Main characters Larry Sanders Lawrence "Larry" Sanders (all seasons) (born December 19, 1950, in
Mound, Minnesota, and a graduate of the
University of Minnesota), played by
Garry Shandling, is the host of
The Larry Sanders Show, a late-night talk show that has been on the air since 1987, airing at 11:30 PM, five days a week, on an unnamed network. He is 42 years old (as of the 1993 episode "The Breakdown (Part One)"), then 43 years old (as of the 1993 episode "Larry's Birthday"). His father is named Jerry and his brother is named Stan. His wives were Francine and Jeannie, from both of whom he is now divorced; he was briefly engaged to
Roseanne Barr. In the episode "
The Garden Weasel", Larry shows his wife Jeannie a commercial that he did for
Pan Am in 1979, in which he played a flight attendant. Also in the episode, Jeannie mentions that Larry once auditioned for the game show
Make Me Laugh. In real life, Shandling appeared on the show as a celebrity guest. In the episode "Larry's Partner", it is mentioned that Larry began his career as a standup comedian and as part of a
double act with his friend Stan Paxton, played by
Eric Bogosian. Larry and Stan recorded a
comedy album together and had a bit called "The Man on the Street Meets the Man on the Moon". Larry broke up his act with Stan 15 years ago because Stan had a serious drinking problem and only joined the business to "get laid". In the episode "The Promise", it is mentioned that Larry's first television appearance was on
The Merv Griffin Show and that he later appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Also in the episode, Larry mentions that he discovered comedian
David Spade while he was performing at the
Comedy Store and gave him his first television appearance on his show. Spade went on to appear on the show at least six more times. Larry feels betrayed by Spade when he learns that Spade had appeared on
The Tonight Show recently, but he forgives him when he recalls that he did the same thing by appearing on
The Tonight Show after
The Merv Griffin Show. In the episode "Out of the Loop", Larry says he was a writer on ''Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop''. Larry is neurotic and self-involved. He is uncomfortable with displays of emotion and dislikes confrontation, so much so that he often deploys Artie to fight his professional battles for him. He is also very insecure about his appearance: he is always concerned about the size of his "ass", which he thinks is too big, and he was unable to disguise his displeasure at
Dana Carvey's impression of him in the show's fourth season. Larry enjoys watching his own show in bed every night, which is something that frustrates his second wife Jeannie. He is addicted to an unspecified type of painkiller (possibly multiple types of painkillers), and was previously addicted to marijuana. His personal life is often more dysfunctional than his professional life: he has been married and divorced twice, and he is shown to have trouble developing intimate bonds with other people and is estranged from his family. He dates many women, such as
Mimi Rogers,
Sharon Stone,
Ellen DeGeneres, and
Dana Delany, but these relationships never last and are often doomed by elements of Larry's celebrity or work life. The end of the series provided some hope for Larry; his decision to leave his show seemed to bring him a bit of perspective, and his relationship with
Illeana Douglas appeared to be more substantial than his previous attempts at intimacy. Larry really likes
frozen yogurt and often sends his assistant Beverly to get it for him. In the episode "The Breakdown (Part One)", it is mentioned that Larry and Hank first met in the spring of 1985. Larry does not respect Hank and thinks that Hank is not very bright. Larry constantly avoids Hank because he does not like dealing with him. However, Hank sometimes acts as a voice of reason for Larry and solves his problems for him, whether intentionally or not. Larry infrequently expresses an underlying affection for Hank, despite finding him intolerable (telling his wife-to-be that he "loves him" in the episode "Hank's Wedding"), and on occasion steps beyond his comfort zone for the sake of their friendship, for example cutting short his much needed vacation in order to attend the grand opening of Hank's 'Look Around Cafe' In the episode "The Grand Opening". Larry depends almost entirely upon Artie to protect him from the network executives and the unpleasant realities of show business. Larry claims he can't do the show without Artie because Artie is so loyal to him. In practice, Artie says what Larry finds too awkward or uncomfortable to say. Artie often colludes with Larry to achieve a desired end, and is the only person in Larry's professional life that can understand and connect with him. Artie's last name is never mentioned in any episode. The characterization of Artie is heavily inspired by Fred DeCordova, Johnny Carson's longtime producer. Francine is Larry's first wife, whom he begins dating again after Jeannie leaves him. Hank and Artie strongly dislike Francine. Larry's second wife, Jeannie, leaves him to go to
Chicago because she thinks that he is too involved with the show. After she leaves him, Larry takes things very hard and has a minor heart episode. In the episode "Larry's Birthday", it is mentioned that Larry discovered Jerry when Jerry was performing at the comedy club
Catch a Rising Star and hired him as the head writer for his show. Jerry was doing poorly as a comedian and was just about to quit the business before being hired. Due to budgetary reasons, Larry has to fire Jerry and he is unhappy with how bitter Jerry becomes after being fired. Larry becomes unhappy with his previous agent Leo, so he hires Stevie. Stevie is very obnoxious and Artie does not seem to like him very much. However, Stevie is good at what he does initially and he is able to negotiate Larry a very lucrative contract. Larry is impressed that Stevie represents many high-powered clients. In the episode "The Beginning of the End", Larry fires Stevie after finding out that he double-crossed him by becoming comedian
Jon Stewart's agent. Stewart, at this point, is in a position to replace Larry on his talk show, and Stevie negotiates for Stewart rather than Larry before being fired. Grant is believed to be inspired by
Ari Emanuel. Larry feels contempt for Melanie because he tends to dislike network executives. In the episode "
The Garden Weasel", she makes him do live commercials on the show against his will. Larry argues with her afterwards, and she ends up assaulting him. Eventually, Larry once again has to rely on Artie to bluntly tell Melanie that he doesn't want to do the commercials.
