Embarrassment fuels comedy in HBO's 'Enthusiasm' By BRIAN LAMBERT Knight Ridder Tribune Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David's excruciatingly hilarious comedy, will be back for a third 10-episode season on HBO in mid-September. For those who haven't seen it, it's excellent, if not the funniest thing on TV. David, as you may know, is the co-creator of Seinfeld, and he freely admits that the George Costanza character was his alter ego. Curb is very much an extension of Seinfeld. David plays himself, the peevish co-creator of Seinfeld, kicking around Los Angeles interacting in mostly improvisational ways with show-biz cronies and his agent. He inevitably gets himself in Dutch with his wife, played by Cheryl Hines, who is not his real wife, in case you were wondering. Asked if Curb has exceeded his expectations, David, who suffers the press with a kind of bored disdain, said, "Well, first of all, I thought I was going to stink, and I thought the show would stink. So it exceeded in that regard. So anything beyond stinking was like, `Wow! I can't even believe it.' " Where the average episode of Seinfeld was constructed for a convergence of subplots, Curb Your Enthusiasm's grand design seems to be to converge the disparate storylines into a climax of almost inhuman embarrassment for David. Some viewers actually turn away from the screen as David is resoundingly busted for some preposterous, ego-driven fabrication that has spun wildly out of control. The situations are that painfully real, particularly if you're a married man. "I realize that there are some scenes in the show that people actually do have to leave the room because it is too painful for them," he said. "And that actually gives me some pleasure when I hear people tell me that. But that's not the purpose of it. If it's a byproduct, fine. But I don't sit down thinking, `How can I get people to leave the room now?' " His co-producer and frequent director, Robert Weide, said to David, "I've never known you to sort of intellectualize the structure of the show. You just put down on paper what you think is funny and never think it through beyond that. But structurally, yeah, there's that tendency for an embarrassing situation to snowball and then explode at the end." David nodded, saying, "That happens in comedy from time to time." Just not often enough. ===================== YIPPEE!!!! Season 3! This show is pure genius. You either love Curb Your Enthusiasm or you don't. My wife hates it, I love it! Of course, I'm a huge Seinfeld fan.
Larry David is by far the funniest guy on TV, cable or otherwise. I wish he coulda finished the HBO special, I'm sure it would have been a lot better than that Robin Williams crap!
They better come out with this series on DVD. That's all I'm sayin. If Sex and the Slutty can be on DVD, this show can. And give me Larry Sanders on DVD while you're at it.
"Dream on" was a very nice show too, whatever happened to Brian Ben Ben (other than being married to Madeline Stowe)?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to turn away. Some scenes are just too damn painful to watch. The worst thing about it is that damn theme song. I always walk around whistling it for the next few days.
I have no idea what is so funny abou this show. He is just a boring guy. I need to watch it some more I guess? I really liked Seinfeld...
I enjoyed the episodes I've seen. Unfortunately I don't have HBO anymore. I had to cancel it in order to protest HBO comedy channel's removing Mr. Show from their regular line-up. You'd think since Mr. Show's first two season are now on DVD, that HBO would promote it a little by running the shows more. H B lOw me reall ticks me off. Bob Odenkirk made a very funny on one of the episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
(bumping an old thread) This show is incredible. The one from last week had me nearly in tears, and not from the dog hair
My favorite parts are the conversations between him and Richard Lewis. They have great chemistry. Jai-ya!
Damn all of you. Now I watch this pathetic show and it is very funny! I loved when he bought all of those pound cakes and it saved his friends wife from pyscho Cherri Oterri.
Jai-ya... ohmygawd... I was rolling when I read that! My eyes are welling up!! DAMN, i love this show!
F*** HUUUUUGH. This restaurant adventure is a hilarious subplot. PS... there is going to be a terrorist attack on THIS BBS this weekend. Don't tell anybody.
They just repeated that episode in New Zealand a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe that the word 'teabagging' was used in casual dinner conversation.
I, too, think this show is hilarious. The episode where they went to the party where Larry cut the little girl's doll's hair and the bathroom lock was broken was too funny. The recent one where his mom died and he was using it to get sympathy from people was funny, but when he used it to get sex from his wife... I told my wife I like the show because he makes all the rest of us guys look good by comparison.
