In 1981, Shandling performed a stand-up routine on "The Tonight Show" and subsequently became a regular guest, particularly at short notice. He also began appearing as a guest host and, in 1986, replaced Joan Rivers as "permanent guest host." He was considered to be a possible, although unlikely, successor to Johnny Carson. After Jay Leno replaced Carson in 1992, Shandling was offered his own late-night (1 a.m.) talk show but preferred instead to create "a show about a talk-show", "The Larry Sanders Show." The series has similarities to "The Player", "The King of Comedy" and classic Hollywood back-stage musicals with their "let's put on a show" theme, but the links to "The Tonight Show" are so strong it verges on parody. Alex Pareene commented "Shandling turned down hosting a network late night show to do a brilliant cult hit sitcom about a version of himself who took the deal."