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This article was originally published in 2017.
On April 8, 2024, it was updated to include seasons 10 through 12 ofCurb Your Enthusiasm.
IsCurb Your Enthusiasmthe greatest second act that TV has ever witnessed?
Kenny Herzog
120.
Irma Kostroski (Season 11, Episode 7)
Im going to come out here as anti-Irma.
There, I said it!
Larry Fitzmaurice
119.
(Season 9, Episode 1)
Expectations were sky-high whenCurbreturned after a several-year hiatus.
Plenty expected President Trump to be a target, though instead we got … the ayatollah?
The seemingly dated fatwa story line would eventually pay dividends, though Foisted!
It did, however, feature a gangbusters cameo from Carrie Brownstein as Larrys constipated and insufferable personal assistant.
And for better or worse, the debut of Larrysrecurring incognito accessories.
L.F.
117.
L.F.
116.
Were Larry Catholic, he wouldnt even need confession.
L.F.
113. and the Sunshine Bands Shake Shake Shake.
This happens to everyone, not just me, right?
to Leons discomfort with eating the titular fruit in public.
A bit of a missed opportunity across the board.
L.F.
112.
But when Tweedledee and Tweedledum, a.k.a.
does alotof heavy lifting when it comes to providing laughs throughout this episode.
L.F.
110. has a very been-down-this-road-before feel, right down to the simmering feud with club owner Mr. Takahashi.
calls back to season threes The Terrorist Attack in a not-unpleasing manner.L.F.
L.F.
108.
The Freak Book (Season 6, Episode 5)
Larry has a soft spot for chauffeurs.
(I know Id buy one.)
and continues to find some comic gold.
L.F.
104.
L.F.
103.
L.F.
102.
Beep Panic (Season 10, Episode 9)
Several elements of this episode just … dont make sense.
L.F.
101.
OriginalSNLwriter Alan Zweibel also visits as an East Coast buddy who cant woo Larry to lunch.
Its really Leon, kicking back and eating Champagne-filled croissants, who can once more consider himself the winner.
Who woulda thunk, however, that Larry has such a good eye for spotting Asian babies?
L.F.
97.
What Have I Done?
The actual shape of What Have I Done?
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96.
The 5 Wood (Season 4, Episode 5)
Everyones got the wrong idea about Larry.
Now that takes balls.
Or stops a game of poker upon receiving word that said art dealer attempted suicide.
The closing moments of Yoshis dad speeding toward him in a motorized wheelchair screaming, Bonzai!
Mels Offer (Season 4, Episode 1)
Cheryl is a fairly flexible wife.
On the bright side, we get Steve Coogan as Larrys ironically named Dr.
Bright, an idiot who underestimates the allure of his patients high-pussy percentage.
L.F.
89.
(College girls, Larry clarifies for his horrified assistant Antoinette.)
A worthy circus, but nowhere near as inspired as the episode that followed.
(Eagle-eyed TV viewers will recognize Boris Krutonog as Olegs diplomat dad onThe Americans.)
The laughs are everywhere, even if the story is all over the place.
Oh, and shes an incest survivor who asks Larry to join her at a support group.
A fine, if not unforgettable, first finale.
(Ive never seen the damn show myself, he tosses off casually in conversation.)
Larry loves Leon, but Loretta is wearing on him.
Which doesnt stop Loretta from thinking he did.
Exit Loretta, but not before Auntie Rae gets the final, Fuck you, Larry David.
(Theres that survival theme again.)
L.F.
81.
(Season 9, Episode 10)
Fatwa!
is an anti-finale, totally removed from the groundworkCurblaid for nine preceding episodes.
As is generally the case withCurb, the greatest pleasures of Fatwa!
are the little bits of improv between Larry and Susie, Larry and Marty, and so on.
For every lapse in this comeback seasons comedic judgment, riffslike this denouementbetween L.D.
and the Funk Man make you root for more.K.H.
Eh, no, he shrugs.
But Ill see him.
(You look like a Jewish Ratso Rizzo, per Lewis.)
Of course her ailing dad would finally shuffle off the day Larry guilted her into returning to work.
The Smiley Face depends, as with so manyCurbepisodes, on the strength of whatever taboo Larry is busting.
(Naturally, hes very particular about whom he considers part of that particular tribe.)
Plus, theres a brief cameo fromThe Offices Kate Flannery.K.H.
Interior Decorator (Season 1, Episode 5)
What are you listening to me for?
I dont know what Im talking about.
If only everyone in Larrys path were prepped with that advice.
Its a busy episode, but one with standout physical comedy and callbacks toSeinfelds ownbeefs with high-maintenance medical professionals.
L.F.
73. gave us the gift of aggrieved motorist Justin sizing Larry up as a complete garbage person.
