Curb Your Enthusiasm 12

[mhmhmh]

Anyone else wonder if the stroke bloke was going to have died at the end of the text chain after all the positive messages? The improv they do still ends up in people shouting at each other.

[lipsink]

Spoiler alert

The child identifying as a cat worried me cos I was expecting a horrible boomer plot.. Thank God they swiftly moved on from it.

[close]

[neveragain]

Spoiler alert

The child identifying as a cat worried me cos I was expecting a horrible boomer plot.. Thank God they swiftly moved on from it.

[close]

And it's nicked from Always Sunny anyway.

[ASFTSN]

I did like the absolute stupidity of the nightmare con as an idea and might start doing it in real life.

With the painting we're just supposed to assume

Spoiler alert

that it was picked up from the house without LD or his girlfriend handing it over, it was taken to the gallery and no-one there noticed it looked totally different to the other works and just hung it on the wall, and also that the artist had no part in it being installed whatsoever in her solo show. Absolute fucking bobbins.

[close]

As others have mentioned, I actually quite enjoy the 'people are horrified by Larry for no reason' as an occasional trope in Curb (all of the playboy bunnies running away from him screaming was a good one) but yeah no-one would react like they did at the end of this ep.

[Kelvin]

This latest interview is peak Larry. Really funny stuff.

If you haven't seen them before, he's done several interviews with Rich Eisen over the years, and they're always great. I could listen to David talking for hours.

[Waking Life]

I'm not keen on Vince Vaughan in this, partly because of his real life politics, but his sleeptalking lines got some unexpected belly laughs from me. Possibly one of the scripted elements too.

I have probably said this every season thread, but I still love watching Curb, despite its flaws. It's interesting to see how its run has also mirrored Seinfeld, with the later seasons (imo) having the right level of zaniness. The earlier seasons are definitely stronger, but they had a heavier tone overall and I would get frustrated for Larry a bit more. Now though, it's like a cartoon, so is an easier (although somewhat less funny overall) watch. Throwing it all at the wall and seeing what sticks feel to it.

Even in the poorer episodes, there's always a few elements I like.

[Memorex MP3]

Vaughn is weirdly one person whose politics being shitty kinda makes me like him as a performer more. It was like the missing piece in the puzzle for him with me.

Don't think he works in this at all though, he's too young and not broad enough to really fit in with the group of geriatrics he's hanging around with. I think it might be in part that this season is kind of wasting the one thing it really has going for it too, a lot of the cast are old as fuck and it feels like that's a bit wasted; it almost seems like it's a bit oblivious of how focusing on the golf club so much is such extreme retiree energy.

[trabuch]

This latest interview is peak Larry. Really funny stuff.

If you haven't seen them before, he's done several interviews with Rich Eisen over the years, and they're always great. I could listen to David talking for hours.

That's excellent. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks.  (And a quick nod to fellow C+B baldies.)

[thugler]

Some really good eps, enjoying this a lot more than i expected. One thing, that disney store episode seemed to be working up to leon bumping into a real life tinkerbell but it never happened. Seemed quite signposted but ended up a red herring

[neveragain]

Some really good eps, enjoying this a lot more than i expected. One thing, that disney store episode seemed to be working up to leon bumping into a real life tinkerbell but it never happened. Seemed quite signposted but ended up a red herring

I reckon there was a scene he met the assumed producer lady in full costume cut out.

[wrec]

A fairly enjoyable episode, but a lot of ponderous setups.

Spoiler alert

The Conan bits were vintage Curb, even if it's hard to see Larry (even show Larry, who hasn't spent the last quarter century on a legendary post-Seinfeld sitcom) as being on a lower level of celebrity than Conan.

Buscemi is the latest distractingly famous guest star not to play himself (or had his character appeared before?).

Susie feeling entitled to the cheese was insane beyond credibility, doesn't seem like a very Susie trait. The sandwich business with Jeff is pure Cosby Show territory. And Susie makes a big point of preventing Jeff eating Larry's sandwich and then makes him a cheese melt, and they polish off a giant wedge of cheese in a couple of days?

Two consecutive "in the event of my death" plots?

The cheese / car bit at the end was so laboured - I'm not the most perceptive with these things but once Larry put the bag in the back of the car I knew exactly how it was going to play out, and it certainly didn't need a flashback to ram it home.

[close]

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Spoiler alert

We can now add Steve Buscemi to the aforementioned list of famous actors not playing themselves in Curb. The confusion continues.

[close]

EDIT: Posted while wrec posted. I agree that it was all pretty laboured, but I liked the frosty encounter with

Spoiler alert

Conan. "What, have you just come from Margaret Dumont's house?"

[close]

[mhmhmh]

Ok, but does the writer of the hit TV show Young Larry need permission to talk to a podcaster? Does hard cheese go off that quickly? Would a lawyer say 'possession in 9/10 of the law?'. Dunno.

[neveragain]

Ok, but does the writer of the hit TV show Young Larry need permission to talk to a podcaster? Does hard cheese go off that quickly? Would a lawyer say 'possession in 9/10 of the law?'. Dunno.

Good points all. I enjoyed watching the episode this morning but now the only thing I can remember is the lawyer saying something like, "Your issue is with the keys and the cheese."

