Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is coming to an end after almost a quarter of a century.
“It’s time,” the famously curmudgeon funny man told me Tuesday at the Season 12 premiere at the DGA in Los Angeles. “Twelve seasons – that’s a lot for a television show – over 24 years. It was time.”
However, David has claimed he was done with the HBO series before, only to return again. “Yeah, I said it before,” David admits. “But I wasn’t 76 when I said it.”
David and his cast, including Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, J.B. Smoove, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Ted Danson and Vince Vaughn, reunited for the premiere, which included the screening of Episode 1 and Episode 7 of Season 12, and a party at Sunset Tower Hotel.
Where the real Larry David ends and his TV alter ego begins was, no surprise, hard to decipher on the red carpet. At one point, as photographers screamed for his attention, David shouted, “Shut up!” Before the carpet opened, an HBO rep told reporters that outlets would have to pair up because David wouldn’t do solo interviews. Fortunately, David ended up doing one-on-one interviews, but not before some coaxing from Essman.
David’s co-stars said he didn’t make a big deal of announcing he was ending the show.
“Larry would always say, ‘I think this is the last season,’ and he said that again and I said, ‘OK, I’ll believe it when I see it in print,’” said Hines, who plays David’s ex-wife. “So it wasn’t a big ceremonious moment. I just thought OK, it’s not the last season.”
But now she believes that David is keeping his word, and says, “It’s sad.”
Essman, who plays the wife of David’s manager (Jeff Garlin), said, “I think he just feels done. He did all those ‘Seinfelds.’ He did 120 ‘Curbs.’ Plus, the pilot hour. So I think he just feels done, and it’s time to move on to some other craziness.”
“We talk a lot,” Essman said. “We’re very close friends so we talk on the phone a lot and we test a lot, and I think in a conversation before we started shooting this season he told me it was over. He’s told me that before.”
Garlin recalled reading the outlines for the last episodes (the series famously doesn’t have scripts, with most of the dialogue improvised). “I thought, ‘We better be done,’ and I said, ‘We’re done, right?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, we’re done.’ And I was good with it. It was a very melancholy feeling when we wrapped up, but not so melancholy in terms of the big picture. I’m grateful.”
Garlin said most of the cast and crew got emotional when they wrapped for good. “But only one person cried – me!” he said. “No one else cried. People got a little bit teary, but I bawled. [Larry] patted me on the back. He showed support. You have to understand, it was overwhelming in that moment. This is 25 years of my life. It was very emotional, but I’m so happy that we’re done.”
Smoove, who has played Leon Black since Season 6 of “Curb,” doesn’t buy that it’s really over. “I don’t trust Larry,” he said. “I think he’s going to get home, sitting around his fancy living room with his fancy little coffee table, drinking one of those espressos with his leg crossed over. He’s going to get bored. Larry is going to get bored, and Larry is going to call everybody one at a time. Might be two years from now, might be three years from now. Might be four. I don’t know when but Larry will get bored.”
David does have some post-“Curb” plans. As PvNew exclusively reported, he’s hitting the road and will join a mystery moderator in Washington, D.C., on March 29 and in Boston on April 1 for “A Conversation With Larry David.” In statement announcing the dates, David said, “Hi everyone! It’s Larry. I’m really looking forward to seeing you all. Just so you know, I’ve recently had plastic surgery on my face and the doctor, who everyone raved about, totally botched it, leaving me devoid of all expression. So if I seem more sour than usual, that’s the reason, but don’t let it stop you from having fun!”
At the premiere, David insisted he’s not going on a full-fledged tour. “I’m doing two appearances, so what? A tour? What am I on a bus now?”
Things took a very “Curb” turn on the carpet when a presidential hopeful — Hines’ husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — arrived. Looking over at the independent candidate, Danson smiled, “Oh, jeez.”
While Danson praised Kennedy for his environmental activism and considers him a “friend,” he will not be backing the political scion in his bid for the White House. “I have been supporting President Biden for many, many, many years and I will do everything in my power to make sure that not only is he our nominee [but also] he’s our president for another four years.”
So, after all these seasons, what is David’s favorite “Curb” episode? Watch our full interview in the video at the top of this story to find out.
