Larry David, Jeff Garlin highlight unfiltered series
Unscripted. Unfiltered. Abnormal.
A cranky, middle-aged man is back, and he’s taking over HBO in 2020 with his peculiar personality and obscene mannerisms. He’s going to kvetch and you’ll see Larry David’s receding pure white hairline, too.
The former Seinfeld co-creator is aiming to be as realistic as possible, bringing real-life scenarios to your television.
Cue Luciano Michelini’s “Frolic,” because Curb Your Enthusiasm is coming back and there is plenty of time for the catchy, instrumental song to get stuck in your head.
But the Brooklyn native is ready to take his T-shirts and neurotic personality to the next level. As he says, season 10 of Curb Your Enthusiasm is “pretty, pretty, pretty good.”
“The premise for this season is my favorite,” Jeff Garlin, the enthusiastic comedian who plays manager to the stars Jeff Greene on the show, told Long Island Weekly. “I think people everywhere will love it because it’s very universal. It’s experiences people have had at one time or another and Larry does it.”
And David’s shenanigans are back, too.
The newest season of Curb Your Enthusiasm took over HBO’s satellites after a more than two-year hiatus. This time around, David and his shenanigans find him in as many awkward situations as one can imagine, such as battling it out with “Mocha Joe” in the first episode of the new season.
While Garlin wouldn’t give much away about what to expect in the highly anticipated new season of Curb, there will be plenty of moments that pay tribute to the late Bob Einstein, who played the lovable Marty Funkhouser. The comedian tragically died on Jan. 2, 2019, after a short battle with cancer.
“It was very emotional,” Garlin said, briefly pausing to discuss the legacy of one of his closest friends. “He was with us everyday in terms of on our minds. We talked about it every day. It came very quickly. He missed the first half of the season because he had pneumonia. He was getting better and suddenly, he was diagnosed with cancer and he was dead weeks later. I adored him. He was one of my dearest friends.”
Despite the tragic loss, Curb Your Enthusiasm makes its return as the most unique show on television.
David prides himself on the authenticity of the show, which attempts to reenact the enthusiasm—and lack thereof—of everyday people. The cast is essentially unabashedly unfiltered throughout each and every episode, offending just about everyone they meet along the way.
“When I check out shows, I’ll watch them and I’ll be like, ‘Oh boy. What just happened is so false,’” Garlin said. “People didn’t react the way people react. At its best, Curb feels like you’re watching a documentary. Larry and I are proud of the fact that when someone does something funny, the other characters laugh on camera.
“That doesn’t happen. You watch a show, someone does something that’s meant to be funny and is incredibly funny, but the other actor just starts saying their line. We’re very present and honest. If you want to go one step deeper and get to the core, it’s because Larry David writes the outlines. There’s no one else like him.”
Garlin and David, who play best friends on the show, are the same in reality. The dynamic duo met each other several decades ago as comedians in New York City. As both of them blossomed into comedic legends, with David running Seinfeld and Garlin playing key roles in dozens of hit sitcoms and films, they stayed in touch until they teamed up to be the executive producers of what would become one of HBO’s most successful shows.
“When we first started auditioning people and Larry and I would be acting with them, it felt like Larry and I knew each other for 40 years at that point,” Garlin said. “That was at the very beginning. It was a gift and it’s quite beautiful.”
And that beautiful gift, paired with David’s awkward life encounters, created the most unique show on television.
Curb Your Enthusiasm debuted in 2000, airing eight seasons through 2011. But season 9 didn’t appear until 2017, and it did not disappoint. David curses, shoves, yells at and bickers with everyone from a bus driver to his receptionist, ex-wife Cheryl David (Cheryl Hines), Green’s wife Susie (Susie Essman) and many others. Oh, and there was a fight with Lin-Manuel Miranda, too.
So the return of Curb simply means that there will be plenty of new, unforgettable moments. In the trailer for season 10, David is seen reciting the famed Gettysburg Address, making fun of Susie’s hat, calling her Abraham Lincoln.
“Flowers, balloons, Larry David,” David says to a woman in the house during the trailer. “What can be better?”
Already, fans can expect David to be at odds with the mailman, as well as Greene, Leon Black (JB Smoove), Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and more, including guest appearances from a handful of Hollywood’s most popular figures.
The show, almost 20 years after its debut, remains incredibly Jewish in nature, with David continuing to showcase pride in his religion. The Jewish background for most of Curb’s characters makes it incredibly relatable, especially for New Yorkers, like David himself.
“I’m working with Larry David and I’m improvising,” Garlin said. “Those are two things I can’t lose.”
Throughout all of David’s wild experiences, both on and off the camera, he remains authentic and true to himself.
“He’s one of my closest friends in life,” Garlin said of his relationship with David. “What I’ve learned from him more than anything is to be true of what I do. I’m fearless when it comes to being fired at anything I do. I love talking to people, collaborating and I’m not difficult. However, I got to do what I’ve got to do, and that’s what I learned from Larry.”
While one can anticipate the return of TV’s most casual series, no one knows what will happen. Curb Your Enthusiasm is unscripted, with the actors only given an outline about what can happen.
The second episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s new season will premiere on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO.
