Curb Your Enthusiasm - General Discussion

[hoodooznoodooz]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

I think the absolute worst on this show with regard to improv is Cheryl. For the entire run, she almost never finished a sentence. She speaks in phrases with dangling participles. She starts a thought consisting of three words and then stops talking. She is awful. 

I think in real life Larry David hates overweight women. it is just a feeling I get. Woody Allen also made fun of heavy women. 

Yeah. The yo-yo storyline was really wrong. He shifted 180 degrees when he found out that she used to be heavier. Like, he completely lost respect for her as a human being. And the dessert at the sushi restaurant was not huge or particularly high in calories. Thank goodness he never procreated.

And I actually thought Larry weighed less, so F you, you porker. (Just kidding.)

 

 

[Sam Spayaid]

On 2/3/2020 at 11:23 AM, cpcathy said:

I didn't care for it either. This season has been very chaotic. I think Larry is running out of steam.

YES!!!! I am so disappointed in the recent seasons of Curb. I love Larry - huge fan of Seinfeld and I watched Curb from day one, laughing so hard I'd have to rewind but THIS?!!!! This is stupid, boring and so bloody ANNOYING! Has Larry forgotten how to be funny? And I thought last season was bad!

Leon I find especially idiotic. I can swear with the best of them, but I really don't find someone funny whose idea of humor is saying "fuck" or "fucking" as many times as they can, in one sentence. And why the hell is he still living there?

Larry's schtick of the grumpy old dude pissed off with everything used to be hilarious. Now I find him bothersome and aggravating. With his behavior, I can't believe that no one hasn't put him in the hospital yet. 

I'm waiting for the Jon Hamm episode and then I'm bailing. I'll watch reruns from now on.

[DiabLOL]

Wow. Never thought this show would end up like this.  I'm pretty sure Curb is over for me but I will watch it to the bitter end. 

I may watch reruns at some point and see if it hasn't all been ruined for me after this season.

This show is now tedious, mean, poorly written and unfunny. If this was the only show I had HBO for I'd be cancelling promptly.

Sad to see it go out on such a low note.

We are a far cry from Palestinian Chicken here. 

Everything is contrived, forced and not worth the time. I had high hopes after ep 1 even though I was already bugged by a few things I thought were just starting a new season exuberance or something. Who is this guy? The cringe inducing used to be so complex and FUNNY. Now he's just an asshole. All the other characters are also lost at sea. Nobody reads the way they used to. None of the scenes make any sense none of the characters do either. Every bit is too long and not worth it. I haven't even smirked let alone laughed at anything last night. The woman he picked up by bizarrely asking her to throw out his chewing gum (why? and why did she do it?) seemed jarringly oblivious to his consistenly shitty treatment of her the instant he learned she used to be fat yet was ridiculously triggered by the word YOYO. Stupid.

I'd love the show to confirm that all the out of his league women he seems to have no trouble pulling know who he is. There's no way they would all agree to go out on a date with him/bed with him as eagerly as they have if he wasn't the creator of Seinfeld.  

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't really have a problem with the actor, but I agree Cheryl isn't the strongest at improv. I don't know if it's because playing the straight woman just makes it harder. Or like I've said, she's the least experienced. 

I don't get why Mickey bothered to invite Larry in the first place. 

[DiabLOL]

2 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't really have a problem with the actor, but I agree Cheryl isn't the strongest at improv. I don't know if it's because playing the straight woman just makes it harder. Or like I've said, she's the least experienced. 

I don't get why Mickey bothered to invite Larry in the first place. 

Her reactions during Larry and Ted's fight at the wedding made zero sense. It was as if she was in a completely different show.

[LibertarianSlut]

I’m coming out of hiding to say I thought this was not just a bad episode, it was bloody abysmal.  Such a decline from last week.

Nothing was funny or fun.  There was no flow.  I wish they’d stop shoehorning Cheryl in there.  She really brings nothing.  Ted was totally at fault for attacking Larry at the wedding (OMG, Timothy Olyphant looked awful).  

