, a sci fi comedy  directed by Mike Nicholes. It had to do with Shandling favorite subject, sex: on the planet in question there was no sex, just cloning.

He was asked: "Mike Nichols told us that women want a partner and a friend,…and men just want sex. Do you agree?" Shandling replied: “My personal feeling is that as a man matures he understands that there is far more important things than sex…kindness and compassion are number one. I've been in relationships where there was very good sex and there was no kindness and no compassion…and it is empty. Genetically men are programmed to procreate. But certainly you want to get past that. It's a conflict men have to face. And…I have some diagrams…"

It was typical Shandling: serious and self-deprecating, dry and a bit off the wall and absurd. Like the often quoted bits making fun of his low sexual performance: “After making love I said to my girl, ‘Was it good for you too?’ And she said, ‘I don’t think this was good for anybody.’" “I’m dating a woman now who, evidently, is unaware of it.” “I'm too shy to express my sexual needs except over the phone to people I don't know.” “I once made love for an hour and fifteen minutes, but it was the night the clocks are set ahead".

Garry Shandling's comedic clock was set ahead of his time , but an appreciative world soon caught up.