Lyssa Beyer

When I lived in Virginia last summer, I took a chance on renting DVDs for the TV show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Created by “Seinfeld” co-creator and writer Larry David, I heard good things for a long time and thought maybe it was time to see if it lived up to its hype. I loved watching “Seinfeld” growing up as a kid. But after watching all 60 episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, might I dare say I think this was his best show out of the two?

The semi-fictional show finds David living in his post-Seinfeld success in California, often coming upon small life situations that bring out the worst of his judgment and self-control. Some say that this is an exaggeration of Seinfeld’s George Costanza, who was actually based on David early on during the show. On this show, these faults seem to come in fifth gear, as David comes across as mostly neurotic and unable to let things go even in the littlest of situations. As a result, he finds himself in many more awkward and humiliating situations than George ever could. Larry David said himself this would probably be the way he’d treat people in real life, except of course, for things like sensitivity to others coming in the way.

But nothing is off-limits for Larry on the show, as he often finds himself in the most uncomfortable of situations as a result. Not even picking up a prostitute just so he can use the car pool lane to get to a Dodgers game faster is out of bounds. Despite being a millionaire a few hundred times over, he still finds every excuse to be cheap, even if that means having to borrow cash from the lawyer he just fired after pulling up to a parking lot booth empty-handed. Might he hold back if he finds out his golf club is in the coffin of his friend’s deceased father? Nope, just like the time he got into a shoving match with a woman over who would sign in at the doctor’s office first. In many ways, he only makes a situation worse when it could’ve been easily avoided. One example came when he refused to thank his friend’s wife for dinner because her husband was the one that actually paid for it.

Putting up with his antics is his wife, the surprisingly loyal and attractive Cheryl. Though she ends up leaving him during the sixth season (as his real-life wife actually did), she puts up a brave face in many of the other shows as Larry falls in his inevitable spiral. Larry’s portly manager Jeff Green also makes many appearances, showing up as the partner in whatever scheme Larry is playing at the time. Jeff’s wife, Susie, isn’t exactly the warmest of the bunch though. In fact, most of her dialogue ends up being the most memorable, which usually comes out as some profanity-laced tirade against Larry and anyone else who crosses her the wrong way.

Many of Larry David’s real life friends make appearances here. Comedian Richard Lewis appears the most, either playing up the fact he’s a recovering alcoholic or waiting for Larry to finally give him a kidney after he finds out he’s a perfect match. Ted Danson also comes in, as does Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer among others that show up in Larry’s self-centered universe. “Seinfeld” alums Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus even make appearances during the show’s first and second seasons.

At times you’re either laughing at Larry’s faults or putting your hands over your face as you cringe in disbelief at what happens next. To say you feel embarrassed for him would be an understatement, though I do find the occasional sympathy vote in place from time to time. One such incident came after he and his wife playfully pretended he was hitting her in the car, only for a man who saw it to actually believe that he was a spouse abuser. Another one came when he offered to write an obituary for his wife’s deceased aunt, only to see the newspaper print a horrible typo when it goes to print. Not surprisingly, he’s blamed for it and finds himself thrown out of the house by her family even though it’s not his fault. More often than not though, it actually is.

The show has now been airing on HBO for over seven years and has six seasons to its name, including one that just aired last fall and is now on DVD. Plus, with 10 episodes a season, you’re almost guaranteed a chance at having no filler episodes in the process. It might be worth renting one night if only to check it out. Who knows? You might end up thinking it’s pretty good. pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Tinberg is a senior political science and print journalism major and a columnist for the Spectator. His “Pop Culture Club” column appears every Monday.