There were a few funny moments:  following the coffee beans and Larry’s fake sister who allegedly had all kinds of palsys was funny.  

Larry looking for a toothbrush was long and tedious.  Larry barking at the concierge —twice—about whether the carnival was “fun” completely missed the mark.  Jeff saying over and over that he wouldn’t say anything bad about Mickie felt like an in-joke that we weren’t in on.  

I completely agree with Leon (who also wasn’t funny this week) that if a plane needs your weights, it’s not a safe plane.  If they’re going to get on it anyway, though, is there “captain”-passenger confidentiality (sort of like how Brian Cranston had a patient-doctor confidentiality clause last season) that they could just tell their weights directly to the captain, and he would disclose them to no one?

There is no precedent for Susie only liking Jewish women, so that fell flat.  I was just watching my favorite episode, The N Word, where the Blacks were going to leave Larry’s house because they thought he was abusing Auntie Rae.  When the Blacks said they didn’t know where they were going to go, Susie screamed with no hesitation, “you can stay with us!”  I don’t think the Blacks were Jewish.  

Larry wasn’t amusing with his speculation about whether his date was going to yo-yo up or not.  They aren’t exclusive.  If her weight goes up, he can dump her immediately (I’m not saying I endorse being that shallow, but it is what it is).  Plus, this is a man who dated two women in wheelchairs, so I found it surprising that he was so repulsed that the woman who would carry his gum used to be heavy.  After Larry and Cheryl broke up, he always seemed like a guy who would date (not wife up, but date) all kinds of women.  I mean, Loretta was his girlfriend, and she wasn’t missing a meal.  

The weight-guesser, while I saw it coming, was mildly funny, but it went on too long.

Big question though:  Was anyone else dying to know their weights?!?  Just me?  I’ll see myself out...

[DiabLOL]

30 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

I’m coming out of hiding to say I thought this was not just a bad episode, it was bloody abysmal.  Such a decline from last week.

Nothing was funny or fun.  There was no flow.  I wish they’d stop shoehorning Cheryl in there.  She really brings nothing.  Ted was totally at fault for attacking Larry at the wedding (OMG, Timothy Olyphant looked awful).  

There were a few funny moments:  following the coffee beans and Larry’s fake sister who allegedly had all kinds of palsys was funny.  

Larry looking for a toothbrush was long and tedious.  Larry barking at the concierge —twice—about whether the carnival was “fun” completely missed the mark.  Jeff saying over and over that he wouldn’t say anything bad about Mickie felt like an in-joke that we weren’t in on.  

I completely agree with Leon (who also wasn’t funny this week) that if a plane needs your weights, it’s not a safe plane.  If they’re going to get on it anyway, though, is there “captain”-passenger confidentiality (sort of like how Brian Cranston had a patient-doctor confidentiality clause last season) that they could just tell their weights directly to the captain, and he would disclose them to no one?

There is no precedent for Susie only liking Jewish women, so that fell flat.  I was just watching my favorite episode, The N Word, where the Blacks were going to leave Larry’s house because they thought he was abusing Auntie Rae.  When the Blacks said they didn’t know where they were going to go, Susie screamed with no hesitation, “you can stay with us!”  I don’t think the Blacks were Jewish.  

Larry wasn’t amusing with his speculation about whether his date was going to yo-yo up or not.  They aren’t exclusive.  If her weight goes up, he can dump her immediately (I’m not saying I endorse being that shallow, but it is what it is).  Plus, this is a man who dated two women in wheelchairs, so I found it surprising that he was so repulsed that the woman who would carry his gum used to be heavy.  After Larry and Cheryl broke up, he always seemed like a guy who would date (not wife up, but date) all kinds of women.  I mean, Loretta was his girlfriend, and she wasn’t missing a meal.  

The weight-guesser, while I saw it coming, was mildly funny, but it went on too long.

Big question though:  Was anyone else dying to know their weights?!?  Just me?  I’ll see myself out...

Nope you're not alone! I couldn't stop guessing especially at Larry's shockingly higher than I expected weight!

