Curb Your Enthusiasm was, for seven seasons, very funny, if a bit overly crude. But this year it's beyond overly crude and not at all funny. Hard to believe that someone as brilliant as Larry David would lose his sense of humor so completely that he cannot tell utter trash from his usual wit. For starters he's made the Woody Allen mistake, which is to set himself up as someone with whom women like having sex. True, he's not as withered and old as Woody, but it is rather repulsive to see him portrayed as horny, potent and desirable. While there are many interesting guest stars, they may not all be seen at their best. I think Rosie O'Donell did herself a great disservice by playing herself as predatory, super butch and utterly obnoxious. But probably the most offensive aspect of this season is Leon. Of course, Leon, was disgusting last season. David apparently feels that it's hilarious for a black man to constantly swear and use every conceivable vile appellation in refering to women. It's not funny so much as it is creepy, misogynistic and mystifying. I think with Suzie we have enough swearing and once one has inured oneself to her vulgarity, it's funny. Having Leon unleash an even more crude barrage of curses is way over the top. But it's more than the swearing, a hallmark of HBO, the timing is off, the bits are transparent, and New York setting doesn't help.As much as I loved this show once I now feel that Curb Your Enthusiasm falls into the same category as Curb Your Dog.
Monday, September 12, 2011
One season too many.
Curb Your Enthusiasm was, for seven seasons, very funny, if a bit overly crude. But this year it's beyond overly crude and not at all funny. Hard to believe that someone as brilliant as Larry David would lose his sense of humor so completely that he cannot tell utter trash from his usual wit. For starters he's made the Woody Allen mistake, which is to set himself up as someone with whom women like having sex. True, he's not as withered and old as Woody, but it is rather repulsive to see him portrayed as horny, potent and desirable. While there are many interesting guest stars, they may not all be seen at their best. I think Rosie O'Donell did herself a great disservice by playing herself as predatory, super butch and utterly obnoxious. But probably the most offensive aspect of this season is Leon. Of course, Leon, was disgusting last season. David apparently feels that it's hilarious for a black man to constantly swear and use every conceivable vile appellation in refering to women. It's not funny so much as it is creepy, misogynistic and mystifying. I think with Suzie we have enough swearing and once one has inured oneself to her vulgarity, it's funny. Having Leon unleash an even more crude barrage of curses is way over the top. But it's more than the swearing, a hallmark of HBO, the timing is off, the bits are transparent, and New York setting doesn't help.As much as I loved this show once I now feel that Curb Your Enthusiasm falls into the same category as Curb Your Dog.
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We think we know the problem: No Cheryl. Why no Cheryl? Because in real life, Larry David has gotten divorced. Therefore, he's rudderless. The show is like "Seinfeld" without Elaine. We have given up watching it, despite the fact that Mookie Wilson was a guest star last week, and that apparently there's an episode in which Larry brings Bill Buckner to a minyan. As much as we'd like to see the former Mets and Red Sox players, which under normal circumstances would delight us, the show is so unfunny now that it's not worth watching for that reason alone. Larry's lost us. Can't believe it's true, but it is.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly the last episode with Michael J. Fox was the funniest so far, though the Leon character was as disgusting as usual. The Bill Buckner episode was mildly amusing, but then I knew nothing about his infamous miss.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're from Boston! Not to worry, I know you don't follow baseball. I rarely do myself any more. In our household in 1986, of course, we were rooting for the Mets. So we feel a twisted affection for Buckner, even though the Sox had probably already lost the sixth game before Mookie's ball got through him.
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