Curb Your Enthusiasm: Why I (Now) 'Get It', Why I Still Hate it

When the soon-to-be-a-huge hit series Seinfeld first aired, it was, as predicted, met with very mixed reviews. Nothing like the 'show about nothing' had ever aired before. A strong ensemble cast supported stand up comedian Jerry Seinfeld. I always came away with the feeling that Seinfeld knew he couldn't act, that the joke was on the audience, and that he really didn't care. He made no pretense about being an actor; he was a stand up guy through and through.

Talented cast mates Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Jerry Stiller and others were the props upon which the show's premise rested. They really were gifted actors, and carried not only their weight but Seinfeld's as well. They made him look good. He made them all funny, memorable and outrageous.

Never in the history of the small screen had we seen such a collection of self-absorbed, selfish collective 'losers' who road their way into rerun heaven on the premise that every show was about nothing - nothing more than a bit of minutia in daily life, an incident gone awry, a situation comedy in which somebody was going to be hurt, either physically or emotionally.

And we laughed! It was new, it was certainly fresh and different, and in a twisted way, we cared for these obnoxious New Yorkers. It was as if they couldn't help themselves to be better people; they didn't know any differently. You had the sense that if any one group of people had been raised by wolves, it was the cast of Seinfeld.

George's fiancee, Susan (perhaps the only 'normal' person to have a long-standing stint on the show) died from toxic glue poisoning because George selected the cheapest possible wedding invitations. His reaction to the doctor who proclaimed her as having 'passed on' was to ask 'exactly what does that mean?' He and the 'gang' went out for coffee following their trek to the hospital after Susan's death; the only character to show any real sympathy for Susan's demise was Kramer, who couldn't even remember her first name. The show ended on a really low note, when Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer were imprisoned for malicious indifference under the state's "Good Samaritan" law. What a fitting way to go, guys! In the end, the cast got exactly what they deserved - imprisonment - for lives less than well-lived.

Lurking in the background and sometimes making an actual appearance or cameo on the show was its' co-executive producer and director, Larry David. He was the guy who had the very occasional one-liners, the zingers; sometimes you saw him, sometimes he was just a voice from over the counter, behind the door. Bald, bespectacled David, who had taken a huge risk in marketing "Seinfeld" to commercial television, has struck out on his own with HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Watching the very first show, I was dumbstruck by how very, very much like Seinfeld this show was. "Curb" has a cast of supporting actors who are sometimes goofy, sometimes selfish, sometimes loud, brassy and brazen, but they are saints compared to the likes of Larry.

The difference between the two shows is not insignificant, but the main divisor lies in the supporting casts. While "Seinfeld" was surrounded by mean-spirited, permanently depressed George, vain, oblivious Elaine, and goofy to the point of being 'dumb like a fox' Kramer, Seinfeld himself was the lone voice of sanity in a sea of chaos. He was often appalled by their actions, and never missed the opportunity to point out to them the error of their ways (which was usually ignored). "Curb", on the other hand, has a pleasant-enough group of supporting actors whose normalcy only serves to show just how demented a character Larry David portrays. David is rude, crude, a thief, a liar, a cheat; the list goes on. Ever wonder why he and Cheryl never had children? The answer can only be who really cares, thank God that they didn't!

Watching "Curb" is truly like watching a multiple car accident; one jerk set off a chain reaction that harms an entire group. Larry is always the protaganist, never the 'healer'. It's not in the nature of his character to be anything other than insipid, whining, scheming, crafty, and always out for himself. It is not a pretty portrait of a man one would ever want to meet.

And yet, I still continue to watch the occasional episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I'm really not sure why. If it's on television and there's nothing better to watch at the time, I'll watch it - as long as I can stand it. Something inside of me is angered by the stereotype of a lousy human being that David portrays, unfortunately all too well and too believably.

I don't like that character; I don't like the man who portrays him. While deep down, you always rooted for Jerry to do the right thing in spite of horrible odds, he came through for you. When Jerry did something morally reprehensible or unethical, it was because he was in a situation not of his own making. George, Elaine, Kramer, Newman - one of them set the wheels in motion. On "Curb", it is Larry who sets that wheel in motion for his long-suffering wife and friends.

Why DO we watch this show, anyway? Is it that watching Larry gives us a smug sense that certainly WE are not like that?! Or is it just to see how (very) low Larry will sink this week?...