It didn't make sense to me at all that Leon refused as well. He has a conventionally nice physique appears to know it and has never given reason to suspect issues such as an eating disorder or body dysmorphia. Why would he vault up about it like Jeff?

[DoctorAtomic]

He said disclosing his weight would provide too much information for the police to fit him to a description. 

[DiabLOL]

5 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

He said disclosing his weight would provide too much information for the police to fit him to a description. 

Oh yes ok I forgot! Thanks!

 

[LoveLeigh]

6 hours ago, DiabLOL said:

Wow. Never thought this show would end up like this.  I'm pretty sure Curb is over for me but I will watch it to the bitter end. 

I may watch reruns at some point and see if it hasn't all been ruined for me after this season.

This show is now tedious, mean, poorly written and unfunny. If this was the only show I had HBO for I'd be cancelling promptly.

Sad to see it go out on such a low note.

We are a far cry from Palestinian Chicken here. 

Everything is contrived, forced and not worth the time. I had high hopes after ep 1 even though I was already bugged by a few things I thought were just starting a new season exuberance or something. Who is this guy? The cringe inducing used to be so complex and FUNNY. Now he's just an asshole. All the other characters are also lost at sea. Nobody reads the way they used to. None of the scenes make any sense none of the characters do either. Every bit is too long and not worth it. I haven't even smirked let alone laughed at anything last night. The woman he picked up by bizarrely asking her to throw out his chewing gum (why? and why did she do it?) seemed jarringly oblivious to his consistenly shitty treatment of her the instant he learned she used to be fat yet was ridiculously triggered by the word YOYO. Stupid.

I'd love the show to confirm that all the out of his league women he seems to have no trouble pulling know who he is. There's no way they would all agree to go out on a date with him/bed with him as eagerly as they have if he wasn't the creator of Seinfeld.  

I think the problem is as I indicated. Larry David still writes the show as if he has not aged and is still that guy back in 2004. He is sort of old and looks older than his age and pairs himself with 40 somethings when he should be with Frances McDormand or Fran Drescher types.

His friends all are caught in a time warp. Richard Lewis is also almost 73 and acts like he is 50. They all interact like they are in high school. They are old men. 

And much of the humor today just does not fly or stand any test of time. Back in the day, his shtik of making fun of fat women passed. Now, it is dated and insulting. I look at this now through a different lens and think: "who the hell is he to judge the weight of women and frown upon her yo-yoing up?" But this is the same LD that created caricatures of disabled people: 

LD politically incorrect

Edited February 11, 2020 by DakotaLavender

[DiabLOL]

10 minutes ago, DakotaLavender said:

I think the problem is as I indicated. Larry David still writes the show as if he has not aged and is still that guy back in 2004. He is sort of old and looks older than his age and pairs himself with 40 somethings when he should be with Frances McDormand or Fran Drescher types.

His friends all are caught in a time warp. Richard Lewis is also almost 73 and acts like he is 50. They all interact like they are in high school. They are old men. 

And much of the humor today just does not fly or stand any test of time. Back in the day, his shtik of making fun of fat women passed. Now, it is dated and insulting. I look at this now through a different lens and think: "who the hell is he to judge the weight of women and frown upon her yo-yoing up?" But this is the same LD that created caricatures of disabled people: 

LD politically incorrect

Last night I caught myself thinking why he even bothered with the MAGA hat bit?

[Sam Spayaid]

12 hours ago, DakotaLavender said:

His friends all are caught in a time warp. Richard Lewis is also almost 73 and acts like he is 50. They all interact like they are in high school. They are old men. 

Agree. It's pretty cringe worthy to see a bunch of creaky old guys still trying to act like frat boys. And that whole business of paring LD up with young women - who, come on...let's face it..wouldn't give him the time of day in reality - is so typical for Hollywood and will likely never change. 

[LoveLeigh]

3 hours ago, Sam Spayaid said:

Agree. It's pretty cringe worthy to see a bunch of creaky old guys still trying to act like frat boys. And that whole business of paring LD up with young women - who, come on...let's face it..wouldn't give him the time of day in reality - is so typical for Hollywood and will likely never change. 

