There's been much in the entertainment news of late about this being the 12th and final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (which due to a monetary reluctance to become too entangled with the more elite forms of television viewing, I probably won't see until a couple of years from now) but it's hardly Curb auteur Larry David's first experience in television. Waaay back in 1989--when the above photo was said to have been taken--the standup comedian and a standup comedian friend of his named Jerry Seinfeld got together and dreamed up Seinfeld, the now-legendary "show about nothing," which aired on free TV throughout much of the 1990s. Other than occasionally lending his voice to an only-seen-from-the-back-of-his-head Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, David didn't act on the show but was its producer and head writer for most of its run. Also, Jason Alexander has stated that he basically patterned his George Costanza character after him (David once got back on Curb by playing David playing Alexander playing David.) Just look at the smiles on those two guys in that photo. They know they're about to revolutionize that boob tube mainstay, the sitcom, and can barely curb their enthusiasm.
I haven’t seen much of Curb Your Enthusiasm because SG just couldn’t get into it. Surprisingly, he loved Seinfeld. The Seinfeld ensemble reminded so much of friends of mine from my NYC days -- which I suppose doesn’t say much about my friends from my NYC days.
ReplyDeleteMitchell, if there's a chance Larry David or Jerry Seinfeld eavesdropped on you and your NYC friends' conversations, you could be owed residuals.
DeleteI feel ignorant but also selective. From the bits I saw, I was never attracted to the show. Good strong characters for sure, but I never noted clever humour. A hot man to ameliorate my opinion, I never saw one.
ReplyDeleteWhether the shows are from the US, Britain or Australia, they have all lost their way with situation comedy.
End of grumpy old man writing.
Andrew, I'm always happy to get a comment from you, even if its grumpy old man writing.
DeleteWasn't Larry David in trouble lately by trying to strangle Elmo on live TV? Probably traumatized a whole generation of kids, lol.
ReplyDeleteHere you go, Debra:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zITD_I1xKpE
Hello Kirk, I never saw either show, but I have noticed how often people claim that shows (or books, etc.) are about "nothing" but in fact there is a lot going on. P.G. Wodehouse's books are essentially about nothing, the supposedly real plot (or McGuffin) having no importance at all--the fake plot just lets us watch the interactions of the characters. Similarly, the nothing-plot is always invoked when people discuss Meet Me In St. Louis, yet there are definitely interweaving plot lines. How is a family's happiness is being threatened by an impending move* different from a thousand plots which are basically a couple's happiness is threatened by some intervening hussy or obstacle?
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So let's hear no more about "nothing" plots!
--Jim
*How curious that the play was such a hit in New York, when moving to that same city is the dire punishment that the family is facing. In reality, they did move to New York, and a good thing, because Sally Benson became a famous writer for the New Yorker.
Nothing happens in Meet Me in St. Louis? Jim, THIS happens:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bsy9Sl4Z6U
Only 289 shopping days to go.
Now that's a title. I really want to watch this series. Soon hopefully.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like it, Lux. Both shows, in fact.
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