Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete First & Second Seasons

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Like its fellow HBO series Sex and the City, this half-hour comedy broke some TV rules and went from critics' darling to an award-winning series in three years. Curb Your Enthusiasm is the brainchild of star-creator Larry David who co-created Seinfeld and was the basis for the easily rattled George Costanza (who was played by Jason Alexander). Like George, David has a tendency to speak too much, blow things out of proportion, and, most often, fail in the end (and often liking it that way). David's new show is also like its predecessor: it's about "nothing" except following the day-to-day ramblings of a sometime writer and comic (this time in L.A.). Eternal questions stemming from universal daily dilemmas are honed to perfect comedic absurdity. A notable exception is the show is only scripted by plot; much of the action is improvised. The first season starts with a one-hour mockumentary following David's return to stand-up for the first time in years; the other 10 episodes follow a more traditional sit-com setup. David plays "himself" (as does his friend, Richard Lewis) although his manager and wife are played by comedians Jeff Garlin and Cheryl Hines. Although this first season is a comedic gem, one can't take more than an episode or two at a time--it's acidic, biting comedy. The episodes are often built like a house of cards, which the irritable David will surely collapse by the end. Like another caustic TV character, Dabney Colman's Buffalo Bill (1983-84), Larry David is not for everybody.

The second season is more of the same, and for fans, that's a good thing. The closest thing to an arc is David's season-long pitch to the networks for a new show starring former Seinfeld stars Jason Alexander and Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Each network is lampooned, especially HBO, which David has a bad history with in this alternate world. Sure to repel those with soft funny bones, Curb's acerbic comedy allows jokes where David is accidentally framed--if ever so briefly--as a child molester, wife abuser, or murderer. But for those who do love his shtick, there are big laughs, especially when we bump into characters as unbridled as David, like a fellow writer who is quite protective over his dad's invention, the Cobb salad. Many comic actors pop up, some as "themselves" (Richard Lewis, Rob Reiner) and others as characters (Rita Wilson, Ed Asner) along with the delights of co-stars Cheryl Hines as David's wife and his affable manger, Jeff Garlin. There are several touchstone bits: what a thong brief can do to a relationship, a run-in with pro wrestler, Larry's first baptism, and one very collectible doll. To pick one episode to capture this second season--and its grandstanding nature--it would be "Shaq," in which the NBA star is accidentally tripped, changing David's usual bad luck with gut-busting results. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Larry is so funny : Get this DVD.......2007-06-17

This show is like a continuation of Seinfeld. Larry is very funny. If he and Dave Chappelle ever got together for a show, I'd be a fan for life!

You will not be disappointed with this set. LOVE IT!

Very good.......2006-07-22

I'm not sure why I tuned in to this show the first time, but once I did I was hooked. I rarely ever enjoyed a tv show more than this, and I'm always happy after watching an episode of this show. I loved Sienfield and this is as good or better.

Brilliant!.......2004-12-02

Loved Larry David's writing for "Seinfeld", and had not thought of him in terms of doing his own show. He's brilliant. The show is a scream and you find yourself rooting for Larry in every episode. He's every man at one time or another and we can all relate to the jams he finds himself in. I highly recommend the DVD's.

Larry David is a Genius!.......2004-09-23

I have never enjoyed a television show more than this. I leave every episode with an enormous smile on my face, and the remnants of well-needed laughter. After a stressful day, there is nothing more comforting than watching the mishaps of Larry David. He makes you think about things you probably seldom - if ever - think about, and his attitude towards situations and people is so believable. I don't doubt that his real life is what inspires each episode. I anxiously await the next season and am so happy that HBO keeps renewing it.

better than seinfeld.......2004-09-08

Larry David retreads not only the Seinfeld feel, but some of the same sort of story points-an object sought but hard to gain despite the fact that it is fairly simple; bad directions; how it comes back to bite us in the ass when we don't help people we easily might; or when we do help people; the ethos of the working classes; how hard it is to exchange something at a department store; etc)-but he does so so well that it is actually more enjoyable than Seinfeld. In fact, owning the Curb Your Enthusiasm collection makes buying Seinfeld feel unnecessary; it is sharper, more bitter, and more realistic.

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