The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling - Season 1 - Episode 2

Working on his landmark HBO series The Larry Sanders Show, Garry's diaries reveal an ongoing struggle with complacency and a search for authenticity; his colleagues recall the pressure to produce material up to his high standards. At the height of the Larry Sanders wave, Garry and Linda Doucett (who appeared on the show) broke up. Garry ended up firing Doucett, leading to a lawsuit which in turn raised financial questions that drove Shandling to sue his manager, Brad Grey, for $100 million - a case that took years to resolve and cost him many friendships. After The Larry Sanders Show ended, Shandling's neuroses and insecurities became more evident. He threw himself into acting, but his film What Planet Are You From? got scathing reviews. Garry dropped out of the spotlight for a while, but enjoyed a comeback with his successful gig hosting the Emmysﾂｮ for the first time in 2000. Throughout Garry's ups and downs (he had an undiagnosed thyroid problem that led to a risky pancreatitis surgery), his Sunday-morning basketball games on his home court brought friends together and kept him emotionally connected, while his mentorship of younger comics gave his life fresh meaning. Garry had started getting back into stand-up, and was working on material for a solo stand-up special, when he died suddenly from a heart attack at 66. Sarah Silverman, one of many of comedians who considered Garry a mentor, reflects that even though Garry never had kids, in a way, they were what he left behind.Show more