Garry On

Shandling is shooting a scene with Jeffrey Tambor, who plays his obsequious sidekick, Hank Kingsley. Their characters are filling time and scraping the bottom of the talk-show barrel: Hank's doing card tricks. At the illusion's end, Hank produces ''Larry's card'' — the three of hearts.

Larry feigns amazement on the air, but as soon as the show-within-the-show's camera turns off, he turns on Hank. ''My card was the nine of diamonds, asshole,'' he sneers.

The first time Shandling delivers the line, it gets a huge laugh. ''I'm proud of that one,'' he beams. ''Score one for Shandling.''

But by the fourth take, the line is familiar, the laughter is absent, and doubt creeps up on Shandling. He walks over to his girlfriend, Linda Doucett, who plays Hank's naive assistant, Darlene, and the questions begin again. ''Was that too mean?'' he asks.
''No,'' she reassures him. ''That's totally their relationship.''

Garry Shandling has a headache. It's after 11 p.m., near the end of a punishing 13-hour-plus shooting day. Two-thirds of the audience, who arrived at 7 p.m., have trickled out. There's only one scene left to shoot: a pie-eating contest.

Tambor, wearing a red-striped barber's bib and goggles, sits down at the table as Shandling, his dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar, frets madly. ''Can I wear the glasses?'' he asks no one in particular. ''I'm just in a white shirt? Is this funny?''

Once the actors bury their heads in the pies, the answer is clear: It's very funny. Hank lifts his head and starts to deliver his catchphrase, ''Hey, now!'' then regurgitates blueberry filling. It's a silly sight gag, but one as spontaneously uproarious as Ed Ames' immortal Tonight Show tomahawk throw, and the studio explodes with laughter.

''You know,'' Shandling quips, ''this is worse than when we had the chimp on.'' After a few more seconds of uncontrollable guffaws from the crowd, Shandling pops up from the table and tears off his blueberry-stained shirt.

''All right, we got this,'' he says wearily. ''That was hilarious.''
Finally, as a topless Garry Shandling walks off stage, he has found the answer to all of his self-analytical questions: When in doubt, go for the pie gag.

The Assistants, Darlene and Beverly
Linda Doucett and Penny Johnson
Make-Believe: ''Last year Darlene was sleeping with all the guests,'' says Doucett (The Young and the Restless), Shandling's real-life live-in girlfriend. ''But so far this year, she's a virgin.'' Johnson (Class of '61), who plays Larry's right-hand woman, says, ''Beverly is a bounce-things-off-of person for Larry. She just loves her boss.''
Reality: Doucett, 35, will appear semi-nude in the September Playboy. Johnson, 30, is a born-again Christian.

The Writers, Jerry and Phil
Jeremy Piven and Wallace Langham
Make-Believe: ''Self-preservation is A-number-one for both Jerry and Phil,'' says Piven (''George'' on Seinfeld's season finale), with Langham (WIOU). ''They're friends, but each wants to get his jokes on the air.''
Reality: The cast originally called only for the character of Phil, but Shandling couldn't decide between Piven, 28, and Langham, 28, so Jerry was created. ''We're very different people,'' Piven says.

The Producer, Artie
Rip Torn
Make Believe: ''Artie is a warrior, a street guy who learned to put a little culture over his rough edges,'' Torn (Cross Creek, Defending Your Life) says. ''But sometimes you see what a barbarian he really is. It's funny to see him put himself back into his jacket, so to speak.''
Reality: A veteran dramatic actor on stage and in films, Torn, 62, says he is happy doing a sitcom. ''I always thought if I did a series it would be a Western, or something like Homicide. I'm delighted to be getting laughs.''

The Sidekick, Hank
Jeffrey Tambor
Make-Believe: ''There's a childlike vulnerable aspect to Hank — he's very sensitive — which is very non-1993,'' says Tambor (The Ropers, Hill Street Blues). ''It's refreshing because everything today is so slick. He anachronistic, a throwback.''
Reality: Hank's tag line ''Hey, now!'' has become a real-life catchphrase, Tambor, 48, reports. ''I get a lot of 'Hey, now!' from people walking by on the street,'' he says. ''Sometimes people yell it from passing cars, which is interesting.''

The Booker, Paula
Janeane Garofalo
Make-Believe: ''I based Paula on casting agents who make you feel like a jerk,'' says Garofalo (The Ben Stiller Show), ''you're impinging on their personal time and space just by showing up for your appointment.''
Reality: A stand-up comic, Garofalo, 28, says she hasn't appeared on Leno or Letterman because their bookers object to her hard-edged material.