Quick spoilers for the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" season premiere coming up just as soon as I condescend to you with a tiny pear... I talked a bit about this episode in Thursday's column, plus I'm busy with covering the Emmys and polishing my review of tonight's insanely good "Mad Men," plus "Curb" doesn't really lend itself to long reviews. So I'll be brief.
It's great to have the show back. It's great to see not only Larry, but Jeff and Suzy and Funkhouser and Leon (LEON!!!!), and to add a new character like Catherine O'Hara as Bam Bam on top of that. And now that you've seen it, I'm curious where you would rank Jeff's decision to lie about sleeping with Bam Bam - even after Funkhouser announced he was going to send her back to the mental hospital because of it - among the most egregious acts ever committed by a "Curb" character.
I know everybody's eager for the "Seinfeld" gang to turn up in a couple of weeks, but I'm just as happy with smaller moment like the liquids/solids debate, Larry's theory for a pre-break-up agreement ("As soon as I say 'apricot,' it's over"), the argument over the thermostat, or the unspoken joke about Wanda now loving Larry because he's dating a black woman (and/or because he's no longer dragging down her friend Cheryl).
What did everybody else think?
That was just a big bowl of wrong.
ReplyDeleteA delight. So glad it's back.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I wish I didn't know about the Seinfeld Reunion arc (don't worry, Alan. I heard that spoiler long before your article). The conversation with Cheryl outside the restaurant was clearly leading to that, with the cancer stuff being an excuse to derail it. I think it would be nice going into this season not knowing where it was going, but ah well. Better the Larry I know than no Larry at all.
And you can never just go into someone's fridge like the doctor did. If someone doesn't offer you a drink, it means they don't want you to have a drink.
He sneaks in under the radar cause he is dry as white toast, but Funkhauser is this shows MVP. Leon might be hitting homers like Ruth last season and tonight, but Funkhauser is Lou Gherig, at that plate every show for how many seasons now? And knocking that ball around every time he gets to swing.
I liked it and all, but it felt a bit forced, almost as if the trivial moments were thought of first and then worked around them. And Alan I agree with you about Jeff's decision to lie. It was definitely a bit jarring seeing someone other than Larry being self-serving to such a degree. It has to bite him in the ass.
ReplyDeleteI was watching with my sister who isn't a huge Curb follower and she was just generally appalled at Larry for not reprimanding Jeff for cheating. It seemed pretty status quo for the fatboy but I can't remember if he ever has before.
ReplyDeleteI loved the AC debate but I felt like alot of the conversations in this episode sounded like stand-up bits that they wanted to slip into the show and it didn't feel as organic as Curb normally is.
"Just treat 'em normal and they really respond."
ReplyDeletePure genius. Welcome back, Larry.
While I agree that Bob Einstein is terrific - can it really be possible that he never appeared until season 4? It feels like he's been a semi-regular the whole time, Richard Lewis-style - I was happier to see Leon than anyone. I don't know what it is exactly, but it seems like the perfect combination of actor and character. Everything Leon says makes me giggle, and that definitely isn't the case when J. B. Smoove appears on 'Til Death. Great to have him back where he belongs.
ReplyDeleteI loved it. The return of the schmohawk call out was especially enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really love season six very much, but I very much enjoyed this episode. I'm hopeful that I'd be enjoying this season.
ReplyDeleteO'Hara is one of the bets comedic actresses out that, love that she was in this ep.
And, yes, Jeff sleeping with a crazy is pretty sick. But I do love Jeff! I imagine Larry's knowledge of it would be something that will come back into play in the later episodes.
is it just me or did larry not want bam bam to go back to the mental hospital cause he wanted to fuck her also?
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to have this show back. I must admit, I found the end bit with Larry not being able to play golf anymore even funnier given what happened on Mad Men tonight involving another guy who can't golf (though for very different reasons).
ReplyDeleteLiked the subtle Seinfeld reference and how it's being set up. I literally cannot wait to see the inevitable meeting between Michael Richards and Leon.
Michael said: "It seemed pretty status quo for the fatboy but I can't remember if he ever has before."
ReplyDeleteI know for sure that in the hour-long special "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm" (aired one year before the first season), Jeff did indeed cheat on Susie with another woman. I'm not entirely certain if it's happened since, but I can't really recall any specific time that it has.
Anyway, it was really nice to have Curb back. This one didn't blow me away like "Meet the Blacks" did last season, but it was still a solid outing for sure. Bam Bam and Jeff going back and forth with increasingly over-the-top flirtatious gestures had me in stitches.
Jeff has also cheated with the incest survivor, after he got her the gig in the vagina monologues, and he also had a girlfriend in new york when he and larry were there for the producers or something. I feel like in the beginning of the show, Jeff's womanizing was a recurring theme, but the writer's seem to lose interest in it and its easy to foorget about.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there have definitely been previous examples of Jeff's infidelity. To me, though, the great sin isn't the cheating; it's covering up the cheating even though it means Bam Bam is institutionalized again.
ReplyDeleteExactly? And how telling is it that even *Larry* thinks that's wrong. When something you do gives Larry David pangs of conscience, you know it's bad.
ReplyDelete"To me, though, the great sin isn't the cheating; it's covering up the cheating even though it means Bam Bam is institutionalized again...."
