ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 13, 1996 TAG: 9611130039
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JENNIFER BOWLES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Can you imagine David Duchovny, that brooding heartthrob from ``The X-Files,'' in love with the offbeat, paranoid talk show host Larry Sanders?
Say it isn't so!
But that's the hilarious premise of the fifth season premiere episode of HBO's ``The Larry Sanders Show,'' starring Garry Shandling, which airs tonight at 9 p.m.
The idea came straight from Duchovny himself, Shandling says.
``He plays basketball with me when he's here instead of Vancouver [filming `The X-Files'],'' Shandling says. ``One day on the basketball court he said, `Wouldn't it be funny if Larry thought David Duchovny had a crush on him?'
``The next thing I knew, I had stolen the ball from him and scored two points. So then I said, `That's a good idea,' so we did it. He's so funny in that, isn't he?'' Shandling asks during a recent telephone conversation.
Yes, he is, and so is Shandling - star, creator, writer and executive producer of the critically acclaimed show, which focuses on the life of a fictitious late-night talk show host and the behind-the-scene madness of creating such a show.
It figures that Shandling would do a show like this - he has the perfect background as a stand-up comic and frequent ``Tonight Show'' guest host during the early to mid-1980s.
``It was purely to do something that creatively was stimulating, in terms of creating something that would allow me as an actor to grow and become more reality-based,'' he says.
``Since I knew this world, I thought this might be a good arena to write about. It was either that or the pet shop business, which is what my mother does,'' he adds with his typical deadpan delivery.
Now, four years later, Shandling admits the pressure to come up with ideas for the show is getting more and more difficult.
``It is so hard to come up with new things on the show, and I hope that was one that works,'' he says of the premiere. ``It's like a relationship where you get to know the person and you're with them every day and you have to figure out how to make it fresh. And so I've been in therapy for the show for the last six months.''
One way he deals with the problem is by focusing on timely issues. Ellen DeGeneres, who's rumored to come out as a lesbian on her series ``Ellen'' this season, is an upcoming guest on the show.
``It's a very funny show in which Larry tries to get her to come on the talk show and talk about all the controversy on the show and there's a very interesting twist that happens,'' he says.
Being contemporary, though, also has landed him in a tight squeeze.
A scene this coming season dealing with Tupac Shakur had to be scrapped and replaced after the rapper was fatally shot in Las Vegas. And a reference to Morey Amsterdam had to be reshot after the comedian died recently.
``Unfortunately, that happens because the show is topical,'' Shandling says. ``We went in yesterday and reshot and changed Morey Amsterdam to Steven Spielberg.''
Aside from DeGeneres, upcoming guests on the show this season include Sally Field, Tim Conway, Sting and Warren Littlefield, just to name a few.
Continuing regulars include Jeffrey Tambor as Sanders' on-air sidekick and Rip Torn as his harried producer. Torn won an Emmy this year for best supporting actor in a comedy series.
Back only for a few episodes is Janeane Garofalo, who plays the talent booker. The actress is branching off to the big screen after the success of her film ``The Truth About Cats and Dogs.''
``Her character threatens to quit the show because she's been offered a job producing `The Mommies' and then she stays on for one more episode,'' Shandling says. ``Hopefully, she'll come back when she has time.''
Time is something Shandling says he has little of, because much of his is spent writing for the show.
``That's the biggest problem in my life is that, not unlike many people who work on a television series, it becomes your life,'' he says. ``I have very few free hours and I try to spend those hours resting and recuperating.''
When writing about his alter ego, how much of Shandling himself goes into Larry Sanders?
``I would say 50 percent,'' Shandling says. ``The 50 percent that's the same is the part that's pressured, and sort of searching and trying to balance. And the 50 percent that isn't like Larry is the part that's very obsessed with show business and enjoys being on TV every night and enjoys the fame.''
Besides, he says, ``Larry has a much bigger ego.''
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB