Review by Win Wiacek

Following an Introduction from Ron Jackson Suresha and the standard recaps, the highly strung hilarity continues from Excerpts from the Ring Cycle in Royal Albert Hall much as it always has.

As portrayed by creator Tim Barela, Leonard Goldman and Larry Evans live together in relatively calm, happily and expressively snide happiness, despite vast family circles and friend groups all at odds with each other. As well as an overwhelming panoply of real life travails and traumas, their existences are complicated by redoubling dreams, weird events and increasingly odd fantasy and dream manifestations, such the ghosts of composers Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his bitter frenemy Johannes Brahms. They plague many cast members, acting always as the vanguard of even odder occurrences to come.

Their original focus was Larry’s store employee Jim Buchanan whose alarming dating history stabilised when he met a genuine cowboy. Merle Oberon was a newly “out” Texan trucker who added romance and stability to Jim’s lonely life. Sadly, once Merle became a Hollywood soap star and his agents, managers and co-star convinced him his career needed Oberon back in that closet. That extremely long-running plot thread comes to a most satisfactory conclusion here after Merle comes out in the most spectacular stunt TV sitcoms have ever seen. It also brings fresh perils when Merle’s scheming PA Vicky decides to add poor timid Jim to the list of gay men she’s attempted to cure with her bodily allure and ruthless manipulations.

As the demanding ghost composers play pranks on more of the minor cast members, their wild games and snarky comments are always balanced by the slow panic of ever-kvetching aging-averse Larry refusing to adapt to being a doting grandad/perennial babysitter while observing his failing facilities. Even the local gym for “his people” don’t want him: apparently hairy men are so last decade. Larry does, however, find some new lease on life when Leonard has the kitchen redone and he meets the burly contractors toiling hard and stripped down to their skivvies in the fierce Melrose summer heat.

As the Millennium approaches, Larry becomes extremely house proud and increasingly voyeuristic. However, all hopes for “easy eyefuls” and schemes to arrange for good-looking, similarly minded pretty men to move in next door are disasters, leading to shame, humiliation, Leonard’s sustained mockery, minor injury and the world’s worst case of “be careful what you wish for”.

After losing his safe comfy show, Texan star Merle joins the cast of a Sesame Street knock-off where he learns puppets, puppeteers and kids’ entertainers are a breed unto themselves.

With younger players taking centre stage, Barela takes every opportunity to spike not just anti-gay bigots, but take on good old-fashioned racism and dated ideas too, such as granddaughter Lauren’s inappropriate underwear moment. There are also gleefully potent pokes at American fundamentalism, as when the “Christian Coalition” relentlessly pursue anti-gay marriage legislation Proposition 22 and seeks to “turn” Larry’s Lauren into a propaganda spouting angel of good.

The series ends on an accidental cliffhanger as Good God-fearing Christians buy the building complex David lives in and start evicting tenants. Just the ones with same-sex roommates of course. That was where it all ended back then, but now we have The Complete Leonard & Larry supplying the conclusion.

In any form Leonard & Larry remains an irresistible slice of gentle whimsy to nourish the spirit and beguile the jaded palate.