Curb Your Enthusiasm - General Discussion

[Badlands]

15 hours ago, rmontro said:

How long have these episodes been in the can?  Those Giuliani hair dye jokes are from three years ago.  Larry's still funny though.

 

Springsteen taped his part in December of 2022, so it's been quite awhile. The Giuliani hair dye incident was about two years before that, though.

[DoctorAtomic]

Larry going to jail at the end just seems too on the nose. I'm hoping for a twist to it. Maybe something like Larry can't be around people. Something where he ends up kind of winning in the end. You can't tell me people like the Pig Parker are in the right. Jeff, JB, and Richard Lewis wouldn't testify against him.

10 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Larry's gonna go on trial, and everyone whose lives he accidentally (or not) ruined will show up to testify against him.

Key point though is Larry is Larry, but just about all the time he's been right. So it would be funny if somehow it gets flipped. I'm not going to call bull on Larry going to jail at the end. I'd like to see something else. 

4 hours ago, aghst said:

I forget what happened with the spite store.  Both stores burned down at the end of last season?

Larry had anchored the tables on the spite store and each had sanitizer. Earlier in the episode, Larry ran into firemen who said they sometimes do the siren if they have to go to the store. 

In the spite store, Chaz Bono set the fire off because his huge dong knocked over a candle or something. The firemen were racing to the store, but Larry was in front of them and kept blocking the way because he thought they weren't serious. 

They said that the anchored tables and sanitizer spread the fire much faster, and the delay caused both stores to be burned down. 

I think the lawyer being Mocha Joe in disguise is a really loooooong walk and way too coincidental for the show though. Larry fired him anyway to plead not guilty. 

Edited February 13 by DoctorAtomic

[Arkay]

57 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think the lawyer being Mocha Joe in disguise is a really loooooong walk and way too coincidental for the show though. Larry fired him anyway to plead not guilty. 

I hope you’re right.

 

I can definitely see a story arc where he is in fact Mocha Joe, conning Larry to plead guilty so he goes to a Southern jail and Mocha Joe gets his revenge. Then Larry does indeed wind up in a jail cell, as in the real Larry David wants to show he’s unrepentant about the unpopular Seinfeld finale.

 

To me that would all be lazy writing and not the way I’d like the show to end.

[DoctorAtomic]

Jeff said he basically cold called Lawyer Mocha Joe and didn't know what he looked like. That's a big coincidence for Lawyer Mocha Joe to be on the other end of that call. If it was the other way around, then I'd be more suspect. 

Larry pleading guilty is the sensible thing to do because he really was guilty. You can argue for mercy and get a lesser charge. He only pleaded not guilty when he looked at Auntie Rae.

It's just a lot of things have to break right for that to be Mocha Joe and get Larry in jail. 

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Arkay said:

Then Larry does indeed wind up in a jail cell, as in the real Larry David wants to show he’s unrepentant about the unpopular Seinfeld finale.

To me that would all be lazy writing and not the way I’d like the show to end.

The way Seinfeld ended was very unpopular and nobody liked it.  Even if he disagreed, you'd think he'd want to avoid making the same mistake again.  So instead he doubles down on it?  Maybe that does sound like Larry after all.   But I still don't want to see it.

[Not4Me]

So I get that Susie Essman decided to go over the top with costumes this season, but I guess she extended that to her new hairdo. That’s a choice! I was at least used to the Rhea Perlman-style perm.

Speaking of fashion choices, Leon sure has a lot of audacity for poking fun at that gaudy clothing store considering the ridiculous camo leggings and animal print jacket combo he was sporting as he’s pushing 60.
 

[edhopper]

Couldn't he just pay the damages for the Lawn Jockey.  Save a lotf trouble?

[DoctorAtomic]

Susie was screaming about the deposit, and usually she gets her way. 

[aghst]

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Susie was screaming about the deposit, and usually she gets her way. 

But Larry could easily reimburse her.  It was his idea to move it.

[DoctorAtomic]

You've watched the show as long as I have. How did you think it was going to play out? The air bnb owner could have badmouthed or blacklisted Susie too. So, it's not all about the money per se. 

[aghst]

Even Susie and Jeff are wealthy that they don’t have to depend on Airbnb.

They could afford the best hotels.

But why is Larry staying with them in the first place?
 

In real life, LD is probably used to 5-star service.  Not Below Deck 5-star service but the 5-star hotels which can cost thousands a night.

