"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is one of the funniest shows ever. The brainchild of comedy genius Larry David, co-creator of the equally-legendary "Seinfeld," it started with a one-hour HBO special titled "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm," which follows a fictionalized version of David as he tries to get back into show business. This plot point is carried throughout much of the series that followed. Joining David in his post-"Seinfeld" life are his ever-suffering wife, Cheryl; his oafish manager, Jeff; Jeff's screaming wife, Susie; and a bevy of other quirky characters unlucky enough to find themselves caught up in the awkward social situations that he creates.
Larry takes much of the observational comedy he explored in "Seinfeld" and pushes its boundaries with the creative freedom afforded to him by HBO, and that has allowed him to dive into far more adult and politically incorrect subjects. However, the aspect of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that sets it apart from (if not above) its contemporaries is its largely improvised humor. By putting the cast on the spot, they can believably react to Larry's constant interpersonal foibles, giving the show a fresh take on situational comedy. It's an approach that has not lost its novelty, which explains why the series is still going strong after 11 seasons (plus another on the way). Let's take a look at every season so far, ranked worst to best.
Season 1
The first season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is much stronger than that of other series premieres and does a terrific job of establishing the type of humor that would make it a modern comedy classic. It got off to a strong start with "The Pants Tent," which sees Larry dealing with a pair of pants that puff up in the front, making it look like he's, well, aroused. While he tries to not call attention to it, things get awkward when he goes to the movies with his wife's friend, and she takes it as a sign of interest in her. This episode gleefully takes a hammer to reverence and perfectly establishes the zany situations that Larry finds himself in on a seemingly daily basis.
Another standout episode from this first season is "Beloved Aunt" in which Larry is tasked with writing a charming obituary for Cheryl's recently deceased aunt. However, when Larry's bad handwriting results in the "a" being replaced with a "c" in her obituary, he incurs the wrath of her entire family, and his efforts to atone for the typo only make things worse. Despite the overall high quality of this season, there are some rough patches that demonstrate that the series' creators were still trying to figure out its voice. Episodes like "AAMCO" and "Ted and Mary" stretch some jokes a little too far and feature subplots that don't go anywhere. Still, there are more home runs than strikeouts.
Season 11
Season 11 is a disappointment, not because it's bad, but because the show should not have this many mediocre (yet still entertaining) episodes so late in the game, especially considering the relative highs of the preceding several seasons. Still, it's not without some truly laugh-out-loud episodes, with "The Watermelon" being the MVP. In "The Watermelon," Larry accidentally ruins a Klansman's robe and must get it cleaned. Complicating matters further, he has to find someone with a cow to pass off as his own to impress vegan Woody Harrelson. It's packed with the show's signature irreverence and does a stellar job of crashing its various subplots into each other with hilarious results.
Unfortunately, much of the rest of the season is just fine. Of course, an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that's just fine is great for many other comedy shows, but it doesn't stop this season from feeling a bit lazy. "Angel Muffin" is a great example of some fun ideas that needed better execution. Larry gets into a tiff with a Netflix executive because of a toilet seat at their offices that won't stay up, gets into trouble with his hygienist because the music they play in their office annoys him, and causes a scene when Leon's date refuses to give him her leftover steak that he paid for. The main plot seems like a subplot, which devalues the actual subplots. This problem typifies much of the season overall.
Season 2
The sophomore season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a definite improvement over its freshman season, but it's still smoothing out some bumps. It features a strong overarching plot: Larry's eager to get back into television, so he meets with "Seinfeld" alumni Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The project that he's developing centers on an actor who, after appearing in a highly successful TV show, must find a way to get more acting work without being typecast. However, in typical Larry David fashion, he upsets and annoys everyone who's even remotely interested. It's an obvious meta-commentary on the trajectory the careers of "Seinfeld's" cast took, but it has so many great references to the classic show and hilarious gags that it never comes off as gimmicky.
The standout for this season is "The Doll," which sees Larry and Julia coming close to getting their television project made until Larry does his thing and upsets the executive by cutting his daughter's doll's hair. This is not only the best episode of the season, but ranks among the best episodes of the series, deftly escalating how a minor social faux pas turns into a total career setback. Another episode that qualifies for best 'Curb' episode ever is "Trick or Treat." Larry refuses to give candy to two costumeless trick-or-treaters, and as expected, his pettiness does not go unpunished, as he must deal with hilariously far-reaching problems.
