Wow, HBO has not promoted this at all. I opened the paper yesterday and saw a tiny interview with Larry David. I thought, "Why are the interviewing him" and then saw it briefly say, "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, which returns this Sunday." I haven't seen a single ad for it on HBO.

Anyway, I am excited.

http://www.hbo.com/larrydavid/

HBO's been thumping it all summer, before and after episodes of ENTOURAGE and CONCHORDS, which were in its slot, anyway.

I’m in such a minority here that I feel sure that this is my problem, but I really don’t like this show. Not to say it isn’t funny, I just find the people, the show biz milieu, and especially the writing to be so off-putting that I almost hate to allow myself a laugh. Not surprisingly, I felt the same way about Seinfeld – there were other shows like Frasier that were equally funny but had likeable characters that you could enjoy spending 23 minutes with.

As adept as HBO is at drama, I find most of their comedy line up to run from jerk-jobs like Curb to smarmy, self-congratulatory agonies like Entourage. The problem began for me with Mr. Show – hipper than thou fare that seemed to breed contempt in it’s audience for anyone who didn’t find it funny (a style of comedy that allows the Sarah Silvermans of the world plenty of disposable income).

Bur like I said – it’s probably just me.

Yes, I think that's exactly the intent of the show. I think both SEINFELD and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are fascinating in part because they're attempts to build an entire series around characters who are fundamentally despicable human beings. (The awful final episode of SEINFELD seemed intended to sledgehammer that fact home for audience members who hadn't figured that out by the final season.) CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is a much better show than SEINFELD, because while you could easily accuse Seinfeld and David of assuming a position of moral superiority in relation to the characters and the audience in SEINFELD, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM encourages such extreme identification between the character "Larry David" and the person Larry David that it becomes truly unnerving in a way SEINFELD never was. The closest comparison to David that comes to mind is Jack Benny, whose comic persona David sometimes echoes in CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. (He also owes a lot to W.C. Fields, particularly in IT'S A GIFT.) I find the show hysterical, but there certainly is unease and guilt mixed in with the laughter. I suspect one's enjoyment of the show depends on the degree one can see the characters' pettiness as mere exaggerations of one's own moments of moral weakness.

I've never seen ENTOURAGE, but I do like the episodes of MR. SHOW I've seen, but a lot of that had to do with how much I enjoyed the narrative structure of the show. I don't like Sarah Silverman, who I suppose is doing something similar to what David does in CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, but in a much cruder fashion. Her entire shtick, from what I saw in JESUS IS MAGIC, seems to be built on the premise that she can make fun of blacks/gays/Jews/ women and get away with it because she's a Jewish woman. I think it's basically a form of emotional blackmail and not funny at all. But I know a lot of people I like who adore her, so what do I know?

Ah, that explains it. I don't watch either of those.

I'm looking forward to this, even though the conclusion of season 5 seemed (and still does seem) like a logical endpoint for the show. But hey, I'm not gonna complain about bonus misanthropy, misunderstanding, and miscommunication from Larry David. There have been moments in the history of this show where I've laughed to the point of almost losing consciousness. At the time it aired, the obituary misprint (and, of course, Larry being blamed) in "Beloved Aunt" might have been the hardest I've ever laughed at TV show.

I really admire David's almost mathematical plotting style. No one can really pull it off like him, and the 30-minute sitcom length is the perfect venue for him--notice how his two stabs at feature films (his own SOUR GRAPES and ENVY, where he apparently made some uncredited contribution to the script) have their moments but generally don't work. SOUR GRAPES, in particular, is distinctly Larry David, but it seems labored and drawn out, and lacking the rapid fire pace of a CURB or a classic SEINFELD episode.

I can watch any episode of CURB any time---always in the mood for it.

Amazon has the first 3 seasons for sale at 47-49% off the $40 retail price right now.

I don't see what the problem with SOUR GRAPES is. The movie has a very good length. And width.

I like CURB best when it gets so uncomfortable that I want to flee the room. Fortunately, tonight's return brought out that feeling in me a few times. It's nice to have it back.

SPOILERS

HOLY CRAP! Wow, what a dramatic swerve on last night's episode. I've often wondered why they never did anything substantial between Cheryl and Larry. I was shocked. Even crazier is how he can turn a situation like that (and close to home for David as he is getting divorced in real life) into something so funny ("We chose Cheryl"). The Lucy Lawless stuff was amazing and she is hotter today than she was back then. I can't wait to see where this goes.

I never thought Lucy Lawless was particularly attractive before, but my eyes have been opened.

Good episode, though not on the level of last week's rat-dog storyline, which was up there with the show's best stuff.

Ms. Lawless has been heating up the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, too.

She also guest-starred in a recent BURN NOTICE episode that had the exact same plot (and twist) as a FALL GUY from 1982.

David has been ripping off FALL GUY for years, too. :)

And, on another CURB note, how about Charles Napier as the demented barber on the 9/30 episode?