CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: THE COMPLETE SERIES

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Blu-Ray review by John Larkin

Much the way THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE are comfort food for me during Halloween and Christmas, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is my go-to comfort whenever I need to laugh. CURB and SEINFELD are my two favorite comedy shows, not by coincidence, since they both come from the same creative mind. Larry David’s world is built on neuroticism, misanthropy, and awkward honesty, mixed with a kind of sadness and absurdity that makes everyday life both maddening and hilarious. These shows have shaped the way I see people and social interactions. Whenever something uncomfortable or confusing happens in real life, I often catch myself thinking about how Larry would react, and somehow that makes the moment easier to handle.

I actually discovered CURB before really getting into SEINFELD, though I might like SEINFELD even more now. Over its more than twenty-year run, CURB became a kind of cultural time capsule. Sometimes there were long gaps between seasons, but each return brought a rush of excitement and curiosity about what new corners of human behavior Larry would explore. Watching him pick apart modern etiquette, celebrity culture, or something as simple as holding a door open never got old.

It’s hard to say what the best season of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is. Every era of the show has moments that come to mind instantly, scenes I still quote or think about years later. In the later seasons, it was especially fun to see how Larry incorporated high-profile cameos into the stories of each year, bringing people like Michael J. Fox and Lin-Manuel Miranda into his world of petty grievances and absurd social standoffs. Still, I’m most drawn to the first five seasons, when the show felt rawer, more spontaneous, and closer to its awkward, documentary-style beginnings. No matter where you start, this is essential television, one of the defining comedies of its time. The world is a little better for it, even if Larry David seems perpetually miserable. His misery has been our joy.

The Blu-ray release of the complete series is a real treasure for anyone who has followed Larry’s journey from 2000 to 2023. It’s fascinating to see how the show’s look evolves over time, from its gritty standard-definition beginnings shot on mini DV to the cleaner, glossier image of HD. Personally, I’ve always preferred the early texture of those first seasons. There’s something about that slightly washed-out, handheld aesthetic that made the show feel more authentic and funnier, as if we were watching an awkward home movie starring one of the most brutally honest men in comedy. The later seasons are sharper and more polished, but having all twelve together in one set feels like the perfect way to celebrate one of television’s most enduring and influential comedies.

Twelve is often seen as a number of completion, cosmic order, and fullness, reflected in the months of the year and the signs of the zodiac. Having twelve seasons feels like the natural and perfect measure for a work as sprawling, mischievous, and formally audacious as CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. In that dozen lies the entire arc of Larry David’s comedy, a life cycle of social misfits, neurotic riffs, personal failures, and small triumphs, sealed in twelve acts that will surely stand unmatched for generations to come.