Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm

I saw this special for the first time on the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" season one DVD. As an avid fan of "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I was very excited to see the "prequel" to the HBO series. It did not disappoint. It was immediately obvious to me why HBO decided to pick up the series. It was absolutely hilarious! I can, however, see why Larry David was a failed stand-up comedian. His sense of humor is not for everyone, but if you are a fan, you will love this. People often talk about his offbeat sense of humor, but his facial expressions are also hilarious. There is one scene that I watched five times in a row and laughed so hard, I got a cramp in my side. I'd like to tell you more, but I don't want to give anything away. All I can say is ENJOY!

I just got done watching episode two of the second season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"; the one in which Larry is mistakenly taken for a sexual "deviant," after his wife is misled into thinking he has sexual fetishes. It's the best episode I've seen.

Coming back to the one-hour-long HBO pilot for the series, "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm," the humor is just as strong. It's not exactly like the series and is more like a "mockumentary" - with interviews from the cast of "Seinfeld," etc. - but it's just as funny.

I actually read somewhere that this wasn't intended as a television show pilot, but based on its success it spawned the series. I'm not sure, but I do know that "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is one of the best television shows out there, and this was a great way of introducing the concept to viewers.

I saw this sometime during Season 7 of the series and I had no idea it was from 10 years previous. The only clues along the way were that Jerry looked a lot younger and the joke about the Clinton BJ.

It's not a conventional pilot: It's more like a one-off mockumentary special that probably inspired HBO to pursue a series. The only reason I give it only 8/10 is because the series would become even better in many episodes.

It seems that some of the interviews (with Charles and Seinfeld for example) aren't scripted at all, but are their actual comments about the real Larry David. This isn't surprising, since even the rest of the screen time doesn't seem that outside reality.

From watching CYB, it is obvious that Larry David was the real genius behind "Seinfeld." Don't get me wrong, Jerry is great and a genius himself, but from watching the show, you can see that Larry David is responsible for the way jerry would act and a lot of the dialogue. Not to mention, he was responsible for the setups and payoffs. The script structure is superb. The production quality isn't the greatest, but this show is by far the best on TV. I hope that it will just last a while.

Years ago America pondered the "Seinfeld" philosophy, climaxed, and then closed the book after the closing episode on NBC. Seinfeld was, at times, a good show, and in more ways than one. Unbeknownst to me, Seinfeld made promises that it did not keep - I would never have realized this had I not encountered HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. It is becoming apparent that Larry David is the John Lennon to Jerry Seinfeld's Paul McCartney. Curb Your Enthusiasm is awkward, tense and diabolically funny. Although the show resembles Seinfeld, HBO's Larry Sanders and Woody Allen merchandise, it is impossible not to say that Larry David and the creators have not re-re-re-invented the situation comedy once again.