LACKS ‘CURB’APPEAL
Notmuch ‘Enthusiasm’ thesecond timearound
C
ONSIDER me “pretty,
pretty bored” with the return of “Curb Your
Enthusiasm” after Larry David’s self-imposed sixyear hiatus.
Yes, “Curb’s” theme music is still obsessively catchy — so there’s that — but I’ve found the new season’s first three episodes grating and forced in a been there, done that kind of way — with some genuinely funny lines (i.e. “warm pocket candy” from the most recent episode) blunted by the show’s predictability and overemphasis on trying to create a“Seinfeld”- ian “close talker”/“man hands”-type watercooler moment (i.e. “no one’s above the beep” from last Sunday’s episode). Add lots of high-decibel shouting and gesticulating and it gets old really fast.
Lightning hasn’t struck twice here; what was novel, funny and outrageous when “Curb” launched in 2000 — with Larry’s on-thespectrum social quirks, remarks, gaffes and tics — now feels stale and annoying. Why would anyone want to be friends with this obnoxious guy, who argues with virtually every human being he encounters (including the very first scene of Season 9)? Life’s too short. And, predictably, the “Larry moment” in every scene is telegraphed a mile away. Uh-oh, Larry grabs a hotellobby cookie (sans tongs): Cut to the ensuing argument with the lobby manager. Uh oh, Larry loudly beeps a cop (Damon Wayans Jr.) at a stop light: Cut to the ensuing argument with the cop (who will, predictably, reappear later vis a vis some farcical setup). Uh oh, Larry asks a smarmy, evasive restaurant manager about a “kitchen disturbance.” Cut to the ensuing, endless argument with the guy — who, naturally, reappears later when Larry causes his own kitchen disturbance to wrap the episode’s arc in a neat little bow.
Even guest stars aren’t immune from being written into the show’s charmless universe.
Actress Elizabeth Banks entered the “Curb” plotline on Sunday’s episode due to the season-long Fatwa against Larry. She’s entranced and intrigued by his apparent aura of danger; he’s really just (selfishly, ’natch) interested in the “Fatwa sex” that his new pal, Salman Rushdie, tells him about. Larry takes Elizabeth over to Jeff (Jeff Garlin) and Susie’s (Susie Essman) house where ... wait for it ... she gets into an argument with both of them after equating the death of her cat (Mr. Noodle) with Susie’s “little sister,” who seems to be missing.
That's about the time I hit the “info” button on my clicker to see how much longer the episode would last.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” Sunday at 10 p.m. on HBO