I really don’t see him as an Airbnb guest.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

He checked out of the hotel, and then on the way to the airport he got arrested and I thought he spent the night in jail. The lawyer picked him up in the meantime and he met Jeff. Susie already got the air bnb in the meantime, so I assumed they just headed over there right after jail. Then they went through the whole deal with the lawn jockey. So I don't think there has been time to book a hotel yet. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Do people really still have Black lawn jockeys?

That blue jacket was hideous. The boutique restroom should have been platinum-plated for it to cost Larry $650 to use it.

Okay, LD went in with the hair dye bit.

Wait, what? You can arrested just for wearing clothes that look too expensive for you?

As soon as Larry pulled up to the church barbecue with the lawn jockey in the back seat, the church people seeing it was telegraphed. Too easy.

[rmontro]

10 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Do people really still have Black lawn jockeys?

Yes, they do.

[Galileo908]

Larry trying to reason that losing your father-in-law isn't as bad as losing your father was just great. 

So Susie got a puppy for her birthday from Cheryl and Ted. I thought Larry's gift was better. Larry was in the right about not caring if Frankie was dead. But the sigh of relief I had when he turned out to be alive. So the key to a good episode: yell at a dog. Last week didn't have it, that's why I thought it was the weakest of the three so far.

Man, the whole scene on the golf course was fantastic. Richard and Larry arguing about the will was probably just a real conversation they were having that got filmed.

Leon's balls saved the day! And Larry used it on Mr. Takahashi was gold.

[DoctorAtomic]

Why do people even have lawn jockeys at all?

I enjoyed Larry and JB going ballistic over Wordle. I think they could have mined that a little more. 

I'm with Larry on the tree. It's on Tubman's side. My neighbor won't let me trim his tree that goes into my property. It's a bit much to expect Larry would pay for half the tree. 

Vaughn's joke about being railroaded was perfect. 

I've been waiting for Susie to throw Larry out of the house. We got twice. 

Richard Lewis looked like he was having a lot of fun. The powdered milk joke was a hit. 

Not for nothing, but giving a dog as a gift is a terrible idea. Larry's gift was way better.

Hitting the guy with the bagel wasn't at the club, so Larry could have told him to pound sand. 

Seriously, who is leaving their dog outside where there's coyotes? 

[Galileo908]

17 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Hitting the guy with the bagel wasn't at the club, so Larry could have told him to pound sand. 

Oh yeah. And here I thought Larry was in trouble for the bathroom lesson.

17 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I enjoyed Larry and JB going ballistic over Wordle. I think they could have mined that a little more. 

Susie going ballistic over being spoiled was great. Larry's "you never got anything in two!" at Ted was great, too.

18 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Richard Lewis looked like he was having a lot of fun. The powdered milk joke was a hit. 

It was great to see him again.

[Galileo908]

46 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Not for nothing, but giving a dog as a gift is a terrible idea. Larry's gift was way better.

Come on, it was Susie's. It was a gift from Cheryl and Ted. It was cute. That dog was just asking to die, and wow, it didn't!

On that note, I for sure thought the homeless guy was gonna get hit by a car! It was just a setup for the bagel getting tossed.

[hoodooznoodooz]

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Seriously, who is leaving their dog outside where there are coyotes? 

Paris Hilton is. And after coyotes kill one, then on another day, three or more of her dogs, she still lets her dogs outside. The coyotes kill another one of her dogs. So she clones that dog. I’m still slivid.

They should arrest her for that. Indecent.

[hoodooznoodooz]

If the Giuliani hair malfunction is dating these episodes that they filmed or wrote years ago, so is the Wordle plotline.

The Sienna Miller plot was a big bowl of nothing. 

Larry David suddenly willingly using public bathrooms for number 2 this season?

 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I was surprised Larry used the bathroom again too, but at least here, it's in the golf club and he's been a member forever. I would have expected them to be fancier. 

[Phishbulb]

Vaughn's plotline in this episode was slightly ridiculous, even by this show's standards. Of course there are couples that look for surrogates or sperm donators to help them conceive, but are there any husbands out there really willing to let some rando do their wife to have a baby? 😄

[catsitter]

51 minutes ago, Phishbulb said:

Vaughn's plotline in this episode was slightly ridiculous, even by this show's standards. Of course there are couples that look for surrogates or sperm donators to help them conceive, but are there any husbands out there really willing to let some rando do their wife to have a baby? 😄

Plus being fine with the donor (Leon) being of a different ethnicity, meaning they will have to explain the child's origin all the time? And surely they would need some documents signed regarding parental rights.

