The last Curb Your Enthusiasm aired Sunday. It will be sorely missed, even if I think this last season hasn't been as good as the previous ones.
Britannica has a great entry about Curb basics. I don't think you'll need a subscription to access it. Two excerpts:
- Curb is unscripted, with actors given just outlines for the plots and improvising the dialogue. “You have to be so in the moment and listen to what everybody’s saying and respond because it’s improvised, and it’s just pure play,” Essman told Vulture in 2018. In an echo of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm pokes fun at the everyday irritations of life, from David’s aversion to the stop and chat to his view that toasts are meaningless. David often shocks characters on the show by speaking his mind freely. . . .
- The real Larry David said that the Curb Your Enthusiasm version isn’t him, but it’s close. “I’m a total fraud,” David said in a trailer for The Larry David Story, an HBO documentary. “And the Curb outlet for me is this guy I wanna be. He’s completely honest, just the opposite of who I am, and it’s a thrill.” “The reason people respond to Larry’s character is that he’s saying what everybody’s thinking but is afraid to say—and that’s basically the role of comedians,” Essman told Saval in Variety in 2022.
A Brief and Cringe-Inducing History of Curb Your Enthusiasm
How a show people couldn’t bear to watch became a must-see.