I think those women MIGHT give LD the time of day because as it was pointed out... he is rich. Very rich. But to see an old, very old, LD, acting all romantic with these women sickens me. He is an "old geezer." This writing model for the series worked like a charm back in 2004, but he was in his 50s then. At almost 73, the same model seems bizarre. And to see him cavorting with his friends as if he has not aged is even more bizarre. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by DakotaLavender

[scrb]

Wow I don't get the hate for this episode.  I liked how he tied the weight plot with the beans and everything.  You saw it coming but it was still enjoyable to see it executed.

Are these the best CYE episodes ever?  No but it's still CYE, which puts it above a lot of other shows.

Sure he is dipping into old ideas from Seinfeld, like the woman with the yo-yoing weight is like the Seinfeld episode about a woman Jerry dated who looked good sometimes, bad other times.

The weight thing is a comic vehicle.  Other than the women, most adults wouldn't be so secretive about their weights.  Anyways, if the plane has enough seats for everyone, they're generally able to carry everyone.  That was a jet, not some light aircraft like a Cessna.

 

Is Larry just too old and out of touch?  Maybe.  But I don't think he's like this character, who gets into arguments all the time on the show.  LD isn't going around offering unsolicited opinions or getting into other people's business.  He doesn't regularly get into screaming matches with his friends wives or opens up a spite store.

I don't even think he goes around breaking selfie sticks or knocking over electric scooters.

Meanwhile, Larry was recently asked about possibly offending some people politically.

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/JimmyTraina/status/1227051040954077184

 

 

 

[cpcathy]

I thought the concierge bit was the best part of the show. That guy was really funny, I think I've seen him as Tahani's very short soulmate on The Good Place.

[Sam Spayaid]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

I think those women MIGHT give LD the time of day because as it was pointed out... he is rich. Very rich. 

Excellent point. So what he should do from now on, is to carry his latest bank statement around with him because he sure as hell doesn't look REMOTELY like a guy with money!

Hollyweird is full of gorgeous, nubile young mercenaries hooked up with hideous old gargoyles - Harvey Weinstein, Larry King, etc. 

As they say, "when you marry for money, you will earn every penny."

[LoveLeigh]

2 hours ago, Sam Spayaid said:

As they say, "when you marry for money, you will earn every penny."

And trust me, these women who marry these old guys for money do earn every penny.

But, to keep the thread on the topic of the show.... I think the funniest on the show is Leon. He seems current and has not lost his edge. Larry David should retire to an assisted living residence in Beverly Hills. I cannot believe how OLD he looks and how clueless he is in terms of how he keeps his character in that time warp. If I was that woman he handed the gum to toss, I would conclude he had dementia. 

[Maysie]

I remember some years ago reading about some debutante ball that had some famous offspring attending and that Larry David was there with his daughter. It was a wtf moment because 1) I never thought of him as the type to have kids and 2) the thought of Larry David at a debutante ball was unnerving. It just didn't add up to me that the guy who used himself as the basis to create George Costanza would go through the whole debutante thing. I guess my point is that yes, this is Larry playing Larry, but to an extent, I still see it as playing - a caricature.

I kind of feel like everyone who is playing him/herself is doing it with a bit of a wink and a nod - Jason Alexander and Julia Louis Dreyfus both came off as assholes in various times they were on the show. My guess is that they all have a great time doing it, which is why they all keep coming back for more. So I can't believe Larry is all that bad in real life (Ted Dansen doesn't need the money or exposure at this point, so he must be having some fun with it). And based on that and his immense wealth, I'm sure Larry can probably still score younger women just fine, particularly in a town such as Hollywood where so many people are trying to make it in the industry.

The show has had its ups and downs over the years, and I feel like this year is one of its down years. There's been some funny stuff, and I'm interested to see if Larry's Lattes can take on Mocha Joe (It's excellent that Leon has such a refined coffee palate!), but when I compare it it episodes such as when he hired the prostitute to ride in the HOV lane to the ballgame with him, it's definitely not as sharp.

[heavysnaxx]

7 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I thought the concierge bit was the best part of the show. That guy was really funny, I think I've seen him as Tahani's very short soulmate on The Good Place.

 I thought the concierge was fantastic. His delivery of, "Oh yeah - it's FUN," was so perfect. And like the consummate professional he was, each and every repetition was identical to the last. He sounded like he meant it!

This is a skill I don't have.

Edited February 12, 2020 by heavysnaxx

[Iris987]

20 hours ago, Maysie said:

There's been some funny stuff, and I'm interested to see if Larry's Lattes can take on Mocha Joe (It's excellent that Leon has such a refined coffee palate!), but when I compare it it episodes such as when he hired the prostitute to ride in the HOV lane to the ballgame with him, it's definitely not as sharp.

Monena- You only bought me one hot dog!

Larry- Yeah. Which you then proceeded to blow!

That's a GREAT episode.

[TV Diva Queen]

On 2/10/2020 at 12:10 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

This spite against mocha Joe is serious business. 

 

didn't Larry say something to Leon "boy this spite store is a lot of work".  Dead!

ETA:  I'd rather watch a bad episode of Curb than pretty much any sitcom on any other channel.  

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by TV Diva Queen

[Ms Blue Jay]

I did hate the fat-shaming, but other than that I absolutely loved the episode.  It was really funny.

Larry is obviously one of those people who can't gain weight - I have a few close friends who are the same - and they therefore absolutely can't understand everyone else on earth who struggles with their weight no matter what.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ray Adverb]

Leon's analogy about the importance of being on time had me in stitches.  That was priceless.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Tonight's episode, the professional crier one titled "Insufficient Praise" was such a let-down after the cruise episode.  I don't even know if I laughed once.  Honestly.  All these Hollywood guest stars and for what?

This season is rough so far!

If you see LD on a talk show, he has a million great ideas.  His recent appearance on Colbert I was so fascinated by all the ideas he had.  He has to figure out to translate them to his show!

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Iris987]

56 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Tonight's episode, the professional crier one titled "Insufficient Praise" was such a let-down after the cruise episode.

Cruise episode? Which one was that?

[Joimiaroxeu]

"Penis detected."

I'm not sure Vince Vaughn is a good replacement for Funkhouser. IMO he's problematic, for reasons.

OMG, the housekeeper cleaning the sex doll.

That postal carrier is hella messy.

I laughed so hard at Larry deflating the sex doll I almost started hyperventilating.

The con crier reminded me of this bit from Seinfeld:

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by Joimiaroxeu
spell check. how does it work?

[Ms Blue Jay]

12 hours ago, Iris987 said:

Cruise episode? Which one was that?

The Cabo episode.  I misspoke.

On 2/10/2020 at 8:01 PM, LibertarianSlut said:

There is no precedent for Susie only liking Jewish women, so that fell flat.  

Very interesting!  I think you're right.  On the show she not only liked Loretta but is obviously close with Cheryl and was always good friends with Wanda Sykes.

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought this was funny. I knew right off the bat that the crier was faking it, so I kind of enjoyed her death by stole.

I'm also enjoying the continuing coffee shop plot and recurring mailman. JB's whole 'poo poo dee doo fuckin' in black and white' was a killer bit. I'm glad Larry just got out of the way and let him go.

Clive Owen also plays a great asshole version of himself too. Not as good as his appearance on Extras but the temperamental storming off after the sandwich and overacting when he heard the crying was fantastic. KON TIKI

As was Jeff's glee in pointing out all the people crying.

[heavysnaxx]

I thought this episode was a solid return to CYE form: Nothing too heavy, strong on bizarre but relatable (to me, anyway) gray zones in social norms. This episode was all about problems that have little or nothing to do with Real Problems.

I laughed and laughed and laughed when Cheryl walked in on Larry and Sherry (heh). As I may (!) have mentioned, I can't stand Cheryl David so I was thrilled to know that SHE knew that this was the guy she blew up her relationship with Ted Danson for.

Now, about the no-defecation plan at Latte Larry's: This is a stupid goal for anyone serving coffee, full-stop. Does he think he can turn Mocha Joe's into the #2 coffee spot, in all manner of ways? (The conflict scenes for this write themselves.) And not even Larry could think he can just opt-out of having a women's (or gender-neutral) bathroom and, according to my source, that's just gonna create a whole other set of problems.

Unsolicited advice for Larry: If you really want to dispose of a sex doll, throw the damn thing out yourself. How difficult is that? DON'T GIVE IT TO LEON.

Confusion: No one even side-eyed wearing fur? I'm aware it's made something of a comeback (ugh) but this surprised me. I could imagine Susie shouting, "FUR?! THAT'S SICK, THAT'S WHAT THAT IS! SICK! OH IT WAS YOUR MOTHER'S...IT'S STILL DISGUSTING, LARRY!"

I'm with Larry on his sandwich reaction, if only because a really shitty ex caused me to build the case for a sandwich's superiority over a boyfriend, in terms of reliability, versatility, desirability - over time. A stage performance? Pfft.

Like Leon, I thought the past was in black and white. Unlike Leon, I was 7.

Edited February 18, 2020 by heavysnaxx

[scrb]

I enjoyed it.

They’re doing a slow build on the spite store.  Of course Larry would want custom urinals.  I think no standard toilets might be a code violation in any place that serve food, though Starbucks has full bathrooms but maybe not bakeries or donuts.

Who knew wearing fur in SoCal was a thing?

The scene of Larry trying to deflate Sherry and being walked in on by others is a classical CYE trope.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, heavysnaxx said:

No one even side-eyed wearing fur?

I thought they were going down that route, but the professional crying was way funnier.

I'm surprised Richard Lewis wasn't more ballistic about being dumped. He was very subdued this time around. I couldn't tell if he was actually agreeing with Larry when he brought up being conned out of the stole.

 

[Irlandesa]

Larry getting caught in a weird position with the sex doll could be seen coming from the minute the sex doll was introduced.  It doesn't matter, though, the visual still cracked me up.

I liked how they used the professional crier.  It was all deceit and ridiculousness until they actually needed her professional services. 

I do think Larry's urinal plan is going to be what backfires on him somehow. 

[Blakeston]

12 hours ago, heavysnaxx said:

Unsolicited advice for Larry: If you really want to dispose of a sex doll, throw the damn thing out yourself. How difficult is that? DON'T GIVE IT TO LEON.

Larry inexplicably (and idiotically) allowing Leon to "handle" things has become a crutch for the writers.

It would have made more sense, and been funnier IMO, if Larry kept throwing the doll out and Leon kept salvaging it.

 

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Larry inexplicably (and idiotically) allowing Leon to "handle" things has become a crutch for the writers.

It would have made more sense, and been funnier IMO, if Larry kept throwing the doll out and Leon kept salvaging it.

 

Not sure abut the "idiotically" part. Leon got the plumber (or the carpenter, or whoever it was) to show up instantly at the spite store.

[hoodooznoodooz]

On 2/17/2020 at 10:34 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

The con crier reminded me of this bit from Seinfeld:

 

It reminded me of the Tonya Harding-inspired Bette “Meedlah” understudy on Seinfeld who cried about the hot dog and shoe laces, but not about a death.

Edited February 18, 2020 by hoodooznoodooz

[hoodooznoodooz]

14 hours ago, heavysnaxx said:

Unsolicited advice for Larry: If you really want to dispose of a sex doll, throw the damn thing out yourself. How difficult is that? DON'T GIVE IT TO LEON.

Really dumb plot line .

Scissors. Garbage can. Done.

And if we didn’t anticipate Larry giving it to Uncle Moke, then I guess, “This is a great show!”

But I was expecting something weird with the doll, the flight attendant/nurse/cheerleader/maid outfit and Matilda.

[hoodooznoodooz]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I do think Larry's urinal plan is going to be what backfires on him somehow. 

A piece of wood sliding vertically on grooves reminds me of a guillotine.

Maybe this will tie in with Larry’s black/white reproductive organ conversation with Laverne Cox.

