It was pretty pretty good.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” showrunner Jeff Schaffer has revealed what Larry David thought of the positive audience reaction to the series finale.
“Larry was honestly totally surprised by the positive force of the response,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview.
“He was blown away by how much people got it and enjoyed it. He’s really, really happy that we pulled it off. And Jerry [Seinfeld] is really happy that we pulled it off. And that makes me happy,” Schaffer continued. “I’ve been working with them since 1994. So to bring it all full circle with those two people who taught me everything about how to write comedy was really special.”
The show aired for 12 seasons on HBO, from 2000 to 2024. The series finale, which aired in April, payed homage to David’s “Seinfeld” roots.
Called “No Lessons Learned,” the finale circled back to the plot line that began when Larry was arrested in Atlanta for giving water to Auntie Rae (Ellia English) while she was standing in line to vote.
This violated a local Georgia law and made Larry an unlikely folk hero, despite the fact that he didn’t do it on purpose. Fitting with the spirit of the show, he hadn’t intended for the gesture to be a grand statement, and didn’t know he was breaking a law.
The result? Larry and his pals headed to Atlanta for a trial.
His entourage included Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), Ted Danson (playing himself), Jeff (Jeff Garlin), Susie (Susie Essman), Leon (JB Smoove) and the late Richard Lewis (playing himself. He died in February).
During the trial, presided over by Judge Whitaker (Dean Norris), Larry and his lawyer Sibby Sanders (Sanaa Lathan) are up against district attorney Earl Mack (Greg Kinnear).
But, Larry is more concerned about more urgent matters, like the lack of coasters in court.
Many of Larry’s enemies take the stand to testify about his antisocial behavior, including Bruce Springsteen (playing himself — appearing via video to berate Larry for giving him COVID-19).
After being found guilty, Larry gets sentenced to a year in prison.
“Seinfeld” infamously ended with a polarizing episode that David wrote. It saw Jerry, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) also spending a year behind bars.
But, unlike the “Seinfeld” cast, on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry is then saved by Jerry Seinfeld himself, who rescues him after he learns that a juror broke the rules of his sequestration, causing a mistrial.
Jerry and Larry have a chat that gives a nod to the “Seinfeld” finale.
“You don’t want to end up like this. No one wants to see it. Trust me,” Jerry says in the episode.
“I am so happy nothing leaked,” Schaffer said.
“We had these big court room scenes for four days, and the jury was a bunch of extras. Props to them for actually doing what they said they would do — legally, what their NDA said! They didn’t spill the beans.”
David had been worried about the plot details getting out. After Schaffer told David to “talk to them,” he recalled that during filming, “At the beginning, he got up and said, ‘Hey everybody. You’re going to see a lot of stuff here. Don’t tell anybody. We hate spoilers. Don’t ruin it for everyone else. Don’t be a spoiler.’ And none of them were, to their credit. We also shot scenes with Jerry [Seinfeld] and Larry in the middle of a working hotels in downtown Los Angeles. I never saw any photos of that come out, which was incredible.”
After the finale aired, Julia Louis-Dreyfus sent Schaffer “a really nice email” noting “how much she loved it and how great it was”
“[It was] super gratifying,” he added.
Despite wrapping “Curb,” Schaffer and David aren’t finished working together.
“Things are still happening. It’s really a testament to all the people on the west side of Los Angeles. We’re not running out of ideas, because people are still terrible. And you’re confronted with that every day you walk out of your house. In fact, Larry said to me the other day, ‘What are we going to do with all these ideas?’ I said, “Let’s figure it out.’ So, we’re going to figure it out.”
Does that mean there could be more “Curb” in a spinoff?
“I would say the show is done in its current form, but Larry’s not done. If comedy were beer, he’s a master brewer. I think he’s going to still make beer, but what are we going to pour it into? I don’t know yet,” he revealed to THR. “I’ve definitely been chatting with J.B. [Smoove], who has a million ideas. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Leon. I don’t know how or when, but Leon is going to get his.”
