It was no laughing matter when heavyweight comedians Garry Shandling and Jay Leno went round after round in an explosive feud!
The fight of the funnymen erupted after Jay landed the prized late-night spot on “The Tonight Show” in 1992 — and Garry came out swinging.
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“Garry had been considered a leading contender to take over ‘The Tonight Show’ whenever Johnny Carson retired,” a source spilled to The National ENQUIRER.
“But his stock slipped in the late 1980s, and when Carson did retire in 1992, Garry and David Letterman were passed over in favor of Jay. When Garry played a fictional late-night TV host on ‘The Larry Sanders Show,’ he got his revenge on Jay!
“Jay became the butt of numerous jokes on ‘Sanders,’ and while he took it in good humor for a while, before long Jay wouldn’t even discuss Garry. The two became enemies.”
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On one episode of “Sanders,” Artie — played by Rip Torn — praised Larry after he flirtatiously interviewed a female guest, telling him, “Leno couldn’t do that flirting thing. It would make people sick!”
Tragically, Garry, who died of a massive heart attack on March 24, took the bitter bust-up to his grave.
