Curb Your Enthusiasm
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| Curb Your Enthusiasm | |
|---|---|
 Curb Your Enthusiasm title card |
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| Format | Comedy |
| Created by | Larry David |
| Written by | Larry David |
| Directed by | Alec Berg Larry Charles Bryan Gordon David Mandel Jeff Schaffer David Steinberg[1] |
| Starring | Larry David Cheryl Hines Jeff Garlin |
| Theme music composer | Luciano Michelini |
| Opening theme | "Frolic" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 70 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Larry David Jeff Garlin Gavin Palone Alec Berg David Mandel Jeff Schaffer Tim Gibbons Erin O'Malley[2] |
| Camera setup | Multi camera[3] |
| Running time | 30 minutes approx. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Picture format | 4:3 480i (Seasons 1-6) 16:9 1080p (Season 7) |
| Original run | October 15, 2000 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Seinfeld |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy series starring Seinfeld writer, co-creator, and executive producer Larry David as himself. It is produced and broadcast by HBO.
The series was inspired by a 1999 one-hour mockumentary titled Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project.
The series has been nominated for thirty Emmy Awards, although it has only won once, and has won a Golden Globe.
Seven seasons of the series were produced and aired on HBO between 2000 and 2009. The seventh season ended on November 22, 2009.
Contents |
[edit] Concept
The series stars Larry David as a Freudian version of himself, accompanied by fictional re-creations of his 'real friends', usually played by themselves. Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Wanda Sykes, and Richard Lewis all have recurring roles as characters based upon themselves.
The show is set and filmed in various affluent Westside communities of (and occasionally the downtown area of) the City of Los Angeles, California, as well as the adjacent incorporated cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica, California. Larry David's actual place of residence was, and may still be (since his divorce from his wife Laurie), in the Pacific Palisades area of the Westside. During the run of the series, filming has been staged in various rented single-family residences around the Westside.
Although Larry maintains an office, he is rarely shown working, other than in season four which centered on his being cast as Max Bialystock in the Mel Brooks play The Producers, and in Season 7 writing the Seinfeld reunion. Most of the show revolves around Larry's interactions with his friends and neighbors, with Larry often at odds with the other characters (usually to Larry's detriment). Despite this, the characters do not seem to harbor ill-feelings towards each other for very long and the cast has stayed stable throughout the show.
Larry David has explained the meaning of the show's title in TV interviews. It reflects his perception that many people seem to live their lives projecting false enthusiasm, which he believes is used to imply that "they are better than you." This conflicts with his style, which is very droll and dry. In an ideal world, he would like to be able to urge such people to curb their enthusiasm.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main cast
- Larry David — Self-centered, misanthropic and regularly difficult, Larry creates awkwardness and discomfort in social situations. His problems are often caused by his neuroses and obstinate faith in his understanding of ethics and etiquette. He usually has good intentions but often finds himself a victim of circumstance and social convention, not to mention most of the people around him are almost as, if not more so, self-centered and stubborn as he is. The show's popularity has resulted in the term "Larry David moment," meaning inadvertently causing a socially awkward situation, entering the American pop culture lexicon.[4] The real life Larry David has commented that he could never be the way he is on TV because he is a lot more cautious when it comes to social tension. Larry is known for his probing stare when he doesn't think somebody is telling the truth and often says something is "pretty, pretty, pretty good" when he likes something.
- Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) — One of Larry's few friends, Jeff is his sympathetic manager whose marital problems and avid interest in pornography entangle Larry in embarrassing situations. Jeff often helps Larry with his problems, but that usually leads to Jeff getting involved with the mess. Jeff and his wife, Susie, have a daughter named Sammie (Ashly Holloway). Sammie once said that she would choose her dog, Oscar, over her father if he could not live in the same house as the dog. Jeff Greene often says, "What the fuck?" when things do not go as planned. Jeff has a favoured phrase throughout the seasons, He says "a big bowl of wrong". Jeff will say this if Larry tells him or is seen doing something unethical.
