- don t touch that dial. we re about to flip it for you. - in five, four, three, two. - tv is changing dramatically now with 150 channels that might be available in the near future. - there s a lot of things that we do that you couldn t have on network television. - people are really trying to do something adventurous. [both gasp] all: channel 7, shame on you. - this is more a celebration of culture and opening the doors and allowing america to come on inside. - there s always something on television, and some of it may be better than we deserve. - [laughs] that was cool. [dramatic music] - listen to it. oh! [crowd cheering] they know when it hits the bottom, it ll be 1990. good-bye to the 80s in. all: ten, nine. all: eight. eight! eight! eight! - oh, will this horrible year never end? - when the 90s begin, we re starting to see a lot of experimentation. [gunshots] all: [quickly] seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! [cheering] - and the simpsons, i think, in some
- when we started doing dream on, one of the things that hbo said to us was, it s gotta be something that couldn t be on network tv. [upbeat music] - because hbo was driven by subscribers and not by commercials and selling advertising time, they had a different way of looking at success or failure. what they were looking for was critical acclaim. - you ve watched letterman. you ve watched leno. but what about larry? larry sanders, that is. he s the tv alter ego of comedian gary shandling. - gary shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show that the tonight show was. - just pretend like you re talking to me till we re off the air so it won t seem weird. - okay. all right. - so. - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. - the larry sanders show was sort of cathartic, because in the world of the larry sanders show, there was a network. - do you want me to [bleep] with your budget? is that what you want me to do?
[eerie music] - by the 90s, hbo had started to begin its explosion. - when we started doing dream on, one of the things that hbo said to us was, it s gotta be something that couldn t be on network tv. [upbeat music] - because hbo was driven by subscribers and not by commercials and selling advertising time, they had a different way of looking at success or failure. what they were looking for was critical acclaim. - you ve watched letterman. you ve watched leno. but what about larry? larry sanders, that is. he s the tv alter ego of comedian gary shandling. - gary shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show that the tonight show was. - just pretend like you re talking to me till we re off the air so it won t seem weird. - okay. all right. - so. - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. - the larry sanders show was sort of cathartic,
The white house, cookouts, basketball in the back. in the late 80s hbo was just sort of gaining ground for series. by the 90s hbo had started to begin its explosion. when we started doing dream on, one of the things hbo said to us was it s got to be something that couldn t be on network tv. because hbo was driven by subscribes are and not by commercials and selling advertising time, they had a different way of looking at success or failure. what they were looking for was critical acclaim. you ve watched letterman. you ve watched leno, but what about larry? larry sanders, that is. he s the tv alter ego of comedian garry shandling. garry shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show the tonight show was. just pretend like you re talking to me till we re off
Described by one critic as the series that will change tv. it s directed by david lynch. david lynch was a filmmaker known for his taste in the eccentric and memorable. the idea that he would do network television in the 90s was crazy. do you watch much of it? well, i-i-i like, uh, the idea of television, but i m too busy to see very much of it. and i, what do you think of that which you do see on television? well, some of it i, you know, i really, uh, enjoy. are you being diplomatic? sort of. [ scream ] the beautiful thing about television is you have the chance to do a continuing story and that s the main reason, you know, for doing it. i think that twin peaks with the initial attention that it got allowed all the other networks to say, let s do something different.