Larry David Likes That Some People Can't Stand Curb Your Enthusiasm
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" aims at making you laugh. Showrunner and leading man Larry David, who plays an exaggerated version of himself, always ends up in the middle of outrageous situations. He is often caught doing things we would be embarrassed to do ourselves. He has no problems pointing out other people's shortcomings and judging them vocally, which might be funny to watch, but also makes him a reprehensible character.
David is funny, sure, but watching his life unfold the way it does can make as many people cringe as it makes laugh. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" showcases David's many inappropriate social interactions, and the series teeters on the edge of comedy and horror. His actions are questionable. He speaks his mind and doesn't care about the consequences. He has ruined weddings, stolen flowers from a dead person's memorial, faked a disability, and pretended to be an incest survivor. He has done some very bad things that not every viewer can stomach watching.
And David wouldn't have it any other way.
Larry David embraces the cringe?
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" banks on both its humor and its darker elements, and if you're wondering what David thinks about the audience reaction to he latter... Well, the comedian has expressed surprise. The "Seinfeld" co-creator is making a show he wants to watch, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, David revealed that he never believed he was "going too far":
"You know, when people told me after the show started airing that they had to leave the room for some scenes because they were cringing and they couldn't bear to watch — it was like a horror movie — I had no idea it was having that effect on people. That was a complete surprise to me, and I liked it. I liked that they couldn't see it."
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is infamous for not having a script — the cast members are given a basic outline of a scene and are expected to improvise. No one knows the final details of a scene until it's filmed, which makes the final impact of each episode all the more surprising.
The creator didn't think he was going too far
After over two decades on the air and 11 seasons, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has achieved bulletproof status. Despite saying the most unabashedly offensive things and poking and probing the most taboo topics, Larry David gets away with it. David thinks his secret is pretty simple — He's just trying to make a good sitcom and doesn't believe it has crossed any limits:
"But I never really gave it that much thought. I was just trying to do funny shows. I never felt I was going too far. I felt I was doing what I wanted to see."
That's not the end — Larry David will continue to employ humor (and a lot of cringe) when he returns with more adventures. The sitcom was recently renewed by HBO for season 12, so we can expect to continue seeing the on-screen misanthrope navigate peculiar interactions, make bad decisions, and struggle to understand why people behave the way they do.