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By
Published: 2004
Category: Comedy [4]
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" --- Season One
created by Larry David
The first time Butler caught this show, he thought, "This man made about $500 million from his work on 'Seinfeld.'" Then, as he watched, he had another thought: "May I never work for Larry David." Because the man is...deeply troubled.
Then again, maybe Larry David is deeply sane. Maybe he's just a completely liberated soul who has no reservations about saying whatever he feels. Maybe he doesn't mind if people find him unpleasant. Maybe confrontation is good for the soul.
Any way you slice it, Larry David --- the co-creator of "Seinfeld" --- is brutally funny. Funny-looking, for sure: bald, with curly sideburns and wire-rim glasses. Then again, maybe he's just goofing on what we imagine is your garden-variety Hollywood TV writer: a smart Jew with an edgy sense of self.
But Larry David is much more than just a clown. He's a brilliant writer. He takes something small --- like the way his pants bunch up in front --- and rings the comic changes on it. (Very Seinfeld.) And then he brings it back for a payoff. (The difference between "Curb" and "Seinfeld" --- this HBO series is definitely R-rated.)
First-rate casting. Dreamy guest stars (Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and more). But most of all, the blackest of black humor --- jokes and situations so nasty you can't decide whether to be shocked or laugh. Butler discovered he could do both, quite happily.
When you've finished with the First Season? You'll feel very down. There is a cure: It's called the DVD of the Second Season.
To order the First Season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" from Amazon.com, click here [5].