Hank Kingsley Hank Kingsley (all seasons) (born
Henry Joseph Lepstein Jr.), played by
Jeffrey Tambor, is the announcer and sidekick on
The Larry Sanders Show, known for his "Hey now!" catchphrase (a takeoff on
Ed McMahon's "Hi-yoooo!"). His father was Henry Joseph Kingsley, Sr., and he was married to Margaret Dolan, whom he later divorced. Hank worked as a
cruise director on a luxury Greek
liner named Andropolis for eight years when he met Larry, who befriended him and took him to the show. Hank is exceptionally fond of Larry, and it is implied on multiple occasions that Hank may harbor some form of romantic or physical attraction toward Larry. Though both Hank and Larry are
narcissistic, they generally act as foils to one another. Larry is
neurotic and evasive, while Hank is open and somewhat naive. Though frequently exasperated by Hank's narcissism and
insecurities, Larry will occasionally step in to help his on-air colleague, such as intervening in Hank's contract renegotiations with the network once it became clear that the top executive Shel Davidoff is not willing to give the sidekick a requested raise. While Larry's narcissistic personality sometimes results in positive outcomes for other characters, Hank's narcissism almost exclusively manifests itself in bullying. Unlike Larry, Hank is more than willing to lend his name to commercial products and tries to cultivate a cult of personality through his little-read newsletters, fan club, and so on. Hank tends to be dense and is frequently the butt of jokes, often without realizing it. While McMahon built success beyond
The Tonight Show as a commercial spokesman and TV host in his own right, Hank's desire to emulate McMahon was constantly foiled by his ego and bumbling attempts at self-aggrandizement. He is generally disrespected among his co-workers because of his ego and dimness. Hank will often act humble and unassuming, especially on camera or in front of media executives and other influential persons, but would become condescending and often quite nasty to anyone whom he perceives to be of a lower status. Hank spends considerable time furthering his career, often endorsing questionable products and working behind Larry's back to ensure his enduring presence on the show, even when Larry is being scrutinized. Hank is shown to be relatively untalented as an on-air personality. In the "Hank's Contract" episode from the first season, the network, represented by its president Shel Davidoff, is so convinced about Hank's lack of options elsewhere in show business that they completely ignore his walk-off threats during contract renegotiations and refuse any of his demands. His limited performing talents become especially apparent in season six, during which it is continuously implied that Hank has no other opportunities after the show's end, as well as the first episode of the third season, in which Hank is forced to take a job reading lottery numbers for the local news. Though it is never explicitly stated, Hank seems as though he might be subtly aware of his inadequacy, causing him to amplify his bullying of coworkers. On the romantic front, during the second season episode "Hank's Wedding", Hank marries a woman named Margaret Dolan who's a regional sales manager for the Sandwich King fast food chain. Only two weeks after meeting her on a personal appearance tour he had been on, Hank proposes through television at the end of an episode of
The Larry Sanders Show. As Larry was getting ready to end that day's show taping following an interview segment with
Adam Sandler, Hank delivered the impromptu proposal into the camera without prior notifying Larry or the executive producer Artie to the latter's great displeasure. However, after Margaret says yes and Hank picks Larry to be his best man, Artie (inspired by
Tiny Tim's 1969 wedding on
Johnny Carson's
Tonight Show that brought in huge ratings) recognizes the potential for increased viewership as a result of Hank doing the same and is now the first to offer to have the wedding on the show, which Hank ecstatically accepts. Following an alcohol-fuelled
bachelor party at a
strip club with
Ed McMahon among the partiers, Hank and Margaret get married on the show with
Alex Trebek officiating the ceremony. The couple got divorced only a year later with Margaret initiating the split unable to deal with Hank's excessive personal and professional focus on Larry to the exclusion of everyone else in his life. Hank does not maintain any long term relationships after the divorce though is occasionally seen on dates while his interaction with
strippers and
female escorts is either shown or implied both before and after his marriage. A
running gag in the series involved Hank sending his assistant to tell Larry that he would like to speak with him, only to then approach Larry asking "You wanted to see me?" Artie described him once as someone who means well, but "keeps his brain at home in a box". In the final episode ("Flip," original airdate 5/31/98), it is revealed that Hank offered his assistant Brian a job paying $300 a week ($503.50 in 2021 dollars) with no benefits, and that Brian was thinking of taking it.
Artie "
Artie"
(all seasons), played by
Rip Torn, is the producer of
The Larry Sanders Show. His last name is never mentioned during the run of the show, but his full first name is
Arthur. He has three sons named Eddie, Steve, and Cully, a grandfather named Jacob, and a mother named Adel. He has been married four times; his most recent wife is named Elaine. Artie is often shown drinking (typically either following a show taping or during a stressful situation), with his beverages of choice including vodka
Salty Dogs and
Glenlivet scotch whisky. Artie served in the
Marine Corps during the
Korean War. His first job in show business was as a bouncer. Artie's first job as a producer was on
The Jackie Gleason Show, under producer Bob Sterling. He had replaced Sterling as producer after working on the show for six months. Artie also worked on
The Jack Paar Show and
The Dick Cavett Show during his career prior to becoming producer of
The Larry Sanders Show. Artie is tough and very loyal to Larry, essentially taking on a fatherlike mentor role to Larry. He has a special ability to manipulate people into doing exactly what is best for the show. According to several interviews with both Rip Torn and series creator
Garry Shandling, the character of Artie is largely based on long-serving TV and Film producer
Fred De Cordova who produced (and eventually executive-produced)
The Tonight Show for over twenty years, encompassing almost all of Johnny Carson's run as host including his iconic final broadcast. De Cordova himself guest-starred as himself in episode "Eight" and "As My Career Lay Dying". De Cordova reportedly presented Torn with a copy of the former's memoir,
Johnny Came Lately: An Autobiography, inscribed "To the other Fred". Like most of the employees on the show, Artie has little respect for Hank and believes he makes a number of very poor decisions. However Artie is wise enough to understand the dynamic relationship between Larry and Hank, and is often looking out for him as a result (see Hank's Divorce Episode). Along with Hank, Artie strongly dislikes Larry's ex-wife Francine and is very unhappy when she reunites with him; when Larry is with Francine, he does not put full effort into the show. Artie has never forgiven Francine for smashing Larry's People Choice Award. Artie dislikes all agents but he especially dislikes Stevie, Larry's sleazy and obnoxious agent, whom he slams against a wall for
backstabbing Larry. Artie is very proud of Larry after he fires Stevie In the episode "The Beginning of the End". Artie, like Larry, dislikes most network executives; but unlike Larry, he is able to deal with them. Larry depends on Artie to deal with executive Melanie for him. Artie mentions several times that he thinks that he killed a man like Melanie in
Korea.
Personal assistants Beverly Barnes Beverly Barnes, played by
Penny Johnson (all seasons), is Larry Sanders' personal assistant. Larry depends upon Beverly to do many simple tasks for him and she is very loyal to him. In the episode "The Breakdown (Part Two)", Beverly sleeps with Larry. Afterward, they both agree that it was a mistake to sleep together; however, in the episode "Office Romance" there is an implication that she still might have tender feelings for Larry when she abruptly leaves the office one day out of anger at his brief sexual relationship with Hank's secretary Darlene, saying, "Twice in one day is two times too many." While respecting Larry and her mostly white co-workers, she sometimes expresses concern over what she feels is a lack of
African Americans booked on the show. In "Beverly and the Prop Job" she even goes so far as to almost quit and work as the personal assistant to
Laurence Fishburne after her cousin (played by
Paul Mooney) convinces her that Larry's pushing of menial tasks on her (such as lacing up—but not shining—his shoes) makes Larry little more than a thinly veiled
slavemaster. But after talking with her father, she comes to the conclusion that Larry is "a wonderful guy", who also pays more money than Laurence Fishburne. Unrelated to her race, she also briefly resents Larry in the episode "Would You Do Me a Favor?" when she complains about him not appreciating all the work and help she provides for him. Beverly reveals she is pregnant in the episode "Beverly’s Secret", and her co-workers all place bets on who the father is. It is revealed that
Eriq La Salle, one of the guests appearing on the show in the episode, is the father, after Larry, out of respect for Beverly, berates and insults
Michael Bolton as he believes Bolton is the one who impregnated her only to then abandon her.
