Curb Your Enthusiasm

This is without a doubt the best show to come out of Amercia for years and why does the UK struggle to show it? This is the front runner to comedies like The Office and Extras and is made to a standard higher than anything else that is currently shown.

Larry David is just a funny character. He has all the qualities of a perfect leading man and when he is placed into the mundane situations that happen around him he starts to question everything. There have been a few comedies in the past that have tried to do this (not including Seinfield) which he co-created but this is the best.

If you have never seen Larry David I would suggest that you buy the DVD box set now because this will change your life. An no I do not work for him!!!! Although given half a chance I would give up a career in medicine to follow him.

Definitely a 10/10. The best thing around for years.

I can certainly understand why many people don't like this show. The improv style is something of an acquired taste, there isn't much of a storyline at any point and Larry David himself (or at least this exaggerated version of him) is a bit of a polarizing figure. However, I personally consider it one of the best TV comedies ever made. It took me a while to really get a feel for it, and I stopped and restarted more than once, but once you get into it there's really nothing else like it. It's also one of the only shows I have seen that has maintained its standards all the way through. We're talking 90 episodes of consistent brilliance with barely a dip. Most comedies run dry after 2 or 3 seasons so it's a credit to the writing and acting that Curb Your Enthusiasm has stood the test of time so well.

Larry David is one of the best engineers of situational comedy in the business. The way the episodes unfold is brilliant and there are some hilarious high payoff moments. Yes, the punchlines are telegraphed and yes, the episodes do follow a fairly predictable formula but I don't find that to be a problem. Many great comedies are equally unsubtle, but as long as the characters are rich enough to pull it off, it really doesn't detract from the overall quality of the show.

Larry himself is a wonderfully observed character. His dry biting wit coupled with his almost autistic social clumsiness makes him the perfect contrast to the pretentious So-Cal socialites and celebrities. One criticism I have of the show, however, is the string of attractive girlfriends that Larry dates in the later seasons. I can accept him punching above his weight with Cheryl given his wealth and status, but after they separate, he is somehow able to find an endless stream of desirable girlfriends young enough to be his daughter and he does it without flaunting his money or fame.

The supporting cast is a huge success. Cheryl Hines and Jeff Garlin occasionally come unstuck in the more heavily improvised scenes, but both of their characters complement Larry perfectly. The infamous entourage of Ted Danson, Richard Lewis and Bob Einstein are brilliant accessory characters who develop very nicely as the show progresses and have a high level of authenticity. They share some great scenes and successfully help take the comedic load off Larry's shoulders. My personal favourite though has to be the amazing Susie Essman who is absolutely hilarious as Susie Greene. Her undiluted disgust at the mere sight of Larry (or indeed, her own husband) never ceases to amuse me and her heavily accented tirades and outbursts are probably my favourite part of the show.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the finest comedy shows I have ever seen and I would recommend it to anyone. However, I would urge you to watch at least one full season before writing it off as it can take some getting used to. I hope they continue to make this show indefinitely, there's little else that compares.

Each episode will have you begging for more of Larry David

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.

So what does Larry David do for an encore after the incredibly successful sitcom that detailed his experiences as a stand up in NY, he creates a new sitcom about his experiences as a very succesful creator of said show, post cancellation, living the good life with a ton of dough out in Malibu. Sounds pretty boring, and even snotty right? Its not at all. Like the rest of us, I loved Seinfeld, and still love the reruns. But I gotta say, this show is better. It's the same basic premise, which I guess is to turn a standup monologue into a situation comedy. In other words, instead of having a guy on stage telling jokes about the amusing and annoying happenstances of every day life, you create a format comedy, and use these anecdotes to weave together a plot. What made Seinfeld memorable was the clever way in which everything all in the end tied up in a nice little package. If you notice, that's a common laugh getter for stand-ups, to inject a joke they made earlier in their set and put it into practical anecdotal demonstration. You are right if you are thinking this is complete hogwash and hyper-analyzation of something not meant to be studied as such, but there it is. Having said all of that, I think CYE is the logical next step for fans of the Seinfeld show. It's the advanced course if you will of the more remedial network show. The freedom of HBO allows for obviously more adult material and language, but also for pure artistic expression. A lot of what goes on is definitely not palatable to the mainstream, and I could honestly see people hating it. Not me. I think its a rare chance to see genius, unfettered and uncensored. Yes Larry David was George Costanza or vice versa, but through this series, you also see he was Kramer, Elaine and Jerry. For some reason I totally relate to his inability to relate to everyone else, including his wife. Its often way too contrived, but I love it. If you were a fan of Seinfeld for the reasons I've mentioned, and not just for the run of the mill laugh track jokes, you will be missing something special if you don't give these a shot.