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Entertainment Now | December 25 - 31, 2021 By Sarah Passingham TV Media M isanthropy rules the day in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Leg- endary comedian, writer and actor Larry David re- turned for an 11th season of his critically acclaimed, award-win- ning sitcom "Curb Your Enthusi- asm" in October, and its season finale airs Sunday, Dec. 26, on HBO. The cinéma vérité-style sit- com follows David as he goes about his life in Los Angeles, playing a fictionalized version of himself — someone who is con - tinually incapable of reading the room. Consistently getting him- self into all kinds of awkward situations in his career, with his friends and in his romantic rela- tionships, it seems as though David just can't help but always say the wrong thing. Famous for creating "Sein- feld," forever known as "the show about nothing," with co- median Jerry Seinfeld ("Come- dians in Cars Getting Coffee"), David has been making TV audi- ences laugh at everyday obser- vations for decades. Set in L.A. and loosely based on David's own life as a comedy writer and performer, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has featured innumerable A-list guest stars and cameos during its 11-sea- son run to date. This season, sit- com veteran Kaley Cuoco ("The Big Bang Theory") and big- screen funny guy Vince Vaughn ("Wedding Crashers" 2005) made a memorable appearance. The pair starred together in an episode in which David struggles to understand why he expects others to be more un- derstanding than himself, a no- torious judgmental cynic. David engages in one of his signature screaming matches with Cuo- co's character, Heidi the optom- etrist, over something inconse- quential that happened in her office. This later bleeds into her date with Vaughn's character, Freddie Funkhouser. Another notable cameo this season was that of "Mad Men" actor Jon Hamm. Hamm has spent more than a decade showing off his comedy chops, from hosting "Saturday Night Live" for the first time way back in 2008 to stealing scenes in movies like "Brides- maids" (2011) and on TV shows like "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Hamm first appeared on "Curb" in Season 10 as him- self, shadowing David before diving into a role based on the perpetually miserable comedi- an. Returning for the Season 11 premiere, Hamm confronted a "COVID hoarder" at his own faux funeral after David discov- ered a closet packed to the ceil- ing with toilet paper and hand sanitizer while trying to find the bathroom. There couldn't have been a better way for "Curb" to return to HBO following pan- demic shutdowns than David loudly and awkwardly ruining someone's funeral (fake or not). One of the most reliable ce- lebrity appearances in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is from "Cheers" actor Ted Danson, who has played himself in more than 30 episodes of the show since its premiere season in 2000. Speaking to GQ journalist Brett Martin in 2020, Danson said of the casual early days of filming "Curb" that, "you kind of sat in your car until they were ready for you." Adding, "it was sort of guerrilla TV making." While the budget for the se- ries has certainly increased since its earlier seasons, the style and focus of the show has remained a convincing faux- documentary of bumbling Larry David making a mess of things all over the City of Angels. Most fans of the show would argue that the best part of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is the main cast of characters that put up with David throughout all of his on-screen disasters and mis- adventures. Jeff Garlin ("The Goldbergs") is David's manager and near- constant companion, Jeff Greene, while J.B. Smoove ("Saturday Night Live") stars as Leon Black, David's friend and sometimes housemate. David and Black have an un- canny ability to amp each other up over whatever ridiculous point either is trying to make, but the true star of managing David's neuroticism is Cheryl (Cheryl Hines, "Suburgatory"), David's long-suffering wife who became his ex-wife in Season 6 after David ignores her desper- ate call from a turbulent flight to complain about the TV. What makes this sitcom a standout in the world of grumpy-old-man comedies is the calibre of improv talent on the part of the cast. Each epi- sode is famously outlined by Da- vid, who then relies on the sup- porting cast to improvise the di- alogue. In speaking with Jeff Weiss of The Ringer, Smoove detailed how he prepares to improvise with the cast on filming days, saying, "for the two or three days before a shoot, I'd just be reciting what I'm going to say." He made sure to note: "I want to have a natural reaction to what- ever Larry's doing." David's first version of the show came in the form of an hour-long special for HBO in 1999. Introducing David as a co- median's comedian, the special adopted a documentary style and featured talking-head shots from fellow "Seinfeld" alums Seinfeld and Jason Alexander, as well as New York City comedy club owner Rick Newman, among others. It then followed David and Garlin as their plans for David's "return to standup" descend into madness in every area from stage concepts and the routine itself to run-ins with fans and acquaintances who are perpetu- ally disappointed by him. Ready your list of life's griev- ances and tune in to the hilari- ous Season 11 finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" when it airs Sunday, Dec. 26, on HBO. Vince Vaughn and Kaley Cuoco guest star in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Grumpy old man: HBO sitcom wraps season up with 'Enthusiasm' 2 | Cover story A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4" Moore's Home Health 5 x 2"

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