For the uninitiated, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is a show loosely based on Larry David’s life. David was a co-creator of “Seinfeld” and though Jerry was the face of the show for its entire nine-season run, much of the comedy behind the show came from David.
Where “Seinfeld” mimicked a very theatrical, play-like atmosphere, “Curb” is far more grounded in realism. Though his characters are just as audacious, with Larry being the most ridiculous of them all.
He has a certain moral code that he follows to a fault that has led him to do a number of things society would not deem socially acceptable like stopping a child from singing because they had a bad voice, stealing a golf club from a dead man’s casket, attempting to get a refund from a lemonade stand run by children and stealing flowers from a roadside memorial, just to name a few.
Compared to “Curb,” “Seinfeld’s” style is perfectly orchestrated with every interaction playing out like that of a choreographed dance number. The difference here is that “Curb” is unscripted.
Certain things are planned out and while the cast does have an outline of where the story needs to go, each scene is a lot more free-flowing which makes the comedy of the show entirely different. Where “Seinfeld” embraces absurdity, “Curb” mocks the mundane, drier aspects of life with Larry exuding an apathetic whimsy throughout.
With all that being said, the first nine episodes of season 12 of “Curb” are nearly insufferable with some of the weakest jokes and storylines to date.
Plot has never been of much importance to the show, but this season finds Larry in some hot water for violating Georgia’s Voting Integrity Act. Larry innocently hands someone in line at the polls a bottle of water and is promptly arrested for unknowingly breaking the law.
It is a bit outrageous, though it is actually based on a real law passed in Georgia in 2021 with David telling a producer on the show, “This law is insane. I think it’d be funny if I got arrested for that.”
While it does raise awareness of the issue, it’s more a mockery than anything else. The added continuity of the expanded plot attempts to improve the comedy in more meaningful ways, but some of the best scenes of “Curb” came from simple misunderstandings, not large-scale problems.
The problem is people don’t really care if the plot makes sense or not. On paper, Larry David becoming a liberal hero is humorous because he manages to get countless people to resent him over the years.
Coupled with his Bernie Sanders-esque demeanor, this resounding theme is structurally sound, yet is vastly outperformed by any episode driven by jokes over plot.
The show is telling the audience directly that this is funny, presenting itself, saying “here, now laugh!” Instead, it should be focusing its energy on the ridiculous interactions and pure comedy of it all.
While many of “Curb’s” past seasons have been quite topical, season 12 takes it to a level beyond what he has done before. It might just be a case of something coming out too soon because the voter suppression theme is so topical that it can be almost alienating to the viewer.
Though by the end, somehow, season 12 of “Curb” is worth it, providing a thoughtfully unthoughtful conclusion to the show.
For many, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has provided viewers dozens of hours of comfort, laughs, and a lot of “pretty, pretty goods.” It is just a shame to think that most of the laughs come only from the earlier seasons of the show.
What the final episode does do is remind fans of the show’s glory days and why, to some, it surpasses the very show that preceded it.
“Curb” has always found success in its actors being themselves, and if it’s any saving grace, it seemed like they had a lot of fun creating this final season.