Judd Apatow rocks out in Garry Shandling tribute on night one of ‘The Hanukkah Sessions’

The director did a solid job covering Blood, Sweat and Tears as part of Dave Grohl’s holiday series

Judd Apatow. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

By PJ Grisar December 19, 2022

Hey now! Happy Hanukkah! For the first night of the holiday, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin’s Hanukkah Sessions welcomed director Judd Apatow onto the stage to show off his vocal talents on Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel.”

Why “Spinning Wheel” and not, say, “I Have a Little Dreidel?” Apatow said up top that he chose the song because of sidekick Hank Kingsley’s memorable rendition on The Larry Sanders Show.

“This is a tribute to Garry and to Hank,” Apatow said, referencing his friend and the star and co-creator of The Larry Sanders Show, the late Garry Shandling. He did not pay lip service to the actor who played Hank Kingsley, Jeffrey Tambor, who has been accused of sexual misconduct (Tambor denies the allegations).

Accompanied by Grohl on drums and Kurstin on keys, Apatow even cut a rug during an instrumental break. Mercifully, it was better than Kingsley’s rendition. But I’ll let you compare them for yourself.

Kurstin and Grohl’s sessions, now in their second year, are set to drop a performance a night, with guest talent from Jews like Beck, Pink and Jack Black.

Spinning wheels are great and all, but they’re no substitute for Hank Kingsley’s rotating restaurant, a space I hope to see Apatow enter in the new year.

PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at grisar@forward.com and @pjgrisar on Twitter.

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