It's Garry Shandling's Show
Mr. Smith Goes to Nam
TV Flash files “Mr. Smith Goes to Nam” as the last listed hour of season 2 — It's Garry Shandling's Show (1986–1990) on Showtime, season 2, episode 17, aired 1988-03-18, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E17: listed hour 33 of 72 in the It's Garry Shandling's Show guide, last listed hour of season 2. It aired 1988-03-18 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Garry Falls Down a Hole” (S02E16). Next is “Goin' Places” (S03E01).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Mr. Smith Goes to Nam sit in the It's Garry Shandling's Show guide?
S02E17 is listed hour 33 of 72 — last listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 17.
When did It's Garry Shandling's Show S02E17 air?
Mr. Smith Goes to Nam aired 1988-03-18 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need Larry Sanders first?
Reverse that. This Showtime meta-sitcom invents the self-aware grammar Sanders later weaponized. Fourth wall, theme song, studio audience as props — the ancestor, not the sequel.
In the series
Why this series still plays
This is the theme to Garry's show — and he will tell you so, then walk through the wall. Showtime's meta-sitcom treats the studio audience, the theme song, and the fourth wall as props. Neurotic cable comedy that invents the self-aware sitcom grammar The Larry Sanders Show would later weaponize. Short, strange, and still ahead.
Showtime, 1986–1990, later Fox reruns: a comedian lives a sitcom life and constantly reminds you you are watching television. That is the window, not a golden-age confession with extra linen. It's Garry Shandling's Show is Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel breaking the fourth wall for sport — studio audience, theme song, and the wall itself as props. Molly Cheek and Jessica Harper orbit a neurotic who will tell you this is the theme to Garry's show, then walk through it. Cable comedy prestige before it was a boom.…
Filed against
- Garry Shandling as Garry Shandling
Garry Shandling played Garry Shandling until the fourth wall was a prop — It’s Garry Shandling’s Show as 1980s catalog meta-sitcom, then The Larry Sanders Show turning the neurosis into HBO ego blood sport. TV Flash files him as the man…
- Molly Cheek as Nancy Bancroft
Molly Cheek’s Nancy Bancroft lived inside It’s Garry Shandling’s Show while Garry walked through the wall — 1980s Showtime meta-sitcom, studio audience as a prop, a theme song that introduces itself. Neurotic cable comedy inventing…
- Jessica Harper as Phoebe Bass
Jessica Harper’s Phoebe Bass walked through the wall of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show — theme song as a character, studio audience as a prop, 1980s Showtime meta-sitcom inventing the self-aware grammar a later talk-show satire would…