ReplyDeleteI dunno. Which is worse, having sex with a mentally-ill person? Or denying it afterward? One could argue that if Jeff had not banged Bam Bam, then he would never have had to lie about it, and that the original sin is by definition the greater. Anyway, had Jeff come clean, than it's highly likely Bam Bam would have ended up back in the institution anyway, since her behavior clearly indicates that she's a potential danger to herself. The worst outcome would be to have everyone assume that Bam Bam is getting better without anyone outside of her, Larry, and Jeff knowing what actually went on.
Did anyone else notice the snazzy new high-def cameras they were shooting the show in and the wider aspect ratio? It didn't have the grungy look typically associated with "Curb," which I often considered one of its charms.
ReplyDeleteIs the AC thing a stereotype I didn't know about, or is this a Curb original?
ReplyDeleteTom- its not that Jeff is lying to cover it up, its that he's having the woman sent back to the mental institution to keep her quiet.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it very much. I love Catherine O'Hara and her presence as Bam Bam was funny. Bob Epstein is also wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJeff sleeping with Bam Bam and not even having a pang of guilt really annoyed me but that's Jeff. He is just as self-serving as Larry. However, Larry was bit horrified to learn that Jeff and Bam Bam slept together.
I also enjoyed the bit between Cheryl and Larry outside the restaurant, it seemed very natural.
Not sure exactly how the line went but it was something to the effect of: "You cant make empty promises to a Funkhauser; they'll take you up on them"
ReplyDeleteHad me in stiches
"Prognosis negative"? That isn't possibly--be still my beating heart--a Dark Victory reference, is it?
ReplyDelete(I don't watch CYE, so I don't know if it's Alan or Larry David making the allusion...)
No, it's a reference to a fake movie that Jerry and George saw in an early Seinfeld episode, and also to a movie script David couldn't get filmed about a guy who misunderstands what that phrase means and believes he has cancer.
ReplyDeleteI love this show. So good to have it back in my life. The whole premise about the empty gesture was classic Larry David.
ReplyDeleteI love that Catherine O'Hara made her voice intentionally gravelly to sound like a Funkhauser.
I'm a huge Curb fan, but found this premier choppy. Plot and writing not great. Looking forward to smoother episodes.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I forget what a real prick Jeff can be :-D It'll be fun when Susie finds out what happened.
ReplyDeleteThey set up a lot of situations that should have great comedic payoff as the season progresses. And Lord, 24/7 Larry...that is waaay too much Larry!
I was a little thrown by Wanda's behavior toward Larry - nominating him for an NAACP award? I like the idea that she's warmed toward him because he's not dating her friend any more, but I really can't believe she'd nominate him for an award for dating a black woman. As a black woman, wouldn't she find that insulting - you need to get an award for being brave enough to get into a relationship with one? No, I thought the award was for his "humanitarian" work in taking in a Katrina family and basically making them his own family. (Yes, Cheryl instigated it, but clearly Larry has been the one to carry it through.)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I worry it's all just a set up for the inevitable episode where Wanda catches Larry saying something negative about the Blacks and she realizes he's still the same idiot she hated before.
Interesting to read people are anticipating the moment Jeff's infidelity is revealed - I assumed like most of the slighter relationship details it would be a stand-alone story for this episode. The continuity on Curb has always been a bit off, remember Susie was meant to me pregnant back in season 2 or 3?
ReplyDeleteI echo the excitement for the meeting between Michael Richards and Leon - Not only because they'll both be hilarious, but because it'll be fascinating to see how Larry decided to frame it, it could be a chance for Richards (albeit in fictionalised form) to lay it to rest, or just poke fun at it.
However they do it, I'm fascinated how they will incorporate a real-life scandal into the universe of the show, very 'meta' indeed.
Jeff's girlfriend in New York was a key plot point of the original "CYE" special, though the continuity between the special and the series is spotty.
ReplyDeleteIn the special, when pressing him about Jeff's affair, Cheryl asks Larry to swear "on his kids" that he's telling the truth. Of course any "kids" (never seen and clearly not with Cheryl) are never mentioned on the series.
However, Larry's lame excuse to ditch his HBO standup performance prompted the conflict at the heart of one of the series' best episode, "The Shrimp Incident."
@ maggie--- i think that wanda's comments about the naacp award, lil wayne, "hey brotha" were bemused jokes at larry's expense since he is dating a black woman. if you remember from past seasons, larry has always had hilariously akward interactions with black people (based on his admitted discomfort and inability to connect) and wanda is often there to call him out on it and observe it. i think wanda just probably finds it hilarious that he is now dating loretta in light of his history with black people.
ReplyDeleteI know you can't rip off yourself, but CYE does seem to revisit a lot of ideas that were in Seinfeld. Latest example: You can't break up with somebody who is extremely ill. (Remember Elaine and the man who had a stroke?)
ReplyDeleteBut while it is despicable to break up with someone battling cancer, it has happened before -- Newt Gingrich anyone?
I thought the first episode of the season was extremely funny. I definitely think this show rivals what Larry David did on Seinfeld, with some foul language and sexual innuendo added in. The addition of Leon and Super Dave Osbourne has completed an already stellar cast. I cant wait to see what Larry does now that his girlfriend has cancer. MY guess is he wiggles out of it somehow and goes back to Cheryl.
ReplyDelete