Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Ending Confirms A Harsh Reality About TV Comedy After 35 Years

WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Curb Your Enthusiasm’s series finale!

After more than decades on HBO, Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm has finally come to a close, and it reveals a harsh reality about the future TV scope. Having premiered its mockumentary pilot on HBO in 1999, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s ending brings a satisfying close to the fictional Larry David’s story after 12 seasons and nearly 25 years of revolutionary comedy. In perfect Larry David fashion, the ending of Curb Your Enthusiasm remade Seinfeld’s series finale, thus tying together his two legendary TV shows by simultaneously nailing his second finale while retroactively redeeming his divisive first.

With Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David has given the world two of the greatest TV sitcoms of all time, a feat he accomplished back-to-back following the former’s ending in 1998. Furthermore, David had an incredible duality in the two comedies, with Seinfeld highlighting his prowess behind the camera with writing and creative direction, while Curb Your Enthusiasm fully took advantage of his on-screen charisma, impressive comedic timing, and timeless observational humor. Now, with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld’s finales officially being events of the past, a harsh reality is revealed about the present and future television slate.

Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Ending Marks The First Time In 35 Years Without A Larry David TV Comedy

Larry David has been consistently running TV comedies since 1989

For the first time since 1989, there will no longer be a new Larry David-created comedy regularly gracing TV screens. Seinfeld debuted in 1989 and quickly became a cultural phenomenon, with the Larry David TV show enjoying nine seasons ahead of its divisive 1998 finale. Of course, Larry David left Seinfeld after season 7 and wouldn’t return until the final episode, but the sitcom still had his voice, influence, and guidelines all over it during seasons 8 and 9.

Soon after, David premiered a mockumentary on HBO in 1999 titled Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which followed a fictionalized version of himself attempting to get back into the stand-up comedy scene after Seinfeld’s ending. The success of the mockumentary was quickly followed by a full-series order of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which had its premiere on HBO in 2000. Though there were a few occasions in which seasons had multi-year gaps between finales and premieres, Curb Your Enthusiasm was a comedy staple on HBO for the next 24 years.

Consequently, it may be tough to come to terms with the fact that after 35 years, the TV landscape will be without a Larry David comedy again. Considering there had been a few times already when David teased ending Curb Your Enthusiasm much earlier, fans should still be grateful about the extended time that viewers had with Larry David’s on-screen persona as he created more absurd, hilarious situations for the show’s beloved characters. While this marks the end of the fictionalized Larry David that has been a principal TV comedy for 25 years, it doesn’t seem to be the permanent conclusion of the real David’s comedy career.

What Larry David Is Doing After Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David’s colleagues don’t think he’ll retire

Though Curb Your Enthusiasm is over, Larry David doesn’t appear to be retiring. After a decade of Seinfeld and another 25 years of Curb Your Enthusiasm, David deserves a bit of time to rest, and potentially take some time to shed the TV version of himself. Currently, Larry David doesn’t have any confirmed upcoming TV shows or movies in the works, but his colleagues from Curb Your Enthusiasm don’t think that he’ll be done with the comedy scene.

In an interview with Variety, Susie Essman (who plays Susie Greene in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s cast) and showrunner Jeff Schaffer explained that they think David will continue to work after Curb. Even if he isn’t acting on-screen or serving as the show’s co-creator and head writer, it seems likely that David will continue to bring his unique comic voice to the small screen, whether that be as a producer or writer. As Curb Your Enthusiasm’s multi-generational popularity already proved, Larry David’s humor transcends time and continues to appeal to various ages, eras, and demographics.

When asked what will happen when Larry has a perfect Curb-style idea, Essman noted that “knowing Larry, he’ll find an outlet in some other form for all of those things percolating in his head.” Schaffer elaborated that Larry’s office is still nearby his own, so “Larry’s going to walk in, and he’s going to complain about something, and then we’re going to talk about it. Until man can step outside of his house and not be annoyed by man, I think he’s going to keep working.” With such optimistic insight from Essman and Shaffer, it seems television and the wider comedy landscape won’t be losing Larry David’s voice for good.

There Are Still Great Ongoing Comedy Shows To Watch After Curb Your Enthusiasm & Seinfeld

New TV shows are still maintaining Larry David-style humor

Still, in the meantime, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld’s conclusions mean fans will be searching for similar shows to fill the Larry David-shaped hole in the TV comedy slate. Though Larry David isn’t involved with them, comedies like Hacks, The Rehearsal, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are just a few ongoing TV series that serve as great alternatives for Curb. Additionally, there are TV shows that have already ended, like Veep, Arrested Development, Nathan For You, Dave, and Silicon Valley that provide funny Curb-like substitutes. With more comedies in the vein of Larry David’s observational humor still airing, the magic of Curb Your Enthusiasm certainly isn’t gone forever.

Source: Variety