Customer Reviews

Curb Your Enthusiasm:First Season [VHS]

5 star:		(158)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

At first I was like "um...no," but then I continued watching because I rented the disks from Netflix and then I ended up laughing my ass off. This is a weird comedy show. The timing is really strange, because it is improvised apparently. Now I can't get enough of the show. Larry David is just so...inappropriate sometimes it makes you die laughing. And the cast is just great too. They all play it off like pros. I have ordered the series now and can't wait to watch them all again. One episode was so funny I had to watch it like four times in a row. Maybe that says something strange about my creepy life that I'm watching Larry David so much, but c'est la vie! My advice is to watch the entire first season and see if it doesn't sink into your skin. Larry David's humor is not for everyone, but if you are smart and kind of dorky sometimes with a wicked sense of humor you should like this.

I just finished watching the season finale of the fourth season and I must say I am going to miss this show. In the past few months I have watched all four seasons and this is the ONLY television show that almost every time leaves me with a huge laugh at the end. This show is intelligent and so brilliantly simple and complex at the same time. Do yourself a favor, WATCH this show, comprised of people who are at the top of their craft!

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a very funny show from Larry David, the co-creator and executive producer of "Seinfeld", as well as the person behind the character George. In this case, Larry himself is the central character, with the two main supporting characters Jeff Garlin (as Jeff Greene, Larry's agent), and Cheryl Hines (as Cheryl David, Larry's wife). There are certainly similarities between "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Jerry Seinfeld played himself in the first series, while Larry David plays himself in this series. Also, both shows tend to be about the minutia of life, and that is where they get their humor.

There are differences as well; "Seinfeld" was more of an ensemble show, while this show has a single character focus. "Seinfeld" was also a network program, while "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is from HBO, and so there are virtually no restrictions as there were with the prior series. "Seinfeld" was scripted, while in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" the dialogue is improvised.

There are only ten episodes in this season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and yet despite this several of the episodes seem to follow a formula. In this formula, Larry gets into an argument with a character early in the episode, only to have it come back and cause a problem for him later on. They are still very funny to watch, but it does take away a bit from the overall enjoyment. My favorite episodes from this season would be "The Bracelet", "Beloved Aunt", and "The Group".

There are a few additional features in this two disk DVD set. On Disk 1, there is an audio commentary with Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, and the director Robert B. Weide for the first episode. Disk 2 has the original 1 hour HBO special from which the show came, and there is a 30 minute interview of Larry David by Bob Costas. If you like Seinfeld, then you will probably enjoy this series as well, although you should be aware that there are differences. The show gets a lot of humor from arguments, and the language is coarser.

Of course when people think of the word "Seinfeld" they think of either the Emmy award winning Show, or the stand-up comedian. The average Joe doesn't ever add Larry David to that mix. Considering how Larry David is the Co-Creator of "Seinfeld" that in itself is a crime. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is the exact opposite...after watching so much as one episode of this brilliant show, Larry David is the only thing you can think about. In essence, this show is primarily the ongoing saga of "A show about nothing". The twist is that Larry has decided to make himself the lead role, and nobody could even come close to doing it better.

Larry represents what all of us feel at certain times in our lives. He is simply a person trying to live his life without problems, yet his mouth and his day to day communications with society prevent him from ever coming close to achieving his goal. Almost every episode begins innocent, and by the end the average viewer feels just as lost and victimized as Larry does. When I say victimized, I simply mean that Larry ain't perfect...but neither is the world he lives in.

For example, in the first episode Larry comments to his wife Cheryl(played by Cheryl Hines) that his pants "Bunch up" in a rather peculiar way when he sits down. That simple observation alone sparks a series of downward spirals which eventually leave Larry completely unable to explain what is in fact(more times than not) the truth.

There are times when watching this show that you can't help but cringe because you know what will end up being Larry's downfall. But it is the eventual downfall and events that transpire that keep you watching(and laughing).

Much like the show "The Office", "Curb your Enthusiasm" has a certain undefinable quality that few people can come close to explaining. The 4th Season of "Curb" has just begun recently on HBO, and It is still one of the most Uncomfortable yet Brilliant Comedy series to exist on television.

Should you buy this DVD? Yes...unless you are A.Easily offended B. A Child or C.Have no sense of Humor.