Season 5
Season 5 mostly continues the upward trend in the quality of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Still, the first half is stronger than its second half. There's a pretty solid overarching plot that revolves around Larry's buddy, Richard Lewis, needing a new kidney. This prompts Larry to go on a series of well-intentioned yet clumsy attempts to help his friend. "The Ski Lift" sees Larry going on one of these excursions to secure a kidney for Richard when he intentionally crashes into the car of Mr. Heineman — who's the head of the kidney transplant consortium — just so he can have a reason to talk to him and get Richard's name on the waiting list. Larry goes the extra mile to impress Mr. Heineman when he and Cheryl invite him and his daughter on a ski trip, which goes great until Larry and Mr. Heineman's daughter get stuck on a ski lift together. This greatly conflicts with her deeply Jewish views. This episode does a spectacular job of taking a simple premise and ratcheting up the awkwardness with complications that Larry handles with as much social ineptitude as possible.
Another standout episode from this season is "The Seder" in which Larry befriends a neighborhood sex offender because he's a fan of golf and "Seinfeld," and is Jewish, so he invites him to Passover Seder. This is a wonderfully irreverent episode that pushes its taboo subject to sometimes uncomfortable extremes without going too far.
Season 3
By Season 3, the creators had largely worked out the kinks, marking the beginning of a (mostly) upward trend in quality. "Krazee-Eyez Killa" is one of the best episodes of the series and features Larry getting chummy with Wanda Sykes' new rapper fiance, Krazee-Eyez Killa, who confides in Larry his unusual sexual fetish. Larry promises to keep it under wraps, but, of course, he lets the secret loose, and Killa isn't happy. Complicating things, Larry needs a specific jacket for a Martin Scorsese movie, and Killa is the only one who has the type of jacket Larry's looking for. Chris Williams knocks it out of the park as Krazee-Eyez Killa. One of his standout scenes sees him turning to Larry for some advice on his extremely profane rap lyrics.
Season 3 ends on a high note with "The Grand Opening," which resolves the overarching plot of Larry opening a restaurant with actors Ted Danson and Michael York. In this episode, Larry fires his head chef for pretending to be bald to get the job. Larry is forced to hire a replacement in the form of a New York chef with Tourette syndrome, who lets loose with the swearing on opening night. As usual, Larry's attempts to embark on a new and potentially lucrative venture are thwarted by his tendency to turn everything into a petty squabble, and once again, we can't help but laugh.
Season 9
Even some of the greatest TV shows have struggled to put out nine quality seasons, but the hilarity of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" showed no signs of stopping. The season-long plot deals with Larry having a fatwa put against him by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in retaliation for making fun of Ayatollahs when he went on a late-night show. Making things worse for Larry is that he's working on a musical comedy called "Fatwa!" based on Salman Rushdie's 1989 book, "The Satanic Verses," and the controversy that resulted from its publication. Rushdie even appears as himself in the hilarious "A Disturbance in the Kitchen," sharing some of his sage wisdom with Larry, who's so afraid of the fatwa that he's been going outside in a disguise. The episode borrows heavily from "Seinfeld" (particularly Kramer's "Kavorka"), but the show puts the references to good use while also commenting on the importance of free speech.
Of course, it's impossible to discuss the merits of Season 9 without bringing up the legendary episode "The Accidental Text on Purpose." Here, Larry develops a text trick to help his friends get out of relationship trouble. The texter sends a text — something complimentary — to someone who's upset with them and pretends it was a mistake. Like almost all of Larry's plans, it actually works pretty well — until it completely blows up in his face. Even when he tries to help his friends, Larry still manages to make them hate him.
Season 8
Classic episodes abound in this season. One of the standouts is "The Palestinian Chicken." Marty converts to Judaism and now wears a kippah everywhere he goes. This doesn't cause too many problems until Jeff introduces Larry to a Palestinian chicken restaurant. When they go to the joint, Larry asks Marty to take off the kippah before entering, which leads to a fight and Marty storming off. However, the patrons of the restaurant see Larry fending off a Jew, and they see him as a hero. He even catches the eye of Shara, a beautiful Palestinian woman. Of course, things only escalate when Larry is caught between his Jewish faith, his love for Palestinian chicken, and a relationship with Shara. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is at its best when it approaches sensitive subjects without going too far, and this episode is a terrific example of that, as it wrings countless laughs out of a touchy subject like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Larry vs. Michael J. Fox" is another top-notch episode from Season 8. After his divorce from Cheryl, Larry is living in an apartment with Michael J. Fox as his upstairs neighbor, who he believes is purposefully stomping on the floor in retaliation for a minor conflict that took place between them at a bar. Fox makes a terrific addition to the show's impressive list of celebrity cameos, and it's an absolute delight seeing him constantly push Larry to his limits.
