The End of an Era: Curb Your Enthusiasm Finale Sunday Night April 7, 2024

By Ron Signore

This upcoming Sunday night will mark the end of a 24 year, 12 season era of comedic genius. The final episode of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” will air. This series has been full of so many gems as it reflects a “Seinfeld” for the mature audience on HBO.

David, one of the co-creators of Seinfeld plays a version of himself in Curb that was reflected in the George Costanza character in Seinfeld. That is to say, a character named Larry David demonstrates the extreme version of the Costanza character being neurotic, socially awkward, and in many ways, greatly misunderstood.

The play on everyday situations enhances the concept of a show about nothing. Much like Seinfeld, we follow a main character and his close friends around through consistent scenarios that question social etiquette and tend to have a darker undertone resulting in Larry looking like the bad guy. We see elements from multiple parts of each episode and story that come back around to impact the outcome of every story.

The rest of the main cast of characters boosts the show’s reception to busted stitch laughing. The series starts out where David is married to Cheryl Hines, who ends up divorcing Larry and marries Ted Danson. To those Seinfeld followers, the connection to Ted Danson continues with Danson consistently put on a pedestal in the show. Danson is somewhat of a regular throughout the series, as was the late Richard Lewis. Lewis who arguably plays David’s best friend on the show, like real life, passed away just after this final season finished filming. His presence on the show consistently brought out debates of how to act based on certain situations. Lewis had several episodes where he tended to be the victim of Larry’s actions, whether directly or indirectly.

The three supporting cast members that can really be comparable opposing characters to the Seinfeld cast are Jeff Garlin, who plays Jeff Greene, David’s manager; Susie Essman, who plays Jeff’s wife. Finally, arguably the ‘Kramer’ character of Leon Black, played by J.B. Smooth, brings an extreme aloofness to life. While Leon aligns with the mooching companion that has an interesting view and outtake on life, the Greene’s align more to the responsible and sturdy characters of Elaine and Jerry from Seinfeld.

Many of the storylines carry details that probably are best to be refrained from describing on this forum, but ultimately if you like a little immature, raunchy, shameless humor, this is a series for the ages. Where I find it most appropriate for this audience is the consistent play on the more real social tones we see on a daily basis in our own lives.

David, like me, is someone who isn’t the biggest fan of meaningless social interaction. The strain of having to make small talk, or pretending to care is a real challenge I find relatable. Arguably my favorite tactic Larry uses to keep a distance socially or recuse himself from situations he does not want to be in is where he utilizes the MAGA hat. The hat becomes identified as a repellent, visualizing the reality of people’s disdain for MAGA. It was pure genius. The result would end in David being left alone, getting out of what social obligation or scenario he would be in during the moment. For a visual if you haven’t seen the show, Google “Curb Your Enthusiasm MAGA Hat,’ your understanding of the portrayal people has of MAGA supporters will leave you in stitches.

The spectacular writing from season to season has episodes that revolve around a story that unfolds all season long, and in some cases, all series. This season revolves around David getting arrested in Atlanta for handing Leon’s mom a bottle of water while she is in line to vote. For this, the season continues to portray many positives around the actual image of Larry. This is out of the ordinary seeing as most of the series he comes out scathed as the …jerk…

Many celebrities come out of the woodwork to praise Larry for his righteous act, that of course he did unknowingly. He wasn’t trying to be a martyr and break the law. It was simply a result of giving someone he knew a bottle of water while she waited. However, like the rest of the series, many unfortunate events arise that provide a negative perception of Larry due to his neurotic ignorance.

As we gear up for the series finale, it brings a feeling of connection to the infamous Seinfeld finale. The Seinfeld finale was multiple parts in which the gang of four was imprisoned for their failure to help someone in Massachusetts that was being robbed. The trial that found the four guilty took us on a ride back through the series of all the misunderstandings that reflected negatively upon the four. Some were truly disturbing, some were innocent and unfortunate happenings, but still displayed a pattern of being less than heroic, citizens to be looked up to.

Due to the notoriety of the Seinfeld finale, it seems directly on track that the Curb finale will be of a similar circumstance. David will be on trial for something so miniscule as ignorantly providing a thirsty voter with water while they were in line to vote, and there will be a parade of witnesses from the 12 seasons painting his character negatively impacting society. The result will be him getting locked up, or at least punished in an extreme manner to the relevance of the crime. It would be the final tie into the many stories and scenarios that Curb repeated from Seinfeld.

There is always the possibility that Larry finds redemption in this finale. Finally getting to explain his side to everything, and in a bizarre turn of events for the show, Larry comes out unscathed as the hero, and someone to look up to. It is a long shot in my mind, but that twist would be enjoyable. The other feeling that keeps coming up is that Jerry Seinfeld, maybe the Seinfeld cast, will be involved in the finale. Not only is the whole Larry David character predicated on being the co-creator of Seinfeld, or the fact that they did a “Seinfeld Reunion Episode” in the series, we heard Jerry Seinfeld go viral several months back saying they (he and David) had something in the works.

No matter the ending, this will conclude the second hit series from Larry David. The challenge of coming up with 12 seasons of content writing was achieved. While the fans probably perceive this as being done with ease, the truth is probably a bit more of a difficult reality. His ability to take real life scenarios, real life stories or social issues, and drive them to a comedic story is an incredible talent. I was very bummed when Seinfeld ended, and I imagine my feelings will mirror that at Curb’s final bow. All I can say for certain is, “thank you for the laughs.”

“What? No Good?” – Larry David.

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