Darlene Chapinni Darlene Chapinni, played by
Linda Doucett,
(seasons 1–3) was employed as sidekick Hank Kingsley's
personal assistant for the first three seasons of the program. She quit her job as assistant (in episode two of season four) via a
FedEx letter, informing Hank that she had chosen to follow a "holy man" in
India. She is last seen in the final episode "Flip". After Darlene leaves, the personal assistant position is filled by Brian (whose last name is never given), played by
Scott Thompson of
The Kids in the Hall.
Brian Brian, played by
Scott Thompson (seasons 4–6), replaced Darlene as Hank's assistant. Upon being introduced, Brian said he was a "big fan" and impressed him by quoting the introduction from a game show Hank once hosted. Brian is openly gay, and although Hank seems uncomfortable at first, he is okay with Brian's orientation. In one episode, Hank is mistaken for being gay after a night on the town with Brian. Like Darlene, Brian is loyal to Hank, and even offers Hank advice from time to time. In season 6, Brian threatens to sue the show for sexual harassment after getting tired of Phil's gay jokes, but the suit is apparently called off after a surprising turn of events. In the final episode ("Flip," original airdate 5/31/98), Brian tells Mary Lou that Hank offered him a job paying $300 a week ($503.50 in 2021 dollars) with no benefits, and he was thinking of taking it.
Writing staff Jerry Capen Jerry Capen, played by
Jeremy Piven,
(seasons 1–2) is the show's head writer, but is fired from the show by Artie due to his
promiscuous and consistently unprofessional nature in the episode "Larry's Birthday". His mother is named Shirley. Capen is first seen in the episode "The Promise".
Phil Phil, played by
Wallace Langham,
(all seasons) is the show's head writer after Capen's departure. Phil's surname is never mentioned in the run of the series. He is the only character outside the main three to appear in every episode. The character Phil begins his career as a writer for
The Larry Sanders Show under the then-head writer Jerry, played by Jeremy Piven. After Jerry was written off of the show, it went several episodes without having the head writer character. Phil then persuaded Artie to promote him to head writer and then wanted to demote himself because he felt that the work was not as enjoyable as it was before. Although Phil is quite young, he displays levels of bitterness, cynicism, and jadedness rarely seen in young professionals. He further doesn't take well to Larry's and Artie's occasional criticism of his writing and often feels unappreciated. Based on working with and around him, the show staffers observed Phil's material to improve whenever he is emotionally unfulfilled as seen when his girlfriend dumps him and Larry describes the monologue as never having been that good before. He is a Buddhist. At one point he leaves the show to develop a pilot for the network about a band from Seattle only to have his writing criticized by the network executives and by the future star of the show,
Dave Chappelle, who says that Phil shouldn't be writing a "black show" even though it was never Phil's intention to write one. Phil frequently makes sexist and homophobic comments, and generally does not seem to like racial diversity on the show - mentioning that his Asian characters are often female because it is "killing two birds with one stone." In the season five episode "The New Writer," Phil uses his role as the head writer to intentionally suppress Wendy's jokes in order to make her seem untalented, claiming that "women aren't funny."
Wendy Traston Wendy Traston, played by
Sarah Silverman,
(seasons 5–6) is brought on as a staff writer in the episode "The New Writer". However, her jokes are not used because of the chauvinism and bias of the head writer, Phil, who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She appeared in several episodes during the last two seasons.
Mike Patterson Michael "Mike" Patterson is a writer played by
John Riggi (seasons 1–3) who is brought on as a staff writer on
The Larry Sanders Show before Jerry is fired. Patterson is first seen in the episode "Larry's Birthday", and last seen in the episode "Headwriter". Patterson was created by
Maya Forbes.