[DoctorAtomic]

Is Leon supposed to be JB's age? He's almost 60 so it's not like this is a done deal either. She could also be scamming the husband and just want a lot of sex. 

[Not4Me]

1 hour ago, catsitter said:

Plus being fine with the donor (Leon) being of a different ethnicity, meaning they will have to explain the child's origin all the time? And surely they would need some documents signed regarding parental rights.

 

2 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

Vaughn's plotline in this episode was slightly ridiculous, even by this show's standards. Of course there are couples that look for surrogates or sperm donators to help them conceive, but are there any husbands out there really willing to let some rando do their wife to have a baby? 😄

Putting aside that everything about this storyline was just stupid, these guys are now pushing between the age ranges of 60-80 and they’re all carrying on as if they were in their 30s and 40s. And Larry thinks he has a shot with Sienna Miller. That’s when I just cringe. 

The sight of Leon’s uncomfortable balls was kinda funny, but I was still reminded of a similar plot from Friends or when George used nose-picking to get out of a bad relationship on Seinfeld.

Tracey Ullman is still a highlight, I enjoy her miserable relationship with Larry.

[Pike Ludwell]

Leon has always been too over the top for me (I know this unpopular - everyone loves Leon), but his story in this episode was even more ridiculous, on several levels.

I could be misremembering the early days, but I think the show in general has gone too far over the top in recent years. Lots of great moments, but too many where Larry is written as just too extremely stupid or where the people who are his foils are way too crazy. (The hotel maid a couple ep's ago, e.g.) Seems like his foils used to be, yeah, somewhat nutty, but had some element of sanity. The doctor played by Philip Baker Hall., or Bryan Cranston, e.g. Now too many are just totally insane.

Edited February 20 by Pike Ludwell

[qtpye]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:36 PM, Not4Me said:

So I get that Susie Essman decided to go over the top with costumes this season, but I guess she extended that to her new hairdo. That’s a choice! I was at least used to the Rhea Perlman-style perm.

Speaking of fashion choices, Leon sure has a lot of audacity for poking fun at that gaudy clothing store considering the ridiculous camo leggings and animal print jacket combo he was sporting as he’s pushing 60.
 

I was beginning to wonder if Leon was color blind...nah, it's just bad taste.

[aghst]

First there was the spite store.

In Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug episode we now get spite Wordle and spite wills.

Also balls shorts, the return of Takahashi, stolen golf lessons and pinch inseminators.

The only narrative strand seems to be Larry for championing voting rights — except he really didn’t or only did so accidentally.

Looks like Larry is only minimally civil to Cheryl and Ted now.  Danson and Mary Steenburgen are still married IRL so why did she stop appearing on the show?  In any event LD is competing against them, particularly Ted, who feels he should be on TV and getting praised.

Larry also found a way to degift the massage gun.  It wasn’t getting any love compared to the puppy anyways.  Once he used it on his groin injury, it was as good as un-gifted.

Freddie and then Leon tried to pinch-gift the gift of life this episode while Richard tried to pre-gift his estate to Larry who suspected an anterior motive.

But he kind of self-gifted free golf tips, including for teeing off, hence the name of the episode, which had a lot of giving.

 

[Soapy Goddess]

7 hours ago, Pike Ludwell said:

Leon has always been too over the top for me (I know this unpopular - everyone loves Leon), but his story in this episode was even more ridiculous, on several levels.

You are not alone. I don't find him the least bit funny at all...even when I can understand what he's saying.

[DoctorAtomic]

10 hours ago, aghst said:

In Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug episode we now get spite Wordle and spite wills.

Don't forget spite picking up the check. Larry and Richard Lewis kept coming earlier to the restaurant and then ended up trying to find the waiter the day before to give him the credit card. 

 

[Blakeston]

I liked the golf episode a lot better than the lawn jockey episode. The lawn jockey plotline was contrived even by the standards of this show. (Larry could have easily explained the situation to the store clerk in a couple of sentences. And he could have just reimbursed Susie for her deposit, or any other fees she had to pay.)

