Judd Apatow is a filmmaker who has obsessively chronicled male bonding rituals in his comedies. His mentor was Garry Shandling, the genius behind The Larry Sanders Show. Shandling died two years ago, and this week Apatow is putting out a love letter to his friend in the form of the HBO documentary The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. For MEL, I wrote about the film -- specifically, how it picks up a familiar thematic thread from Apatow's previous work. You can read my essay here.