When I was "coming of age" in the 1990's, I refused to watch Seinfeld. I hated American sitcoms, which have been going steadily downhill since the 1970's. But I got a pair of tickets to see Jerry in concert (after the show had concluded), so I went. I really liked it, so I watched the entire Seinfeld show. Then noticing some guy named Larry David was constantly listed in the credits, I decided to check out Curb Your Enthusiasm. I like CYE more than Seinfeld. When you watch CYE, you realise that George Costanza is Larry David, and you realise how much of Seinfeld was really Larry David. After Larry left Seinfeld, the writing declined sharply, and got quite silly at times. I think this show is hilarious, especially the first episode when Larry insults Richard Lewis's girlfriend. I also love the "Wagner" episode (Trick or Treat), and when Richard and Larry help the blind guy move in. Susie Essman's character in this show is absolutely hysterical. Just imagine an even more shrill and ticked off version of Janeane Garofalo, and you get the idea. Even though it's about Hollywood in some ways, it doesn't wallow in the "insider" mode like a lot of shows about Hollywood do with gratuitous celebrity cameos (like The Larry Sanders Show used to do). If a celebrity appears here, they usually end up playing the dark side of their natures, and they actually have to act a bit. Even though Larry grates, he is still great. I really dig this show.

Without handheld cameras, low production values and a lot of adlibbing, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has the look of a cross between reality-TV, your uncle's home movies and high budget porn. Adding to the strange "real life" quality of the show is that the star/creator Larry David plays a character named Larry David and the show is littered with appearances by the likes of Richard Lewis, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus all playing "themselves" (or people in alternative realities who look like them and have the same life histories).

In another show about nothing, "Curb" focuses on the daily life of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David and maintains many of the qualities of the groundbreaking comedy. Each episode builds its own plot, with a revolving door of supporting players. But the show is its star, Larry David. Fans (or loathers) of George Costanza will see similarities between the fictitious George and the man who created him. Like George, the neurotic Larry obsesses over events that do not go well, over-analyzes everything, and often is the chief saboteur in destroying his ambitious plans. Most episodes end with Larry coming face to face with the most disastrous consequences of his conniving ways.

"Curb" is not for everyone, as many of the plots grow from distasteful subject matter and in the Dadaistic sense, challenge conventions and cultural norms for comedy. Stories are built from incest survivors groups, pants that make Larry appear constantly aroused and the season's most shocking moment, an obituary typo for a "beloved aunt" in which the "a" is replaced by the worst letter possible for that situation (think about it if you must).

Truly avant-garde television, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" stands on the unconventional shoulders of "Seinfeld" and reaches new heights in absurdity and artistic accomplishment. Although destined to never be as commercially successful as David's first show, "Curb" dazzles the critics and will build a faithful core of cult followers for years to come.

I have to equate watching Larry David with drinking a Guiness. At first it has this nasty bitter taste. You drink a few more and all of a sudden, "you get it". I am a huge huge fan of Seinfeld. A friend of mine kept telling me about this show. I just couldn't get into it. Finally I sat my self down and forced myself to watch a few episodes on on-demand. All of a sudden, a little switch in my head clicked and I "got it". This show is like a spin-off featuring george costanze to the third power. I regret that I watched the third and fourth seasons before i watched the first. Now that I am watching the first season, I spend half the time on the floor lmao and can't wait for season 2 to come out on dvd. Like Seinfeld, this is the kind of show you can watch over and over again and not get bored. All I can say is give it a chance, bear with it for a few episodes, but it will be worth it. My favorite episode is the one with the cadaver sniffing dog in season 3 - "Larry David, you four-eyed F@#K!"

I have always been a huge fan of HBO television. However, Curb Your Enthusiasm was a show that I always stayed away from up until very recently. I have never seen a single episode of Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm focuses around the co-creator of that show Larry David. I was worried that refrences to Seinfeld in the show would make things confusing for me. However, after hearing from a countless amount of people how great Curb Your Enthusiasm was, I decided to put my skepticism aside and give it a shot. Curb Your Enthusiasm has to be one of the funniest shows that I have ever seen in my life and despite the few references to Seinfeld, I was able to keep up with no problem. The show is set up in the form of a "mockumentary" to show Larry David's life after Seinfeld and how he spends his time in his daily life. The reason the show is so funny, is because they portray Larry David as a constant victim of circumstance. The brilliance of this show, is that each episode focuses on how Larry's bad luck effects him and others around him. The show is quite addicting because of the fact that each episode manages to come up with new and entertaining ways for Larry to make a fool out of himself.

The first season of the show is exteremely funny from start to finish. A few episodes worth mentioning are - "The Pants Tent" in which an innocent "bunch-up" in Larry's trousers gives rise to a misunderstanding with Cheryl's friend Nancy at the movies; "Porno Gil" that focuses on Larry not picking up a golf ball for a person at the driving range, which sets of a bizarrre chain of events in which he is forced to attend a party put on by an ex porn actor named Gil; "Interior Decorator" in which Larry politely holds an elevator door for a woman in an office building, which causes Larry to lose his spot at the doctor's office and delay the events of the rest of his day ; and "Beloved Aunt" in which Larry offers to use his connections to place an obituary in the newspaper for his wife's aunt. But when the paper comes out, the "a" in "aunt" has been mistakenly replaced with a "c", and his wife's family is convinced that Larry did it on purpose.

Overall, Curb Your Enthusiasm is probably one of the funniest shows that I have ever seen, and few shows have managed to match the quality of the writing that Curb Your Enthusiasm offers. My only gripe with the show, is that each season only contains ten 30 minute episodes. The first season DVD set includes all ten first season episodes, as well as the hour long special that inspired the series. I especially liked watching the special to see how the show came to be.

A solid 5 stars...

4.5 stars

Some of this series has been great, and some of it painfully embarrassing to watch (let's face it, sometimes Larry is just a spoiled selfish brat). The great moments can be truly classic, however, never more so than in the hour-long pilot, where the concept of the show is not yet fully in place, and the real Larry appears as well as the LD he says (in the commentary) he wishes he could be, who is the main character in the series.

In the pilot we get Jerry and Jason Alexander and others talking about what Larry is really like, which is hilarious, and then we get some snippets of him doing stand-up, which is actually damn good. He really oughta do a full stand-up dvd. The pilot is one of the funniest tv episodes I've ever seen.

The rest of season one shows Larry settling in to the LD persona he creates, and has many excellent story lines and jokes. Essentially this is a modern comedy of manners and mores; no shortage of material there! I keep thinking of Wycherly and Congreve when I watch this; over 300 years later and we're still caught up in our dumbass conventions that signify nothing but ego and vanity.

This show will never be as good as Seinfeld because the characters just aren't as strong (and Jason is a better Larry than Larry ever could be), but the liberties that being on HBO afford lets LD go places Sein never could...but I guess that's kind of a liability in some ways. You've got to work harder for a laugh when you can't say nasty words.
This show is starting to get a little tired, but the first four or five seasons have some truly genius moments. Any guy worth a billion dollars who can make millions of people feel sorry for him is a genius, no doubt!

Since anyone considering buying this DVD set is probably a fan of the show, I will focus not on a review of the show itself, but of the DVD release.
Packaging is nice enough - a cardboard slipcase with an amusing little sliding mechanism that is neat to look at and fun to play around with, but not quite as practical or durable as the standard plastic snap case. Still, points for originality. The front cover of the slipcase folds open to reveal a listing of each episode with a short synopsis, which I thought was a nice touch.
I suppose it's what's inside that counts though, and what you get is 2 discs with the 10 episodes from season 1, and not a whole lot more. Of course, part of the reason to get this is to have the shows, which are, of course, wonderfully smart and funny, just like they were on TV. For some, simply having a hard copy of all the shows will make this worthwhile. However, having been spoiled rotten by several other top notch DVD releases as of late, I have come to expect a little something extra. The inclusion of the one hour special that gave rise to the show is nice, but is more of a necessity than a "special feature", just like the inclusion of, say, episode 8, could not be considered a special feature. Other than that, we get a commentary on Episode 1 and an interview with LD conducted by Bob Costas.
Initially I was disappointed to see that commentary was only given for a single epsiode, but that one commentary was so dry and boring that I was hardly left wanting more. It consists of Larry, Cheryl, Jeff, and director Robert B. Weide basically laughing at the show as they watch and patting each other on the back for a job well done. Very few insightful comments, interesting anecdotes or useful information.
The interview (30 min) fares better. We get some interesting tidbits about the show and Larry's personal life. There are, however, some fairly annoying moments where Costas, very obviously a fan, tries to emulate the tone of the show. At one point Larry mentions that often people in his company tell him they "feel like they're on the show". Costas' too-enthusiastic "I know!" response suggests that the interview might have been better conducted by someone able to resist the urge to engage in star-struck play acting with their favorite comedy hero. David's reaction to all of this, however, the smug looks and resigned sighs of someone who's clearly experienced this phenomenon a few times too many, is priceless.
The best parts of the interview involve discussions about how the show is made. This is, unfortunately, also quite frustrating, as it reveals just how great this set could have been. We learn that each scene is shot several times over, and very often each time is different. Since the show is improvised, production seems to take a shotgun approach, allowing several takes for actors to try different tihngs, then culling from these the best moments. This of course hints at the vast library of outtakes and bloopers that surely exist, but sadly were not included in this package. For me one of the most enjoyable aspects of this show is the natural, conversational flow of the dialog and the genuine reactions of the characters, all of which is a result of the improvisation process. Outtakes would have been appreciated not only for their entertainment value, but for the insight they would have provided into how the shows are developped using this highly innovative and successful approach.
Despite its shortcomings (particularly the glaring omission of any outtakes, an obvious thing to include from a show where the actors make up dialog on the spot), fans looking to collect the shows will likely want to pick this up. If you're hoping for a pile of extras, you won't find it here, but perhaps releases of future seasons will be more generous, especially considering that the extra disc space occupied here by the one hour special will be free for the taking in future releases.