The Larry Sanders Show in its use of celebrity guests, its lack of laugh track, and its comedy of embarrassment by "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "The Office" and "Arrested Development". Shandling's performance is a precursor to Larry David's in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Ricky Gervais ("The Office", "Extras") as David Brent. Gervais said in "Variety" that he was heavily influenced by the show and that "It taught me that flawed characters can be compulsive viewing — seeing them squirm and get their comeuppance." Armando Iannucci said that his political satire "The Thick of It" strove to mix comedy and authenticity in a similar manner to
David Mirkin David Mirkin David Mirkin (born September 18, 1955) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up comedian, and then moved into television writing. He wrote for the sitcoms "Three's Company", "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "The Larry Sanders Show" and served as showrunner on the series "Newhart". After an unsuccessful attempt to remake the British series "The Young Ones", Mirkin created "Get a Life" in