Maybe, but hes at least an Uber 3.
Its just … its idiotic, what youre doing.
If theres ever a Larry David monument, etch that into its pedestal.
(Nice touch having him scarf down a hero stuffed with unidentifiable meat during their inevitable staredown.)
Its anotherCurbstory that might have sounded the social-media alarms today.
Although who doesnt love a climactic aerial shot of wedding attendees on the beach vomiting up bulgogi en masse?
(Thanks, she humbly mutters.)
Oh, and RIP Oscar.
No, not really.
He is an agent of chaos, even if The Baptism isntCurbs most riotous half hour.
Its less an assignment of his stature than designation of him being near death.
He actually does almost drown at the episodes outset, and as a result comes close to finding God.
Michael the blind pianist?
Susies bedazzled pro-sports sweater line?
Hideous according to anyones taste.
Maybe not so much when his breast fetish corrupts a kids game of telephone.
Ah well, cant win em all.K.H.
Ditto for Cheryl insisting Larry spend a day with her at the beach.
Then again, what does he care?
After being victimized by a bowling-alley-shoe thief, Larry ultimately retrieves his poached pair from the guilty party.
Ted and Cheryl shacking up.
That Marty rejects Larrys efforts to ex-wife swap.K.H.
The End (Season 5, Episode 10)
Larry isnt much of a believer in common-law relationships.
(Ive known him 44 years, but were not close friends, he says of Richard Lewis.)
And as illustrated throughout season five, Larry is agnostic about virtually everything, excluding golf.
Season six, on many fronts, was a creative rebirth.K.H.
L.F.
60.
Cheryl, in turn, is probably better off for having not conceived with Larry.
He also proves to be far from ideal when walking her through the process of inserting a tampon.
And then rescinds his cookie order when Joes offended.
(Shes gonna get everything!
Good thing hes still friends with Wanda Sykes, who witnesses him padding the cable guys diner tip.
Worth the down payment on The Car Salesman alone for one customers cruel, nasally aping of Larrys spiel.K.H.
It feels egregious, even for a show thats known to revisit its fixations with abandon.
), and the concept of getting clearance to talk to somebody is peakCurbin its moneyed absurdity.
extinguished by Larrys foibles.
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56.
And now he upstages him at a museum benefit with an anonymous donor wing.
Good thing J.B. Smooves Leon just got to town and saves the day.
You hug my auntie, you stab her in the stomach?
Leon must understand: Larry has no control over his erection after a five-second embrace.
(If only that had held true while wooing Dr. (Trivia: See if you might spot Laurel Coppock, a.k.a.
Jan from the Toyota ads, as a patient of Dr.
Flomms.)K.H.
Whether Susies hysterical orgasm in Larrys vibrating passenger seat (Yari!)
qualifies as such is up to the individual.
Fish Stuck (Season 12, Episode 5)
The return of Groats Disease!
Never Wait for Seconds!
is actually to invoke one of Larrys favorite phrases just okay.
Lauren Graham has made herself at home among the cast as Bridget, Larrys girlfriend.
Fox, for a bit of wish-fulfillment revision ofSeinfelds polarizing finale.
(With the notable exception of, Its always been a dream of mine to meet Julia Louis-Dreyfus.)
But if it means burying a neighbors unsightly wire underground environmentally consciously, of course hell oblige.
Good thing they werent splitting hairs overwhether soup constitutes a meal.K.H.
L.F.
47.
The Safe House (Season 8, Episode 2)
Funkhouser is really feeling his oats in season eight.
In the premiere, he followed Larrys lead and got a divorce.
Which brings to mind two words that encapsulated Larry on his mothers tombstone in season seven: An asshole.
This episode finds Larry triggering multiple women who all happen to be taking shelter in a neighboring safe house.
And Larry may be split from Cheryl, but he finally tells Leon, I love you.K.H.
This is a watershedCurbepisode for sharing the basic David truism that lesbians love Larry.
Not a ton of broken ground, but a biting poke at our cultural comfort zones nonetheless.K.H.
Deron McBee, a.k.a.
Though that might be less intimidating than answering to Wanda Sykes after driving by and commenting on her ass.
(Good thing he didnt.)K.H.
L.F.
43.
The first great episode ofCurbs third season, though the best would be yet to come.K.H.
But even Cheryl knows, and as any man can attest, it really was just the material.
Anyway, Larry could use a self-esteem boost.
In a verbal joust with Ricky Gervais, Ricky condescends ofSeinfeld, I love broad comedy.
His handiwork with that stiff baguette doubled as an atonement for Jerrysmarble-rye mischiefa decade and a half prior.
He even throws in a schmohawk for good measure.K.H.