 

[Milburn Stone]

Wonder if anyone instagrammed Larry appearing to assault the crier when he tried to pull the mink from her.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

Not sure abut the "idiotically" part. Leon got the plumber (or the carpenter, or whoever it was) to show up instantly at the spite store.

He also had the powder for Larry. And here, he's keeping the urinal guy on schedule. 

24 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

Wonder if anyone instagrammed Larry appearing to assault the crier when he tried to pull the mink from her.

If she actually did die, I'm wondering if there will be some fallout with Larry being accused of hiring Clive Owen to kill her. 

Seriously, crying *works* though. 

[LibertarianSlut]

That was, unfortunately, terrible.  It felt very long.  I can’t stand Isla Fisher or her affected accent, so I didn’t give a shit about the stole.  I thought it would have been funny/interesting if Larry had gotten into it with the people at the next table more about the space heater.  

Larry is really funny when it comes to those little etiquette moments.  In one of the episodes where everything conspired to make it look like he was racist (I think there were three), Larry was at a restaurant and he asked a neighboring table of black people to keep it down, and they called him Tucker Carlson and it was a really funny scene, so that was a missed opportunity.

As far as improv, Richard Lewis has historically been the best to go with Larry, but he wasn’t coming up with much this episode.  I just watched the season seven episode where Larry accidentally urinates on a painting of Jesus, and the improv between Larry and Lewis was fucking hilarious.  There was also that episode where Richard told Larry to call him with an apology by sundown and Larry laughed in his face and asked whether they were in High Noon.  Something is just not working about it right now.  Maybe it’s because Richard has his shit together now more than he used to.  A neurotic Richard is a funny Richard.  

I have also noticed that Larry does excellent improv with Jerry Seinfeld.  You know who is not working for me right now?  Jeff.  It’s like he got very animated since the earlier seasons.  I don’t know if it has to do with his role on The Goldbergs or what, but in the beginning, he was like the sedate fat guy who let Larry have his neuroses and Jeff would back him up 100%, even when Jeff thought Larry was trying to molest his own mom.  Now Jeff is like this jumping, yelling guy, and I don’t like it.  The old Jeff never would have forced Larry to leave a message for Clive Owen like that.  That would have been the sort of shit Larry would complain about to Jeff in the old days, and Jeff would have said it was a big bowl of wrong or whatever. 

Susie is good in small doses.  I didn’t like her cursing around the housekeeper.  No one really curses like that.  They curse like that around the people they know.  Maybe if the housekeeper had just overheard Susie say “fuck” a bunch of times and quit, it would have been funnier.  

I know I say it every week, but I just don’t see a place for Ted or Cheryl on this show now that she and Larry have been divorced for 10+ years.  I know this show is loosely based on Larry’s life, and he divorced Cheryl around the time he really got divorced, but is this how it is with his ex-wife now?  Is he still all up in her social life, and she in his?  It seems strange. It feels like they’re just trying to keep Cheryl and Ted on the show in some capacity, when they’re not good.

I just don’t know with the fuck doll.  You saw everything coming a mile away, with the housekeeper.  It was so much funnier when it was subtle, when Larry accidentally ate an erotic cake, but when he tasted it, it was so good that he brought it home, and when someone asked him what he was doing (I think it was Loretta), he said, “eating penis.”  That’s so much funnier to me.

Random casting for Vince Vaughn to be Funkhauser’s half-brother, but hopefully he’ll show up again.  He seemed natural in front of the cameras, and he looks better than he used to, not worse, which can hardly be said for any of these characters (except, I do have to give Jeff credit for his weight loss over the years too).

I have been watching old episodes, and while some of them were just like this one—just real misses—like the one where Larry and Rosie O’Donnell got into several fights about who would have the pleasure to pick up the check, and they kept threatening each other with how nice they were going to be to the other one, until it got physically violent...stupid.