I, too, was relieved that the dog survived the episode. The way Larry and Jeff handled the dog situation really made them seem like psychopaths, though. It didn't even occur to them to use their cell phone, to ask if the dog was okay? 

[Cotypubby]

The Wordle bits were really funny. But centering so much of the episode around puppies being killed by coyotes is simply not amusing. I didn’t find any comedy in that at all, especially Larry and Jeff acting like sociopaths while we have to hear the sounds of a dog being killed. Who thinks this stuff is funny?

[Pike Ludwell]

On 2/20/2024 at 8:23 PM, Blakeston said:

The lawn jockey plotline was contrived even by the standards of this show. (Larry could have easily explained the situation to the store clerk in a couple of sentences. And he could have just reimbursed Susie for her deposit, or any other fees she had to pay.)

Larry's inability to explain the simplest things in a way to justify himself seems new, or at least more extreme, in the later seasons. 

Edited February 22 by Pike Ludwell

[TakomaSnark]

5 hours ago, Pike Ludwell said:

Larry's inability to explain the simplest things in a way to justify himself seems new, or at least more extreme, in the later seasons.

The characters of Larry, and frankly, Susie, Jeff and Leon as well, have all been Flanderized to ridiculous degrees. In the early seasons, you could enjoy their various personalities and often find yourself agreeing with their position or some aspect of their behavior. Now it is always over the top for over the top's sake and it's really a mystery why any of them would still be friends or socialize with each other voluntarily.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Leon out here freeballing.

A Tubman. Of the Underground Railroad Tubmans.

Only Larry would make a condolence call and end up in a fight with the bereaved.

Freddy said Larry was being railroaded. No. Just no, LD.

Susie's sort of effeminate puppy needed a pronoun.

Troy Kotsur. Good to see him on this silly show.

Richard Lewis looked so frail to me. The thick makeup didn't help, IMO.

That famous Beatles song, Hey Jew. OMG.

Leon is a member of the big johnson community. But I've never understood the notion that well-endowed men are more fertile.

Larry is usually callous but I think he took it to whole new level in this episode. And it's probably going to get worse.

Having your pet get killed by a coyote is no joke, and I can't imagine the horror of seeing or hearing it while it's happening.

[Galileo908]

That whole Breakfast Loophole bit would've fit right at home on Seinfeld, including someone bringing their own eggs. But only Curb would have Larry going so far to go into the kitchen and bringing Willie Geist with him to find out why they're not cooking his eggs.

"I am not Big D. Little D all the way!" Larry IS disgruntled, but Jeff being Disgruntled took me by surprise. Of course being married to Susie, he'd have to vent in a Martin Luther way. And OF COURSE Susie knows he's Disgruntled, and hates that he's too spineless to sign his own name on the letter.  I liked how a I Am Spartacus moment saves the day! But then the couples therapist accidentally outs Jeff anyway. I got a feeling that the Willie Geist interview is gonna bite Larry in the ass in a big way in the coming weeks.

Oh man, they called out the Seinfeld finale! They're definitely setting up the ending of the show being a callback to it.

"You ain't a piss doctor! You're an ASS doctor!" Man, Leon was slaying me this week.

Edited February 26 by Galileo908

[DoctorAtomic]

Just the episode entitled 'Disgruntled'. 

I noticed that Jeff has the gray hair now. 

For a fancy country club, I'm surprised they didn't have a limited breakfast menu. No one wants to eat lunch meals at 11.10. 

It's mind boggling that JB made his first appearance because of the family Larry took in from Katrina. In 2005.

I'm skeptical that Larry would bring his own eggs to the club. 

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

I got a feeling that the Willie Geist interview is gonna bite Larry in the ass in a big way in the coming weeks.

The whole water bottle plot has to pay off at the end, and Larry just isn't going to come out well. 

Larry is going to do what he wants with the show. I want to see him get over at the end. He's been right. 

[aghst]

Larry can afford to be at any country club, which would cater to his every demand.

He can hire a private chef to make him eggs any time, any way he wants it.

In fact, why not open a spite country club and golf course?

But for all his money, he's going to continue being a member of a club which gives him agita because he wants to be in a perpetual Disgruntled state.

However, that discontent, especially over picayune matters, gave him a infinitely lucrative career and fortune.

He could easily dump Irma, get some woman 1/3 or 1/4 his age to tend to his every desire but he can't quit Disgruntled.

Why not Curb Your Enthusiasm?  What's there to be gruntled or content about?

