Larry David returns for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', season 10, 20 years after he started the series. Courtesy HBO
Larry David returns for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', season 10, 20 years after he started the series. Courtesy HBO
Larry David returns for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', season 10, 20 years after he started the series. Courtesy HBO
Larry David returns for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', season 10, 20 years after he started the series. Courtesy HBO

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ at 20: How Larry David made misanthropy mainstream


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When the first season of Curb Your Enthusiasm made its debut back in October 2000, Larry David would have firmly believed that its ten episodes would also be its last. David had been well documented as declaring that he was all out of ideas and had nothing else to write about.

The co-creator and showrunner of Seinfeld quit the sitcom so often, before ­always reconsidering and returning, that it became a running joke on set that he'd announce his resignation at the end of each season. David did eventually live up to his word, though, when he left Seinfeld for good after its seventh season (returning only for the final episode). 

Which makes it all the more surprising then that today, David will return for the tenth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Very little is known about the specifics of the episodes, but it will most certainly feature the exaggerated version of David getting into minor and major confrontations because of the way he acts during social interactions. 

That's exactly what we've come to expect from David and the show's incredible comedic ensemble, which has long included Susie Essman, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Richard Lewis, J B Smoove, and Ted Danson. Season 10 will also continue the show's longline of impressive guest stars, with appearances by Jon Hamm, Jane Krakowski, Isla Fisher, Fred Armisen, Laverne Cox and Jeff Tweedy already confirmed.

At this point, David could pretty much get anyone he wants to appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm, such is the success and impact of the show. Not only has pretty much every season drawn acclaim, but over the course of the past 20 years, it has genuinely changed the comedic landscape, too. 

David, pictured in the pilot episode of 'Seinfeld' in 1989. Getty.
David, pictured in the pilot episode of 'Seinfeld' in 1989. Getty.

The most obvious influence that the show has had on pop culture is the way that it popularised improvisation. While David outlines each episode and season, and even comes up with key points for each scene, the fact that all of the ­dialogue is made up on the spot by him and his co-stars was one of the original attractions of the show.

Since then, writer and ­director Judd Apatow has mirrored this approach for key scenes in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This is Forty, as has Paul Feig on Bridesmaids, while director Michael Winterbottom asked Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon to riff and ad-lib most of the dialogue on all three seasons of The Trip, too. 

The comparisons between the British comedy and Curb Your Enthusiasm don't end there. David's decision to play an embellished version of himself paved the way for many others to do so, with Coogan and Brydon heightening their own public personas on The Trip, including their own perceived friendship, to such an extent that now most viewers don't know which parts of their personalities are real. 

'Curb Your Enthusiasm' has featured cameos from some of comedy's biggest stars throughout its 20 years on air. Courtesy HBO
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' has featured cameos from some of comedy's biggest stars throughout its 20 years on air. Courtesy HBO

The technique caught on so much that it has been picked up by hugely successful and established thespians. Keanu Reeves seemingly did it in ­Always Be My Maybe, Bill Murray in Zombieland, Matt Le Blanc in Episodes, Marc Maron in Maron, the guest stars in Extras and Entourage, and the entire cast of This is the End were also emboldened to do so, thanks, we assume, to David. 

It's not just in front of the camera that David's impact was felt, though. As the creator, producer, writer and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the power that the creative all-rounder wielded had suddenly made everyone want to become an auteur on the small-screen.

Although Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling were just as versatile on their shows in the 1990s, David did so with such grandeur and honesty that we watched shades of Curb Your Enthusiasm appear in various other television shows in years to come – including Donald Glover's Atlanta, Pamela Adlon's Better Things and Aziz Ansari in Master Of None.

David, pictured during the very first season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in 2000. Courtesy HBO
David, pictured during the very first season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in 2000. Courtesy HBO

Curb Your Enthusiasm's biggest impact, though, was making misanthropy mainstream. Since David's show, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Broad City, The Inbetweeners and Peep Show, as well as Ricky Gervais's entire post-Office career and persona, are just some of the shows to have meticulously explored the minutiae of real-life and the furious anger that interacting with others can provoke. 

But none of them has managed to eclipse Curb Your Enthusiasm's funniest ­moments. Whether it was David declaring his hatred for the Happy Birthday song, reburying his mother, or accusing Michael J Fox of using his Parkinson's disease as an excuse for being a bad neighbour, the fact that Larry has the bravado to say what he's thinking with such stubbornness and passion has always meant that audiences couldn't help but root for him – even when they disagreed entirely with his actions. 

David could only have done this on HBO, which has given him the freedom to explore his hilariously twisted thoughts on religion, gender and relationships in any way he desired, without ever being censored. Let's hope that they continue to give him free rein for many more years to come, too. Because even if at the moment he thinks he has absolutely no interest in returning, David clearly can't stop himself from setting the world to rights.

Indian construction workers stranded in Ajman with unpaid dues
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

Types of fraud

Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

* Nada El Sawy

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Brief scores:

Juventus 3

Dybala 6', Bonucci 17', Ronaldo 63'

Frosinone 0

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bedu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Khaled%20Al%20Huraimel%2C%20Matti%20Zinder%2C%20Amin%20Al%20Zarouni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%2C%20metaverse%2C%20Web3%20and%20blockchain%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Currently%20in%20pre-seed%20round%20to%20raise%20%245%20million%20to%20%247%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Privately%20funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed

Based: Muscat

Launch year: 2018

Number of employees: 40

Sector: Online food delivery

Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception 

UAE'S%20YOUNG%20GUNS
%3Cp%3E1%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20age%2026%2C%2079%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E2%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20age%2020%2C%2066%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E3%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20age%2021%2C%2065%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E4%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20age%2021%2C%2079%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E5%20Heena%20Hotchandani%2C%20age%2023%2C%2016%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E6%20Rinitha%20Rajith%2C%20age%2018%2C%2034%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E7%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%2C%20age%2017%2C%2053%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E8%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%2C%20age%2017%2C%2068%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E9%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20age%2017%2C%2033%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E10%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20age%2018%2C%2033%20matches%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E11%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20age%2018%2C%2046%20matches%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ENGLAND TEAM

Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Fanney Khan

Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora

Director: Atul Manjrekar

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand

Rating: 2/5 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
MATCH INFO

Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')

Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')

Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)

South Africa squad

: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.

The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Grubtech

Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi

Launched: October 2019

Employees: 50

Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)

 

Spider-Man%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Insomniac%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%20Sony%20Interactive%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPlayStation%205%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results

2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili

3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson

3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer

4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar

4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly

The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com