I also thought the Conan plot was, as they say round these here parts, bobbins.

[Mobius]

"At least you don't have a colostomy bag" isn't really something people say is it

[neveragain]

"At least you don't have a colostomy bag" isn't really something people say is it

Yeah, that was a bit out of the blue as well. If Larry and Richard had been talking about colostomy bags beforehand, it would have felt more natural.

[Mobius]

Yeah it was a bit of a non-sequitur, like Curb is pretty broad anyway but that plot could have been done a bit more subtly. But oh well. I ended up thinking the car smell would be a burst colostomy bag or something.

I found Conan pretty flat too. I get he was playing a dickhead version of himself. Has he had work done?

[mhmhmh]

I ended up thinking the car smell would be a burst colostomy bag or something.

Laughed at that more than anything in the show.

[her?]

"At least you don't have a colostomy bag" isn't really something people say is it

I found that really funny for some reason. I guess it felt like something Larry had probably considered before when thinking about how his life could be worse.

I've been really enjoying this season. Could end up being my favourite since the Seinfeld one.

[Blue Jam]

Last week's episode with the waiter threatening to bring out the chef was a stretch for me. Couldn't a diner just say "Go on then, let the world see a chef beat up a 76-year-old man", get out their cameraphone and casually mention TripAdvisor? Ditto for this week's episode and the valet unplugging the charger. Oh yes, and that smug shop assistant pressuring Larry into buying a horrible overpriced jacket over a bodily function and Larry allowing the twat to earn the commission on it. Is customer service really that bad in LA and is that something people just accept?

I know Larry is meant to be a fish out of water as a New Yorker but as a British person watching this show I often find myself wondering why people don't go "Oh fuck this" more often. It makes the show a bit stressful to watch.

Don't know why Conan spent the episode being and asshole but then just let Larry borrow his car either.

[The Giggling Bean]

The Conan thing confused me a bit. All I know of Conan is that he was a Simpsons writer and talk show host. Does that really put him higher than Larry David, the writer of Seinfeld, in the comedy hierarchy? I don't understand why they wouldn't be on an equal footing, and is the "clearance" a real thing? I get that they're contriving awkwardness but, even in Curb universe Larry is hugely successful, so why would Conan treat him like a pestering fan with no status?

As you say Blue Jam, a lot of it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. The past few series there's a lot of situations which escalated because they needed to, but could have been settled quickly in real life. Still, that's what we watch the show for.

I did laugh at the end reveal with Larry and Jeff with bandaged eyes.

[BeardFaceMan]

In that universe Larry is just a writer on a 90s sitcom whereas Conan was on network TV with his own show for years, he's a much bigger star. People on TV are always going to be more famous than the people who write it, if it wasn't for Curb most people wouldn't know who Larry David is.

I've been quite down on the last few seasons, haven't bothered rewatching them so I dont know why I'm enjoying this season a lot more. Still not classic Curb but there's a lot to enjoy here.

[Blue Jam]

The Conan thing confused me a bit. All I know of Conan is that he was a Simpsons writer and talk show host. Does that really put him higher than Larry David, the writer of Seinfeld, in the comedy hierarchy? I don't understand why they wouldn't be on an equal footing

What @BeardFaceMan said, and I also reckon that even outside the universe of the show Conan is easily more famous than Larry David. Check out his podcast, guests have included Paul McCartney, the remaining members of Nirvana and a few US Presidents and FLOTUSes (and Larry David).

[Mobbd]

Everyone's criticisms here are right. There was a lot that didn't quite make sense and just had to be accepted.

We've likened recent Curb to Last of the Summer Wine before, but Jeff and Suzie are really turning into Howard and Pearl.

But you know what? I loved this episode. It was the best one of the season and last week's episode was excellent too. Makes me wonder why they've buried the best episodes mid-season. It's all a matter of taste, but I think the showrunners have a different idea of what to love about Curb than we do. I expect the finale will be rubbish. Brace yourselves.

[pk1yen]

So this is going to end with

Spoiler alert

the exact same ending as Seinfeld, isn't it?

Larry's acquaintances from past series being called as character references and throwing him under the bus, and him ending up in jail

[close]

[Mobbd]

So this is going to end with

Spoiler alert

the exact same ending as Seinfeld, isn't it?

Larry's acquaintances from past series being called as character references and throwing him under the bus, and him ending up in jail

[close]

We've talked about that a lot up-thread. We all have money on that.

[Oh, Nobody]

I did like Buscemi being described as having "that hangdog, I shit in a bag look"

[HMS Beanspiller]

Trailer for the next episode shows that Matt Berry is a guest - returning the favour of LD being in Toast?

[Mobbd]

Trailer for the next episode shows that Matt Berry is a guest - returning the favour of LD being in Toast?

Matt Berry must have found a magic lamp at some point. I have no idea what the appeal is. People say "it's just Matt Berry being Matt Berry" by which I think they mean "bombastic and operatic" or something but I have no idea what the appeal of that could possibly be. What does he have that I've never spotted?

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I dunno but do you think he uses that voice all the time now? It's not his real voice but he does he even remember