Ricky Gervais meets Garry Shandling: Remembering the most awkward yet human encounter in television history

In late 2006, Ricky Gervais was a man in demand. Hot off the heels of The Office and Extras, the man who’d found fame in middle-age was reveling in calling the shots and doing precisely what he wanted. From a charity boxing match with Anthea Turner’s husband to a series of children’s book about nonsense animals in the vein of Edward Lear, Gervais was making up for lost time.

Perhaps the most intriguing project from this period was Ricky Gervais Meets…, a series of specials for Channel 4 in which the comedian visited a comedy idol and discussed the business of being funny. The first two episodes were entertaining enough, informal chats with Larry David and Christopher Guest about Seinfeld, Spinal Tap and everything in between. Nothing, however, could have prepared anyone for the third and final episode of the series; Ricky Gervais Meets… Garry Shandling.

Shandling, who passed away last year, was one of the most influential comics of his generation. With It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show, he reinvented what television comedy could be by focusing on human emotions and deconstructing traditional tropes. The latter, his masterpiece, was undeniably a huge influence on Gervais and the stage was set for the most awkward hour of television in living memory. A decade on, the encounter is nothing short of legendary among comedy connoisseurs, not least because it seemed to result in Ricky Gervais Meets… being retired once and for all.

In a provocative opening sequence, Gervais, while having makeup applied, comments on his hero’s “funny hair and funny teeth”. He goes on to acknowledge the brilliance of Shandling but it is a strange start to a programme paying tribute to a television pioneer. If he is attempting to make the viewer uncomfortable from the outset, this is mere child’s play in comparison to the conversation we are about to witness.

The Englishman arrives at Shandling’s Los Angeles mansion and rifles through the fridge like some Reading-born Kramer. The host enters the room, his guest glances at the door and the scalding begins: “Why did you ruin that moment by looking?” Gervais is taken aback and the tone is set before the pair have even shaken hands. Attempting to appease the writer and star of his favourite sitcom, Gervais places a friendly hand around his shoulder. The response? “Don’t touch me.”

The “interview” carries on in this vein. Shandling refers to his guest’s most recent series as “The Extras” and one wonders whether the mistake is intentional. Gervais questions whether contact lenses should be changed over the sink and is asked, “What are you, controlling?” These two men, both avid boxing fans, are engaged in a heavyweight battle. Will the ageing champion successfully put the young upstart in his place?

Ten years later, it is easy to forget that there are moments in which the odd couple actually connect in a meaningful way. There is a genuine moment of bonding when Woody Allen’s name comes up and they seem to agree that 'Hank’s Night in the Sun' is the finest episode in the entire Larry Sanders canon. Unfortunately, these are hidden between incidents like Shandling berating Gervais for dressing up as a Nazi for laughs and suggesting he has an aversion to casting Jews. The interviewer, justifying the nature of his material, says: “Real uncomfortable moments are funny in retrospect.” This encounter, however, still feels excruciating.

As is so often the way, there is an element of confirmation bias in the interpretation of what occurred. Those with a negative view of Gervais tend to believe Shandling took an instant dislike to the man and wanted to do nothing more than humiliate him. The truth, as always, is more nuanced. In an interview years later, Shandling explained that the plan was to shoot an interview with Gervais for the Larry Sanders DVDs, in the awkward, uncomfortable style he favoured before moving on to the more conventional, relaxed chat his guest was after. Walking into the kitchen, Shandling noticed the cameras were rolling and they belonged to Channel 4. The Zen master made a decision in the moment and opted to try and engage Gervais in a non-interview. He said:

“We both became locked into the shows we were each doing, and it became a bit of a boxing match. Because he’s trying to get me to do the show that he needs, and I’m trying to get him to do nothing. I was trying to pull Ricky into the moment.”

Whatever the truth of the matter, there is something undeniably real and human about the exchange, like the infamous Amy Winehouse appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. People talk about their discomfort watching shows like those created by the two men involved here but, however perfectly executed, there is still an element of artifice. When Shandling makes a coffee and Gervais is stunned not to be offered one, it is the closest television has ever got to truth and feels genuinely hard to watch. Shandling all but retired from TV after the Larry Sanders finale went out in 1998 so it is tempting to view this as the last great work of the master. As the credits roll, he turns to a producer and says, “Sorry, I did the best I could.” And, in a strange way, he’s not wrong.