Showregulars Brett Paesel and Jay Johnston, plus Aisha Tyler, only sweeten the pot.K.H.
On the flip side, his attempts at generosity wind up inspiring animus.
fatal heart attack, overreaches a tad.
It does, however, notably conclude with the first in a long line ofLarrys adversarial staredowns.K.H.
This is as cringey and timely as the show gets.
Magical vagina business aside, solid episode!)
L.F.
34.
Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug (Season 12, Episode 3
Lemons?
Bits about Wordle (who cares!)
and using a Theragun in polite company (who wouldnt!)
L.F.
33.
In Pants Tent, it was the false perception of Larrys phallus.
Or as Larry beams to the not-quite-proud dad, Kids got some penis on him.
Their loss of manhood is our gain.
Jew and Gentile alike unite in appreciation of this episodes equal-opportunity skewering of holiday tradition.
And theyre both playing themselves!
Lori Laughlin gives a Who knew they hadthatin them?
L.F.
28.
Speakin of crazy, I mean, what the fuck?
Larry deadpans when Jeff arrives in full cowboy attire.
Its all the shuckers fault.
Its all part of the shuckers way, after all.
This does not end well.
L.F.
23.
Though its doubtful real Larry would declare, You cunt!
when a fellow poker player folds on a great hand, as if he were Caesar outing Brutus.
And definitely not if Julias last shot at selling her series was impressing said poker player.
Yeah, definitely not.
The Shrimp Incident findsCurbon its meatiest roll to that point.
The Blind Date (Season 4, Episode 3)
Is yo, as in yogurt, a prefix?
who lets him use her bathroom.
L.F.
20.
Beloved Aunt (Season 1, Episode 8)
The typo heard round the world.
(And just as he was charming his in-laws by doing his best post-funeral Brando impression!)
Ask Little Orphan Marty Funkhouser.
But the gold mine is our introduction to Vivica A.
Fox and the Blacks, hurricane refugees whom the Davids take in.
Inadvertently serving an erotic-cake rendering of a black phallus at their welcome party?
Its actually sort of romantic.
And thats all before Jeffs parents catch Larry ogling an old VHS featuring a vintage Gil performance.
Gil may have fouled many a bed, but in this classicCurb, Larry made his.
The TiVo Guy (Season 6, Episode 7)
Not many pre-finaleCurbepisodes prove as consequential as TiVo Guy.
That all their friends choose Cheryl is far more inevitable.
(That condition really gets around inCurb.)
Any unnecessary rumination is akin to idling behind a deliberative post-office customer.
Doubly so in correcting Marty Funkhouser that senior citizens like himself cant self-designate as orphans.
Question is: Which one does that make Larry?
With all due respect, you have chosen to shave your hair.
Trick or Treat, fittingly, has all the ingredients of aCurbkeeper.
But more important, it sparked a conversation about whether one does and should respect wood.
(Jerry is totally right that relative wood quality is paramount.)
is the new Newman!)
Predictably, he also alienates Jason Alexander to the point where he quits.
Good thing, as Cady from season four can attest, she isnt a conservative.
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9.
(Monena, however, is not sure she and Larry are cool de la.)
(There would be an even greater payoff on this pattern when the Blacks arrived in season six.)
This rightful fan favorite birthed Cool de la, You my Caucasian?
and wrapped with the infamous pube caught in Larrys throat, and is worthy ofThe Contestlevelstatus inCurbs canon.
(No offense, Rob.)
Larry vs. Michael J.
The running gag throughout Larry vs. Michael J. is that Larry cant tell whether Michael J. or if hes merely confusing a Larry shake with a Parkinsons shake.
Doesnt help that he seeks counsel from sagely Leon.
(In fairness, it might be more tasteful than Susies bedazzled NFL sweaters from season four.)
That it was just the beginning of a new end is, in hindsight, worth joyfully shrieking over.
Michael McKean, Nadia Dajani, Mindy Sterling, and John Legend all squeeze in some screen time too.
The Ski Lift (Season 5, Episode 8)
Five words: What are you, fucking nuts?
Thats when the jig is up.
(Yeah, its a long story.)
What, did you think it was as simple as Jeff having a small penis?
Creating a 30-minute episode that supports that premise and keeps it from collapsing is a feat all its own.
The subsequent, chaotic dinner party is still, naturally, Larrys fault.
Im just sayin, she adds after advising he watch what he eats.
Whats not to like?
Eh, youre a Jew, is her matter-of-fact retort.
Not that this stops Larry from sleeping with her, or Shara from hate-speechifying while riding him.
(Fuck me you fucking Jew!
Im going to fuck the Jew out of you!
Fuck me like Israel fucked my people!
You circumcised fuck!)
Its prettay, prettay, prettay perfect.