 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

"You ain't a piss doctor! You're an ASS doctor!" Man, Leon was slaying me this week.

I laughed out loud at the "pee in the condom" bit. 

That therapist was truly the worst.  She should be sued. 

Do we think it's Jerry Seinfeld who called him an asshole? 

 

[Galileo908]

13 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Do we think it's Jerry Seinfeld who called him an asshole? 

It might be easier to write a list of who wouldn't call Larry an asshole. (EDIT: and yes, I do realize that's the joke. Who out of everyone called him an asshole? Larry's not gonna let that go.)

20 minutes ago, aghst said:

Larry can afford to be at any country club, which would cater to his every demand.

He can hire a private chef to make him eggs any time, any way he wants it.

In fact, why not open a spite country club and golf course?

But for all his money, he's going to continue being a member of a club which gives him agita because he wants to be in a perpetual Disgruntled state.

However, that discontent, especially over picayune matters, gave him a infinitely lucrative career and fortune.

It's also because it's the closest one to his house! Jeff's house can be seen from the golf course, as shown last week.

Edited February 26 by Galileo908

[catsitter]

If I heard correctly, Irma said she had been sober for 15 weeks, and Larry said "9 weeks to go". That would make 24 weeks, but 6 months = 26 weeks.

[Not4Me]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

That therapist was truly the worst.  She should be sued. 

And have her license revoked, she was unethical from the start. Starting with the conflict of interest, taking sides, insisting on engaging socially, and then disclosing patient information to her husband.

“Flip flop at a Mexican resort!” and obsession with stroking phallic produce. Talk about looking in the mirror, and realizing it ain’t pretty. I love how Irma turns the tables on him.

[DoctorAtomic]

12 hours ago, aghst said:

But for all his money, he's going to continue being a member of a club which gives him agita because he wants to be in a perpetual Disgruntled state.

Everyone else is at the club though. If he left, he'd be more miserable. It does look like him and Jeff play a lot, so Larry just sucks it up. Also being close. 

 

 

[Galileo908]

8 hours ago, catsitter said:

If I heard correctly, Irma said she had been sober for 15 weeks, and Larry said "9 weeks to go". That would make 24 weeks, but 6 months = 26 weeks.

That HAD to be on purpose, and that miscalculation is gonna bite Larry in the ass, I'm sure of it.

[Soapy Goddess]

Is it really critical to the show?  Most people don't even consider something like that important enough to be concerned about. They would simply figure 6x4=24 and not even give it a second thought.

[DoctorAtomic]

She's going to blow up when Larry kicks her out regardless of the when. 

I bet Tracy Ullman tells everyone that Larry isn't the crusader for democracy that the media made him out to be, and then everyone turns on him. Maybe she testifies against him at the trial, and he's found guilty at the end of the show. 

[BetterButter]

R.I.P. Richard Lewis, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm

[DoctorAtomic]

Now Larry has to deal with all his will nonsense. 

[aghst]

Well I think the whole season is already filmed.

So who knows how many times Richard Lewis was able to film this last season.

Richard used to be so energetic about 20-30 years ago, used to appear all the time on the late night talk shows.

And his appearances in the early seasons he was also more energetic, kind of like a foil or rival, like the episode where they're getting to the restaurant earlier and earlier to claim a coveted seat.

He was about as well known as Seinfeld for doing standup before Seinfeld hit it big with the sitcom.

Who knows, maybe LD could have collaborated with RL instead of JS on a sitcom in the early '90s.

I don't think RL ever appeared on Seinfeld, now that I think about it.

[DoctorAtomic]

No way Richard Lewis would be cut for starring on a sitcom. He'd be kvetching about everything. 

Richard Lewis was a huge huge stand up riding the wave of that first comedy boom in the early 80s. I saw a lot of his specials and tv appearances. He was a contemporary of Garry Shandling and both had similar styles in that they were confessional, although I wouldn't say it was the centerpiece of Shandling's act iirc. Richard Lewis was the first stand up I saw that used his neuroses as his material. 

He was Larry's best foil on the show imo. There's so many scenes of just the two of them going at it, and they're just having a blast. I don't know if it was last season or the season before, but recently. I think they're at a restaurant (maybe one of Jon Hamm's appearances) and Richard Lewis makes a crack and totally breaks Larry. He killed so hard and Larry knew it. 

Even last week, if that's his last appearance, he still had it.