Talent bookers Paula Paula, played by
Janeane Garofalo,
(seasons 1–5) is the show's talent booker (although another character, Kiki, is shown as the talent booker in the season 2 episode "Performance Artist"). Throughout the run of the series, her last name is never mentioned. She has a very dry sense of humor and cringes at any display of sentimentality. In the second-season episode "Artie's Gone", Arthur trusts her to produce the show on her own. In the episode "Montana", as Larry is trying to assemble the show's former staffers after what turned out to be his short-lived retirement from show business, he approaches Paula to gauge her interest in continuing at her old job. She says that she has an offer to be the associate producer on the ''
Conan O'Brien Show''. Larry's response comes in the form of a question: "I can understand why you'd want to take the Conan O'Brien job over this one. It's a good sh... How long do you think that's going to stay on the air?", to which frightened Paula replies: "See you Monday". However, Paula's second stint with the show is not without problems as Larry comes very close to firing her in the episode "The Gift Episode" after several high-profile guests pull out of the commitment despite already being booked. In a conversation with Artie, Larry expresses a personal opinion that Paula isn't right for the job "because she doesn't have the right personality". He goes on to state that "she's too....", but before Larry can finish, Artie interjects with three offerings "abrasive?", "brusque?", and "incapable of putting a performer at ease because she has a basic contempt for the business?". Larry's answer is a vehement "no" after each of the first two, and a strong "yes" after the third one. In the episode "The Matchmaker", she gets an inexperienced assistant, Mary Lou Collins, who makes frequent mistakes in research notes for Larry's interviews leading to several on-air embarrassing situations during the
Nicollette Sheridan segment. Paula last appears in "Pain Equals Funny". After performing the booking job for five years, she gets an offer to be the producer on a daytime program
Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends. On one hand, she is not thrilled about going to
daytime, but on the other, it's the realization of her dream to one day produce. Also, as she tells Larry about her present job while informing him that she's leaving: "I can only derive a limited amount of personal satisfaction from booking the parrot lady". Larry wants to keep her and immediately offers her a promotion to produce
The Larry Sanders Show. According to how Larry envisioned her promotion right there on the spot, she'd be working under the show's longtime executive producer Artie, which she ecstatically accepts. However, the arrangement quickly turns sour as Artie, already feeling disrespected and threatened by the whole proceeding, walks off the show following a disagreement with Paula over a production issue of lighting during which Larry takes her side. Faced with a sudden crisis, Larry lets her produce that day's show by herself, before summoning her to his office to inform her that the arrangement won't work and ask her to see if the daytime job is still open. On the same occasion, he lets her know how much he's always liked her, basically coming on to her, and also expressing hope that once all has settled down they can maybe go out. Angry and flattered at the same time, perplexed Paula says that she's never been fired this way. As she's packing her stuff the next day, Artie approaches Paula at her desk and after imparting some words of wisdom from his long experience being a producer says that there are still some tricks that he could teach her, meaning that he had a change of heart and is now fine with her working alongside him. However, the very next day after seeing her in the office, Larry is now unhappy to learn about the new turn because as he says to Artie: "I never would've told her I liked her if I'd known she was staying". This was the last time the character of Paula appeared on the show. In the canon of the show, it is unclear whether the character of Paula remained employed or was later dismissed. The supporting cast in general is featured less in the sixth season, so it is conceivable that, in the show's universe, the character of Paula is still employed during this time but is simply never shown.
Mary Lou Collins Mary Lou Collins, played by
Mary Lynn Rajskub,
(seasons 5–6) is an assistant talent booker. Working under Paula, she frequently makes mistakes in researching the celebrities, which led to Larry looking foolish on air. However, Mary Lou eventually became more competent in the position and fills Paula's shoes. Outside of her role as a talent booker, Mary Lou is frequently shown to be socially inept and have very low IQ. In season 6's
The Interview, Mary Lou accidentally hits Hank's car, but has difficulty confessing this to him. As a result, Hank misunderstands her confession attempts as her having a crush on him, and invites her to dinner. Mary Lou confides in Beverly that she's attracted to sensitive men (which Hank is far from), and later tries to subtly rebuff every move Hank makes on her. However, when Hank breaks down while watching Larry being interviewed on
Extra (TV series), Mary Lou finds herself attracted to him.
Kiki Rosatti Kiki Rosatti, played by
Maureen Mueller,
(season 2) is shown as head booker in the episode "Performance Artist".
Cue card Sid Sid, played by Sid Newman
(all seasons), holds the
cue cards for Larry during the show. He dies by
suicide in the last season, with Hank blaming himself. ==Professional associates==