‘The Zen Diaries of Gary Shandling’ Trailer: Judd Apatow Examines A Comedy Legend

Judd Apatow’s newest film, the 4 ½ hour documentary “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” finds the director examining his hero, former boss, and certified comedy legend. The HBO film, tracks the entire life of Apatow mentor, with a notable focus on Shandling’s Buddhist beliefs, and features interviews with over 40 of his personal friends and family including James L. Brooks, Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, David Coulier, Jon Favreau, Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Conan O’Brien, Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman. Here’s the official synopsis:

When Shandling passed away in 2016, he was widely remembered as a top stand-up comic and the star of two of the most innovative sitcoms in TV history. But to those who knew him, the “real” Garry Shandling was a far more complex person. Now, Judd Apatow has created a remarkable portrait of this iconic comedian in THE ZEN DIARIES OF GARRY SHANDLING, which debuts in two parts in March, exclusively on HBO. Epic in scope and intimate in detail, THE ZEN DIARIES OF GARRY SHANDLING features conversations with more than 40 of Shandling’s family and friends, including James L. Brooks, Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, David Coulier, Jon Favreau, Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Conan O’Brien, Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman, and four decades’ worth of TV appearances, along with personal journals, private letters and candid home audio and video footage that reveal his brilliant mind and restless soul.

Shandling, who died in 2016, was perhaps best known for his groundbreaking show “The Larry Sanders Show” that not only redefined the sitcom format, but also solidified HBO’s place as a premium network in the early ’90s. Apatow, in fact, was a writer on the show and good friends with Shandling until his death, even hosting a memorial service for the comic that was, by all accounts, quite epic.

“The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling” premiere in two parts on March 26 and 27th on HBO.