Curb Your Enthusiasm has been a mainstay on HBO since it began in 2000. After the hit show Seinfeld ended in 1998, Larry David went on to write and direct his first feature film, Sour Grapes. After the movie bombed, Larry took on his next project, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The mockumentary saw Larry play a fictionalized version of himself as he prepared to make a return to stand-up comedy. The one-off TV movie was a HBO hit and spawned a series in which Larry would once again play an exaggerated version of himself. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a loosely-scripted sitcom that follows Larry’s day-to-day life as he argues his way around LA, attempting to teach life lessons to friends, colleagues and complete strangers. Each season has its own storyline but the majority of the dialog is improvised. Here’s every season of Curb Your Enthusiasm ranked from worst to best.
11. Season 11
While Curb Your Enthusiasm season 11 had a solid storyline that progressed to a hilarious crescendo, the season’s jokes felt slightly recycled and its content was just more of the same. Larry’s proclivity to speak his mind is one of the things that made Curb Your Enthusiasm so popular, but Larry’s negative traits have now started to exaggerate themselves to an unbelievable level. Overall, season 11 had some solid stories, and some impressive Curb You Enthusiasm guest star appearances, but season 12 needs to tone it down on Larry’s social extremes to return to the show’s original form.
10. Season 10
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 10’s story arc saw Larry go head-to-head with Mocha Joe, the proud owner of an LA coffee shop. However, Mocha Joe’s coffee shop isn’t so popular with Larry David. After being thrown out of the coffee shop, Larry opens up his very own next door out of spite, thus labelling it a “spite store.”
While Larry David has been known to embark on extravagant missions to get one over on his adversaries, this storyline felt a little too far-fetched. Larry is a very wealthy man in the show, who could definitely afford to do such a thing. However, season 11 perhaps marked the start of the overreaching, implausible inflation of the character’s bad traits. That said, the season was not without its fun moments, and it contains a memorable guest spot from Jon Hamm.
9. Season 9
Season 9 marked the triumphant return of Curb Your Enthusiasm after a six-year hiatus, and returned with its biggest-ever storyline. When Larry writes a musical called “Fatwa,” based on Salman Rushdie’s situation with the Ayatollah, Larry quickly finds himself in danger when a call to death is released on his name.
The season sees Larry go into hiding in disguise before making the most out of his situation and embracing his predicament. After the Ayatollah lifts the Fatwa, Larry is faced with seeking out Lin-Manuel Miranda for the lead role of Salman. But this appears harder than it seems, as in true Larry David fashion, he simply cannot get along with Lin-Manuel. Curb Your Enthusiasm season 9 housed some hilarious guest appearances from Elizabeth Banks, America Ferrera, and F. Murray Abraham.
8. Season 4
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 4 took the show into unfamiliar territory and saw Larry attempt a role in his first ever stage production, The Producers. After singing karaoke at a party, Larry is spotted by none other than Mel Brooks, and Mel sets his sights on Larry to play Max in The Producers.
The season showcased two big-name guest spots with Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer. After Larry agrees to perform in the musical, he is paired with Stiller. However, after a series of mishaps, including accidentally stabbing Stiller in the eye with a pencil, Stiller drops out and Schwimmer enters. But that doesn’t go down so smooth either.
7. Season 2
At the point that Curb Your Enthusiasm season 2 was released, audiences were still warming to Larry David’s character. Before the show, Larry David was a writer on Seinfeld and not a famous face. That meant that he hadn’t quite inflated his character to the point where he could really explore the absurdity that later seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm had to offer.
Season 2 demonstrated Larry’s hard-to-please nature to a fine degree. Throughout the season he continually fails to get a project off the ground as he bickers with every actor that signs on. This season helped set a precedent for future seasons and cemented the show’s premise into the ground. Additionally, Larry’s feud with a professional wrestler marks a standout rivalry across the show’s impressive run.
6. Season 1
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 1 introduced the TV world to the grumpy old man that is Larry David. From the first episode it thrust viewers into the head of the self-proclaimed “social assassin,” and gave television something a bit different. Its delicate dance between structure and improv shone through and created an authenticity that TV needed at the time. Season 1 set up characters that have lasted the length of the full show and will go down as a standout season as a result.
5. Season 3
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 3 saw Larry venture into the investment world as he bought into a flashy LA restaurant. The season really stepped up the ante in terms of Larry’s bitter battles with the general population. Larry comes up against Christian Scientists, a “nanny from hell,” and a rapper called Krazze Eyed Killa. The season finale saw the opening of the restaurant turn into a disaster of epic proportions, with a foul-mouthed screaming match for the TV history books.
4. Season 5
Season 5 served as one of the most eventful seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The opening episode sees Larry face a near-death experience, giving him a totally new lease on life. However, this outlook doesn’t stop him from arguing with half of the people he comes across in the season.
After his father tells him he’s adopted, Larry hires a private investigator to track down his birth family. He runs afoul of his friends when he invites a sex offender over for dinner, and enters a tense debate with his manager Jeff, over who should give up a kidney to save their mutual friend’s life.
3. Season 6
Season 6 introduced a key character into Curb Your Enthusiasm who has served as Larry’s loveable sidekick ever since. After the fatosphere of Hurricane Edna, Larry’s wife Cheryl opens up their home to the Black family. Throughout the season, Larry and Cheryl’s relationship deteriorates and Larry finds himself in a relationship with Loretta Black (Vivica A. Fox). But when Loretta is diagnosed with cancer, Larry formulates his most controversial plot yet in a bid to end the relationship. After great success, the family leaves but Leon Black stays. Leon has gone on to feature in every season after and has delivered some true comedy gold moments.
2. Season 7
After Cheryl asks Larry for a divorce, he sets out to win her back by casting her in his latest project – a reunion episode of Seinfeld. Season 7 perfectly blended Larry’s real life world into the universe of Curb Your Enthusiasm and gave Seinfeld lovers the closest thing they’d ever get to a reunion episode. Throughout the season Larry embarks on various quests to win back the love of his life, seeking help from his therapist (Steve Coogan), staging a fake mugging, and attempting to pull off the greatest TV comeback ever.
1. Season 8
Season 8 saw some of the best guest spots across the history of Curb Your Enthusiasm, including Rosie O’Donnell, Bill Buckner, Michael J. Fox, and Ricky Gervais. It was also the first season to take place outside of LA, putting Larry in his home city of New York. After inadvertently agreeing to attend a fundraiser, Larry escapes to the big apple with Leon in tow and gets into heaps of trouble as usual.
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 8 stands out as the most original of the series and pits Larry against some of his biggest adversaries. He squares off with a scientist and his extravagant wife, a one-armed man, and a racist TV personality. Larry David set the bar high with this hilarious season, and it’s fair to say that it will take a lot of innovative story ideas for any future season to top it.
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