But other than the misses, which were fairly few and far between, I did notice the show was funnier when it rotated people in that were just really good at improv-ing with Larry.  Remember the guy who wanted to meet Julia Louis-Dreyfus before he would sign a paper that would allow Larry and Cheryl to remove a wire from their backyard?  He came back when Loretta had cancer, just for a brief interlude, and his chemistry with Larry was off the charts.  It was this guy:

And this doctor that has a recurring role with Larry is so funny, because the doctor is 100% humorless:

Give these guys a chance!  Stop going to the same dry well and expecting it to yield water.  

I wish they would just cut ties with Ted and Cheryl, (Funkhauser isn’t going to be there), bring Jeff and Suzie’s roles down to where they used to be—not staples of every episode, but there if you needed them, Richard can maybe sit a few out until he gets his bearings, and let Leon be in every episode, but not the star of every episode and bring in a bunch of hilarious new and old characters with whom Larry has chemistry.  

That’s how this show can get better.  Bring in new faces.  Be more subtle, less manic, maybe shorten the episodes even by a few minutes, and let it breathe.  There is something very claustrophobic about this season.  

And the new-fangled urinal?  I can live without it.  If anyone saw Clear History, the movie where Larry basically plays himself with a different name and story, this feels very much like the Howard, and that has been done, and it’s not haha funny to me anymore, because it’s not new.  

I also think Larry would have been a total dick to Clive Owen the way he was a total dick to Ricky Gervais, as soon as he started demanding things and putting on airs.  

Oh man.  This show lost its way since the Artificial Fruit.  

Thank God, on my rewatch, I am coming up to the season where Larry moves to New York to avoid a social obligation.  That was a good season!  And I think it was supposed to be the last, because it ends with Larry and Leon living in Paris and having the same problems as they did in the US.  Maybe it should have been the last, because they’re regressing.  I’ll give it another episode before I declare the season dead.  Two bad episodes in a row can be a fluke, three is the kiss of death.  

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by LibertarianSlut

[cpcathy]

I thought Isla was the best thing about the episode. The turn to normal from blubbering was very funny. I'd like to see her in a show of her own.

[Blakeston]

21 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Not sure abut the "idiotically" part. Leon got the plumber (or the carpenter, or whoever it was) to show up instantly at the spite store.

Leon is good at manipulating/intimidating people, but he's also had some major fuckups (like when Larry put him in charge of security during the fatwa). Getting rid of a sex doll is the absolute last thing Larry should have trusted him to do.

[dsteele]

19 hours ago, LibertarianSlut said:

No one really curses like that.

I'm guessing you've never been in the military... 😄

[TV Diva Queen]

1 hour ago, dsteele said:

I'm guessing you've never been in the military... 😄

or around me.  😇

[DoctorAtomic]

5 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Leon is good at manipulating/intimidating people, but he's also had some major fuckups (like when Larry put him in charge of security during the fatwa).

Yeah, but the woman was yelling obscenities when they were having sex so the bodyguard acted accordingly. And he was right about the towels. 

53 minutes ago, TV Diva Queen said:

or around me.  😇

I never really found Susie's language to be that extreme. I got in trouble at work for using abusive language when asking why we needed to change the fucking lock on the door right now in the middle of work. 

[scrb]

Leon is like Kramer to an extent, the mooching idiot savant who knows or claims to know some life wisdom.

[OldButHappy]

On 1/27/2020 at 2:08 AM, DakotaLavender said:

I hate to say this but the following is a truthful response. I am Jewish, both Litvak and Galitzyaner. It is a cultural thing.

Ha!  As a repressed Irish Catholic who grew up in a house with a Mazuza (see? can't even spell it correctly!) in  a mostly Jewish suburb, I was floored at the dinner table discourse at my friends' houses. I learned not to ask "What are they fighting about?" because, well, no one was fighting.  

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm just about on board with Larry but parking in the handicapped spot? Come on. 

And you don't give yourself a nickname. 

Edited February 24, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[Ms Blue Jay]

Laughing so hard at Fred Armisen as we speak

23 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I'm just about on board with Larry but parking in the handicapped spot? Come on. 

Yeah that's awful!

[DoctorAtomic]

It was obviously a setup for later but still.

Chris Martin was seriously funny. 

The dog.

Edited February 24, 2020 by DoctorAtomic