Curb Your Enthusiasm

having spent most of my life sitting in front of a television, i think i've seen a lot of good and bad TV. curb your enthusiasm is, to date, the smartest comedy series i've seen. i enjoy it more than seinfeld because larry is such a dynamically static character. you always know he'll do some sort of bonehead thing but, for some reason, you are always surprised.

i think the format of the show is most impressive to me. there is no script; only a storyboard for each episode. thusly, the actors are forced to essentially improv characters and dialogue. every time i laugh at one of the jokes on this show, i laugh even harder when i realize that this is off-the-cuff hilarity.

bravo, larry David!

After missing Larry David's much heralded HBO Special which was the pilot for this masterpiece, on premiere night I was treated with a show that seems to be a bit of Seinfield and Larry Sanders, or maybe even more.

While many won't get the premise, being much in-tune with inside Hollywood humor and personalities, Curb Your Enthusiasm takes us inside, past the backstage to the actual lifestyles of an "A-list" celebrity and shows exactly how they tick-Fear, paranoia, and maybe, just maybe the inner-workings of a creative genius like Larry David.

It's clearly evident who the mastermind of Seinfeld was after watching it. Everyone of those Seinfeld characters are parts of Larry David's personality and just like Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show, I can hardly wait to see each episode over and over and over.

This show shouldn't be labled a "10" it's much to brilliant for that. Try "A+" with a 210 I.Q.

Larry David, king of awkward moments and co-creator of the hit television series Seinfeld, has come back to television at full force. His hit series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a further extension of his life. Seinfeld has ended, his co-creator name has earned him about $200 million and growing, and his life is just getting excited. On these thirty minute trips, we follow Larry through moments with his wife Cheryl and manager Jeff. Circumstance continues to happen and Larry somehow always happens to be in the middle.

To say this is exactly like Seinfeld would be like saying chocolate tastes exactly like vanilla. These two shows are night and day, while others will compare the actions of Larry to that of Jerry, there one crucial element that divides them. Larry's show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, seems a bit more realistic. Seinfeld was a great show, don't get me wrong … possibly one of the best live-action series ever, but there was always that question of reality with Seinfeld. Where did Kramer get his money? How was George never put in jail? And so forth. With Larry's new show, he explores those possibilities. We know he is wealthy, he is playing himself and that is why he is able to not work. I would go so far as to say this first season is a dark representation of Seinfeld. Imagine if Seinfeld was released on HBO, how different of a show it would have been. Well, now Larry has that platform to really explore all opportunities … and he does with his hilarious show.

If you are a fan of awkward silences and coincidences with surprising results you will love this show. I am not sure if die-hard Seinfeld fans will love this program, but I sure did and I have seen every episode of Seinfeld at least twenty times. I will have to warn you, this is yet another show about nothing that just works. I just finished watching my favorite episode with the 'elevator courtesy' and his infamous fight with Richard Lewis (who plays his best friend).

Overall, this is a very funny show that I hope remains true to itself and consistent throughout the seasons. I love Larry David's humor, and while it may not be for everyone, I do find that it is very realistic. It will open your eyes to the strange, odd world in which we live.

Grade: ***** out of *****

I think too many people are looking to this show as a Seinfeld spin-off. The truth is, it's not, and you have to take the show for what it truly is. Larry David, in his great comedic brilliance, is not trying to glorify himself with this show, you can tell that just from watching one episode. Instead, he is really utilizing a caricature of a rich, whipped, neurotic yuppie to skewer the image of life at the top. His character (even though he is essentially playing himself), bumbles, complains, talks himself into painful situations, and is ultimately served devilishly funny comeuppance from episode to episode. This self-deprecating humor wouldn't work for anybody else, but for a guy like Larry David, this material works perfectly, because he seems so easy to laugh at (and I have a feeling this is hardly accidental, which is why his comedy is truly brilliant.) I really have to marvel at the idea of anyone NOT being able to laugh at this show. It's the greatest comedic take on life and the human condition that has ever been captured on film. All other television comedies of this era pale in comparison. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is possibly the salvation of true comedy TV, in an age when good television comedies are few and far between.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is easily one of my all-time favorite comedies! It has stayed ridiculously funny throughout its entire run and has been just as funny as Seinfeld (which is saying something because Seinfeld is an all-time great). If you don't find this show funny then something is wrong with you. It's hilarious! Larry David is just a flat out genius, he's responsible for two of the funniest shows ever created in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld!