Re: From Seinfeld to Curb
Dimitrios Paskoudniakis
"RVG" <not....@themoment.org.invalid> wrote in message
news:hpottq$lpi$1...@bluebubbleconspiracy.motzarella.org...
> Hi,
>
> I've almost finished my Seinfeld boxset (I'm in the middle of s8) and I'll
> be moving soon after to the six season boxset of Curb Your Enthusiasm that
> I've never seen.
> Are both shows very different (apart from the general/mature audience
> target between NBC and HBO) and if so, which one did you find the most
> interesting/funny/clever/silly/etc. ?
>
> Ta.
>
> --
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>
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>
For me, Curb is more interesting/funny/clever/silly, but others will have
similar or differing opinions. It is similar to Seinfeld but innuendo (he
took it out, south of the equator, this AND that, won't do EVERYthing, the
contest) is replaced with no-holes-barred language, and there is alot of
foul language. I call it "Hard-core Seinfeld".
Not nearly as many people who watch and enjoy Seinfeld have seen Curb as it
is on HBO, a premium channel. You have to either pay to watch on HBO, or
buy DVDs, or check them out from the library, or watch from a web site on
your computer. I watched seasons 1-6 by checking out the DVDs from my local
library, and watched season 7 on HBO during a free 3-month promotion.
In Curb, Larry makes much more explicit that these are Jews, and he jokes
aplenty about non-Jews, including his wife's family. Many of the actors and
characters are Jews, as in Seinfeld, but unlike Seinfeld, you know it in
Curb. There are Passover dinners, High Holy Day synagogue scenes, a Bat
Mitzvah, golf at a primarily Jewish member country club, and countless
lunches in Jewish delicatessens, many with his friends Richard Lewis and
Marty Funkhouser. Larry takes a piss and it bounces onto a portrait of
Jesus right under his eye (Season 7), so his secretary thinks this is a
miracle (the tear). He gets into a fight with members of a nativity scene.
He pulls a "Christ cross nail" necklace off his father-in-law. He breaks up
a baptism/conversion of a Jewish man to Christianity. And on and on.
His character is uncomfortable in the presence of African Americans, and the
outcomes are hilarious, including Season 6 where they take in a Hurricane
Katrina family into their home to live. He also has a funny episode with a
rapper named "Krazy Eyez Killa", and a black prostitute who he picks up so
he can drive the HOV lane to the Dodgers baseball game. He has many run-ins
with his neighbor and wife's friend, played by Wanda Sykes.
In Curb there are no verbatim scripts - Larry writes scene outlines and key
words, but the actors ad-lib on the spot. They shoot many takes and he
picks the best of the best and what can fit in 30 minutes.
The Season 7 of Curb (not in boxset) theme is based on a Seinfeld reunion,
so its like having sex, pastrami, and TV all together.
I like that Curb has 10-episode seasons, and there is a theme running
through each season's episodes, then onto a new theme the next season. This
didn't start on Seinfeld until the season with The Pilot, for which Larry
David won an Emmy. Imagine every season like that. That's Curb.
JG
wrote:
>
> I like that Curb has 10-episode seasons, and there is a theme running
> through each season's episodes, then onto a new theme the next season. This
> didn't start on Seinfeld until the season with The Pilot, for which Larry
> David won an Emmy. Imagine every season like that. That's Curb.
I doubt Curb will every get the syndication business Seinfeld did, few
cable series do.
The Curb dvd extras are worth at least borrowing a library set.
OneOhEight
breaking, I gives you(at least me) more laughs per episode, and it's
still funnier even though they couldn't swear and delve into all the
adult humor that Curb could. Having said that, I absolutely love
Curb, It's top 5 on my all time sitcoms list, but Seinfeld just
happens to be number one.
108
RVG
I remember sharing my laughters in the 90s betwen Seinfeld and Married
with Children. Never been a Friends buff: watching people in their 30s
behaving like they were 20 didn't click for me. In this vein I much
prefered Ally McBeal, at least s1-4.
What I like in CYO so far (I'm finishing s1) apart from the adult
dialogues and situations (like the dinner party at the porn actor's) are
the reminiscenses from Seinfeld, like when Larry has his George moments.
The other main difference is that while Jerry was a staunch bachelor,
Larry's married. That calls for another palette of gags and humour
altogether.