- Cheryl David (Cheryl Hines) — Larry's long-suffering wife, who often expresses annoyance with his behavior, even in situations beyond his control. She is an active member of the NRDC. Cheryl left Larry in the season six episode "The TiVo Guy" when he hung up on her calling from a plane experiencing turbulence because he was with the TiVo guy (Kevin Heffernan) and "couldn't hear" her. Larry attempted to get her back by producing a Seinfeld reunion episode and casting Cheryl as George's Ex-Wife Amanda, which backfired when Jason Alexander shows an interest in her. After hearing Larry on the phone confess to Jeff that he did the entire reunion to get Cheryl back, Cheryl returns to him, only to immediately regret it afterward.
[edit] Recurring roles
Among the show's many recurring roles, Richard Lewis and Ted Danson play versions of themselves as old friends of Larry's with whom he frequently butts heads. Shelley Berman plays Larry's father, Nat David. Bob Einstein frequently appears as Marty Funkhouser, another of Larry's oldest friends. In Seasons 6 and 7, J. B. Smoove appears as Leon Black, one of the family of hurricane refugees who stay in Larry's house.
[edit] Notable guest appearances
Celebrities, including actors, authors, musicians and athletes, often make guest appearances on the show, usually playing themselves. Some of the more notable guest stars include Mel Brooks, Martin Scorsese, Stephen Colbert, Meg Ryan, and the cast of Seinfeld.
[edit] Plots
Episodes are typically named after an event, object, or person which figures prominently in the plot, similarly to how Seinfeld episodes were named. While each episode has an individual plot, each season as a whole contains a plot that stretches across all ten episodes. Season one is the only one without a story arc, instead the style and characters of the show are introduced in mostly isolated episodes.
In season two, Cheryl is tired of Larry not working, so he begins to develop a new television show, first with guest stars Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as themselves. However, Larry's constant social mishaps ruin all of their chances with every major television network. In season three Larry invests in a restaurant enterprise which finally opens despite many mishaps, most of which are Larry's fault. Mel Brooks casts Larry as the lead in his hit musical The Producers in season four. Larry's friend Richard Lewis gets very ill in season five and requires a kidney transplant. Larry is a match, but he spends the season looking for other sources of a kidney for Lewis. Also in season five, Larry suspects he may be adopted and embarks on a search to find his "real" parents. Season six is built around Cheryl persuading Larry to take in an African American family that is left homeless after a major Gulf Coast hurricane. Later in the season, Cheryl leaves Larry, mimicking Laurie David's real-life divorce from Larry. He spends the rest of the season either fighting for her to come back or looking for a replacement. The recently completed seventh season, is loosely centered on creating a Seinfeld reunion show and Larry trying to get back with Cheryl.
[edit] Critical response and awards
Since its 2000 debut, the show has enjoyed wide critical acclaim and a steadily growing, dedicated audience[citation needed] that has helped it emerge from its early "cult" status.[citation needed] It is the sixth-highest rated TV show on metacritic.com. In that same website, the fifth season ranked 91 based on 5 reviews and the seventh season currently ranks 81 based on 18 reviews.
Curb Your Enthusiasm has received 28 Emmy nominations with one win, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Robert B. Weide for the episode "Krazee-Eyez Killa". The show has also won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV show - musical or comedy, a Directors Guild of America award and a Writers Guild of America award for Comedy Series. The show has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series since the first season, but has never won one.
Slate magazine named the characters of Cheryl David and Susie Greene as two of the best on television and as reasons they were looking forward to the return of the show in fall 2007.[5] Curb Your Enthusiasm has also received praise from Galus Australis magazine for being more unashamedly Jewish than the Seinfeld series.[6]
[edit] Juan Catalan incident
In 2003, Juan Catalan, a resident of Los Angeles, was cleared of premeditated murder charges against a material witness (a crime eligible for capital punishment) after outtake footage shot for the "Carpool Lane" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm showed him and his daughter attending the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves baseball game some 20 miles from the crime-scene at the time of the murder, resulting in a $320,000 settlement against the City of Los Angeles.[7] On hearing of the incident, Larry David commented that "Now I've done at least one good thing in my life, albeit inadvertently."