Season 4
While Season 3 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" proved that the show wasn't a fluke, Season 4 made it a contender for one of the greatest comedy programs out there. A high point of the season (as well as the series overall) is "The Car Pool Lane," which sees Larry desperately trying to score a free ticket to the upcoming Dodgers game from Marty, whose father just passed away. When that fails, Cheryl surprises Larry with two tickets to the game for him and Jeff, but when Jeff can't go, Larry picks up a sex worker so that he can use the carpool lane to get to the game. As wacky as that episode description is, it's only a fraction of the zaniness. Every time Larry thinks he's concocted a clever plan to get out of a jam, he makes things worse for himself, and we can't help but laugh hysterically at everything he does.
"The Surrogate" is another prime example of how Larry manages to always replace our sympathy for him with adoring condescension. Here, he functions as little more than a wrecking ball in every social situation. From making a big deal about old magazines in the doctor's office to letting himself get aroused by a pretty nurse to mistaking a Black driver for a valet to ruining a baby shower, there's no conceivable interaction that Larry can't destroy. The chaos is strong in this episode, but it's well-contained with a tight structure that ensures every ridiculous subplot gets its due.
Season 10
Most TV shows don't make it to 10 seasons, much less remain entertaining by the time its 10th season rolls around. And yet, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has managed to do that while making it look easy. Making this season even more impressive is that there was a three-year gap between it and the previous season, proving that such a long hiatus couldn't stop its upward trend in quality.
Season 10 kicks off with the riotous "Happy New Year," Larry gets into some #MeToo trouble when he cleans his glasses with a shirt that's still being worn by his female assistant. This leads to an accusation of sexual harassment. Word of his social faux pas spreads, and he's mistaken for Harvey Weinstein at a dinner party hosted by Jeff and Susie. Meanwhile, Larry discovers that he can manipulate his everyday life in his favor by wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. And it works — for a time. Again, a major part of the charm of this episode is its ability to poke fun at touchy topical issues without wandering into distasteful territory. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" always walks a fine line between edgy and excessive. Bookending this stellar season is "The Spite Store," which sees Larry's coffee shop, which he started to get back at Mocha Joe, leading to a trend of celebrities starting businesses to get back at people they don't like. As you expect (and hope), it blows up in Larry's face, but such is the life of a "social assassin."
Season 6
The peak of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is largely contained in its middle seasons. There's nary a dud in sight in Season 6, making it one of the most consistently funny seasons of the whole series. There are quite a few major changes that happen, providing even more material for the show's creators to work with. For example, Larry and Cheryl decide to take in a Black family (whose last name happens to be "Black," leading to some terrific misunderstandings), whose New Orleans home was destroyed by a hurricane. Cheryl also decides to divorce Larry, meaning he's now single and ready to mingle.
Every episode is a hit, but the best are the last two, "The Therapists" and "The Bat Mitzvah." In "The Therapists," Larry and his therapist concoct a plan to convince Cheryl that he's improved himself and that they should get back together. However, Cheryl's therapist has (rightfully) convinced her that she shouldn't get back with him. The result is a witless battle between them all. In "The Bat Mitzvah," Larry's slight against someone leads to them spreading the rumor that there's a gerbil up his ... Well, use your imagination. This prompts Larry to use Jeff's daughter's bat mitzvah to clear up the hearsay. To be fair to Larry, sometimes the punishment he receives for his awkwardness is severe, but he always manages to handle it in the worst way possible — much to our delight.
Season 7
This is the cream of the crop of one of the best comedy shows ever. There's so much amazing stuff going on in Season 7, but a couple of the bigger plots taking place in this season are Larry setting up a "Seinfeld" reunion special and his attempts to win back Cheryl. As expected, these two ventures get more complicated when they converge. For example, "Officer Krupke" sees Cheryl trying to score a role on the "Seinfeld" reunion special as George Costanza's ex-wife, which Larry sees as a way of bringing her back into his life. However, the role ultimately goes to Elisabeth Shue, who along with her husband, asks Cheryl to join them in a menage a trois, much to Larry's anger. Even when things are going well for Larry, things go poorly for him, as he's practically incapable of being able to separate his personal and professional endeavors.
It's a total blast seeing so many cast members from "Seinfeld" return with so much of their comedic edge intact. While this could've been a lazy attempt to cash in on the audience's nostalgia for the beloved sitcom, it perfectly adapts its signature observational humor into a more adult context without missing a beat. It's a testament to just how great "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is.
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The post Every season of Curb Your Enthusiasm ranked worst to best appeared first on /Film.