Dennis Klein’s strongest work finds comedy in people who need more reassurance than their colleagues can supply. With Garry Shandling, he made The Larry Sanders Show exceptionally funny about the daily business of managing that need.
Fi1m perspective
In The Larry Sanders Show (1992), the host can manage a broadcast more easily than a conversation with the people who make it possible. A complaint about the job soon becomes a dispute about who deserves more respect. We laughed, then winced, because the writing makes that escalation so familiar. Klein and his co-creator Garry Shandling understand how an insecure person can make work difficult for everyone nearby. This is where we rate Klein most highly: the jokes are sharp, and the people remain painfully recognisable.
Klein’s early sitcom work included a single episode of All in the Family (1971), written in 1973. We recommend that series for Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, with reservations about its repetition and fondness for Archie’s bluster. One episode cannot tell us how much of either quality belongs to Klein. He took greater responsibility as head writer on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977), then as writer and producer on Buffalo Bill (1983–1984). Those credits lead towards Larry Sanders, though his subsequent work also includes creating and writing for Cosby (1996–2000).
On The Larry Sanders Show, Klein shares writing duties with Peter Tolan, Maya Forbes and others, and the dialogue gives the actors something precise to do. People return to an insult, explain why it matters, and make their own grievance sound like the most pressing business of the day. Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor and Rip Torn make the resulting squabbles worth revisiting. The useful choice is to let small differences in status cause sufficient trouble without manufacturing an extraordinary event. We need no particular interest in chat-show production to recognise a colleague who cannot let something pass.
Some celebrity references need explaining, a small obstacle for anyone coming to the series without the names already in mind. We would start with Larry Sanders, for the performances as much as the writing. Allow a few celebrity names to pass unrecognised; there will be another grievance along shortly.
Biography
Dennis Klein is a television writer, producer and creator. He contributed a script to the sitcom All in the Family in 1973.
Klein created the series The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998) and Cosby (1996–2000). His other writing credits include Buffalo Bill (1983–1984), Bakersfield P.D. (1993–1994) and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (as head writer, 1976–1977). He has also directed episodes of Laverne & Shirley and other series.
Klein has received three Primetime Emmy nominations.