[edit] 2009 Episode Controversy
In October 2009, the episode The Bare Midriff was the focus of some criticism of David by conservative Christians. Fox News reported that Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, criticized the episode, in which David's character inadvertently splatters urine on a picture of Jesus, causing a woman to believe the picture shows Jesus crying. HBO responded to the criticism stating "The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious."
[edit] Inspired shows
- In 2005, Danish comedians Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen created the popular comedy series Klovn (Clown) which is inspired by Curb Your Enthusiasm.[8]
- UK show Lead Balloon has been described as "Britain's answer to Curb Your Enthusiasm"[9].
- German show Pastewka with comedian Bastian Pastewka is also inspired by Larry David's show.
- South African show Sorted with Lionel Newton is similarly inspired by Curb Your Enthusiasm.
- Rapper Cam'ron is working on a TV series which he is dubbing a "black Curb Your Enthusiasm"[10].
- In 2009, Sal the Stockbroker, a fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, created the "loosely scripted" series Show In The Hallway for Howard TV. Similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm, it features the cast and crew of The Howard Stern Show as well as occasional celebrity guests (Lisa Lampanelli, John Stamos, Jerry O'Connell, Curb star Richard Lewis and others) portraying versions of themselves.
- Australian series Whatever Happened To That Guy? starring former Fast Forward performer Peter Moon.
- American webcast series Star-ving, which shows Married With Children star David Faustino and his life after the show ended.
- Hong Kong actor Stephen Fung produced and starred in Old Fung Diary in 2006 which is based on Curb Your Enthusiasm with similar title theme song.
- c31 Melbourne will air in 2010 "Schadenfreude" by Australian writers Rode and Jack Harding and starring Tom Harding as n'er do well Rodney Diggler
[edit] Media
[edit] Book
A Curb Your Enthusiasm book was released October 19, 2006, published by Gotham Books (ISBN 1-59240-230-5). The book contains stories from Larry David's past, original interviews and commentary, episode outlines, episode guide, and over 100 full-color photographs.[11]
[edit] DVD
The first six seasons have been released in full season DVD sets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.[12] No release date for a seventh season DVD set has been announced.
[edit] Music
The show is punctuated between scenes with music orchestrated by Wendell Yuponce (first season), and from a music library company called Killer Tracks (seasons two to five). The opening and closing theme song (not mentioned in the credits) is "Frolic" by Italian composer Luciano Michelini. David heard the music used in a bank commercial years before the show was created and thought it had a lighthearted, joyful quality, so as to balance the show's otherwise downcast, gloomy feel. In May 2006, Mellowdrama Records released an unofficial Curb Your Enthusiasm soundtrack.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ www.hbo.com/larrydavid/cast/
- ^ www.hbo.com/larrydavid/about/
- ^ http://www.dga.org/news/v28_2/feat_unscripted.php3
- ^ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=larry+david+moment
- ^ Lapidos, Juliet (September 21, 2007). "Oh, How We've Missed You!". Slate magazine. http://www.slate.com/id/2174389/nav/navoa/#TheWireHBO. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ Frosh, Anthony (28 June 2009), "Jews in Pop-culture: a Critical Examination Part 1", Galus Australis, http://galusaustralis.com/2009/06/jews_in_pop-culture/
- ^ ABC news article
- ^ Klovn at TV.com
- ^ Dee writes BBC's answer to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
- ^ CAM'RON WORKING ON 'BLACK CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM'
- ^ Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Book
- ^ EzyDVD.com: Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete 6th Season
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Curb Your Enthusiasm |
- HBO: Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Curb Your Enthusiasm at the Internet Movie Database
- Curb Your Enthusiasm at TV.com
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