Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm

The original pilot of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I've seen a few times (sometimes truly forgetting that it's the pilot at all, as its stylistically 75% of the time identical to the show), has its share of laughs. But it is, in its own right, a slightly different animal, so to speak, when compared to its 5-season-and-running TV HBO series. It's meant as a hybrid of what David was tinkering as the main premise of what his show would be about- mainly him getting into awkward bits of circumstance and everyday things with people (mainly with some embarrassing or just strange results)- and his stand-up routines countered with *real* remarks from Seinfeld and others. Despite what it might seem as too much going on in a one hour show, he makes it work well. The improvisational style later nailed to a T in the seasons to come is a little more primitive here, but Cheryl Hinds and Jeff Garlin are pros at what they do here.

There's also a plot line involving David setting up a special on HBO (hence the stand-up), and then at the last moment stopping to due his "dead" step-father. Like all pilots, its got its imperfections, but its perks outweigh the valleys none-the-less. Surprising still at least in having not seen or heard a shred of David's stand-up material before is how it's actually funnier than expected. It almost makes one wonder why there isn't the occasional drop of the real stand-up stuff in the series (but then again, the very Larry David-esquire curve balls on the show are the bits of stand-up theatrical). It's worth it to check out if you're a fan and pass it by one night if by chance on one of the HBO's or on DVD; it might be funnier as well if you know some of the other little back-story bits from the show (i.e. HBO). A minor display of brilliance.

this was an hour-long mockumentary (pilot?) made for HBO counting down Larry's days to his HBO comedy special. It exposed Larry David to the rest of the world, with a few bits that would later re-surface in the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm", most notably the death in the family bit. It was really funny from beginning to end. It had to be one of the most convincing mockumentaries ever made, through a clever fusion of celebrity cameos, a real solid technical understanding of the "documentary" aesthetics (from the slightly "imperfect" composition to occasional on camera interviews), and a pitch-perfect satire. It was obvious that Larry David was putting on a routine, but the tone of the film was so dead-pan that David seemed distant enough for those kind of neurotic reactions. That, unlike Woody Allen's neurotic New York comic reacting to the LA phonies in "Annie Hall", David's interactions with the people around him were passive-aggressive enough to take place in the actual LA.

Compared to the series, it was more subdued and unpredictable, which made it a little slower and less funny I guess.

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.

This hour long comedy special can be found on Season 1 DVD set of the series "Curb your Enthusiasm". It's pretty much a mockumentary akin to "Spinal Tap" or "A Mighty Wind". It details the days leading up to Larry David's first comedy special for HBO. It has him dealing various people interspersed with interviews with various celebrities. It's highly amusing and about on par with the first season of the actual show, but as fans of CYE can attest to, the first season of the show isn't exactly the best of the run thus far (not knocking the special or the show it inspired, just saying a funny show would only grow much funnier)

My Grade: B-

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.