I just bought season one of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the HBO half-hour comedy show created by and starring Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and real life inspiration for George Costanza.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is acerbic humour at its finest. Where Seinfeld positively reinforced our love of nothing, CYE savagely bites the hand that fed it, spitting out a half-hour universe where life is laden with unspoken cynicism, where misspoken comments decide the course of a man’s life, and ‘nothing’ becomes ‘everything’ in the worst way.
Yet it’s a playful, understated cynicism that’s likeable because Larry David is such a lovable loser. He loses in ways that make us cringe, and yet we secretly can’t wait for his next screw-up, because along with that loser sensibility is David’s impeccable sense of why bad situations are funny. As is appropriate, David finds himself in an ever spiralling web of self-inflicted awkwardness, usually the victim of a harmless misunderstanding that becomes small-minded vindictiveness at the hands of the people he surrounds himself with.
Much of the show is unscripted, improvised around a set of plot guidelines that dictate the action and dialogue. David plays himself, as does his friend Richard Lewis. Other regular cast members include Jeff Garlin as his manager, and Cheryl Hines as his wife. Episodes are sometimes rounded out by other real life people including Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louise-Drefuss, and Jason Alexander.
The first season DVD box is a two-disc set comprising ten regular half-hour episodes plus a one-hour “mockumentary” that follows Larry David’s return to stand-up comedy. The first episode comes with commentary by David, Hines, Garlin, and director Robert Weide. Additionally, there is an exclusive 30-minute interview with Larry David, conducted by Bob Costas.
Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t a show for everyone. It contains R-rated language at times, and its humour does not translate for everyone. However, for fans of Seinfeld, it’s a must-have box set that will exasperate and amuse time and time again.
? Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
? Color, Closed-captioned
? 10 episodes plus the one-hour special Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm on two discs
? Commentary on episode 1 by Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, and director Robert B. Weide
? Exclusive 30-minute interview with Larry David, conducted by Bob Costas
? Number of discs: 2
? ASIN: B0000E2PVR
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