Spoiler alert: This article discusses plot points from the series finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
More than 25 years after he sent the “Seinfeld” gang to prison in the finale of the much-hated sitcom, Larry David exonerates himself — literally and figuratively — in the final moments of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The April 7 series finale, which concludes 12 seasons and 24 years of unscripted comedy on HBO, sees Larry stand trial for wrongly violating Georgia's voting law. (In the season 12 opener, he gives a bottle of water to Leon's aunt, who is in line to vote, leading to his arrest and making him a kind of civil rights hero.) In the end, much like the final episode of “Seinfeld,” Larry is put on trial as rivals from his past – like Moka Go and Mr. Takahashi – act as character witnesses for the prosecution, telling Larry's every bad deed.
Larry was found guilty and ended up in a cell, but while the “Seinfeld” crew remained in prison, Larry was eventually released – thanks to a legal warning exploited by his old friend Jerry Seinfeld. As they're getting out of prison, Larry gets a meta reveal: “Oh my God, this is how we should have ended the end!”
As Curb rides off into the sunset, Susie Iseman and executive producer, writer and director Jeff Schiffer spoke to diverse On rewriting the history of 'Seinfeld', working with Season 12 guest star Bruce Springsteen and what lies ahead for Larry David.
Jeff, was the idea of ending “Curb Your Enthusiasm” by rewriting the “Seinfeld” finale something you and Larry were always toying with? Or did that happen during season 12?
Jeff Schiffer: That wasn't the plan when we were tied beginning Season 12. We knew we were starting with Georgia and this stupid law, and when you start like that, it feels like a trial might be imminent, but we didn't even settle on a trial. Honestly, we were writing episodes and talking about a story where Larry gets involved with a kid who did something wrong, like throwing a ball at his head, and the mom is trying to teach him a lesson and Larry doesn't want to be part of the lesson. While we were acting it out, Larry said, “I'm 76 years old and I've never learned a lesson in my life.”
While we were joking about it, we realized that this is how we do it. We tell everyone that Larry never learned a lesson in his life, and then we go on trial like the Seinfeld finale and we just own it. We're going back to that burning building, and if you don't like it – that's tough. Too often we blur the lines between real Larry and TV Larry. Oftentimes, TV Larry does things the real Larry would never do or always wanted to do. But both Lars never learned their lesson. That's what I love about this ending. [With “Seinfeld,”] Larry did what he thought was funny. Then he did it again.
In Season 12, TV Larry is saddened by the Seinfeld finale. Is the backlash to that episode what bothers him in real life?
Schiffer: No, one of the best things about Larry is that he never feels worried about other people and their ideas. That's why the show is so good. If we think it's funny, we do it. We went back inside and distributed those things [scenes where Larry is ribbed about the “Seinfeld” finale] In the season once we knew what we were going to do at the end.
What did you do to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger? Send a message to Larry DavidLightly rebuke him over the voting law story? [He wrote, in part, “We’d like to congratulate you on becoming the first, and to our knowledge, only person arrested for distributing water bottles to voters within 150 feet of a polling station.”]
Schiffer: The message is really funny! He was cheeky. I thought this was really cool. By the way, the parallel between the Good Samaritan law in the “Seinfeld” finale and the water in the “Pier” finale is just a coincidence. We wrote the material for “Curb” with no idea on the water that we were going to redo the “Seinfeld” finale on “Curb.”
So, Larry's legal trouble started out as just a simple story that you didn't plan on coming back to?
Schiffer: We were planning to go back to it, but it was made up that the Seinfeld people did something bad and went to prison, and Larry did something good and went to prison. That relationship didn't exist in our heads. It's something people looked at after the fact, but was never intended or thought about.
Larry famously hinted that every season of “Curb” would likely be his last. But can you talk about the last few days on set, and whether there was a growing sense of finality?
Susie Essam: The last scene we shot was the actual last scene, not counting the reshoots. That was the only time, on the plane, that I really felt, “This is it.” I didn't feel like it was leading to that at all. We were all very aware on the last day of filming that this was the final scene for the final season of the series. We all talked about it. There were lots of hugs and lots of I love you's. We're not really that type, but we went there.
Even Larry was a little choked up about the ending?
Schiffer: I won't say that.
Essam: He did not choke. I think he was fully aware of that. From the beginning, this was Larry's invention, and he was abandoning it. But it is sufficient; He has his own way of dealing with these things. I didn't feel a huge sensation from him on the last day, until the end, when he slipped away and was quiet. He wanted to not admit it and get out of there.
Schiffer: To be fair, we had another eight months of editing ahead of us. We're not finished at all. We're just starting the third phase – you have the writing and shooting and then the editing. So we had a lot of work to do.
Essam: I would like to write to Jeff and Larry [while they were editing] I told them I missed them and they said, “We don’t miss you!” See you every day!
Schiffer: Yes, I watched you talk for 45 minutes, take after take after take. Susie, believe me, I see you in my dreams!
I know you both are close to Larry in real life. What will happen now when he gets the perfect idea for “Curb”? Do you all have a group text?
Essam: I'm sure we'll keep in touch. But knowing Larry, he'll find another outlet for all the things that seep into his head. For Jeff too. Jeff is younger than all of us — he's the baby in the family — so I'm excited to see what he does next.
Schiffer: But I'm also sitting here in my office. Larry's office is there. Larry will come in, he'll complain about something, and then we'll talk about it. Just as we did decades ago. Until man can leave his home and not be disturbed by his fellow man, I believe he will continue to work.
Jeff, you've been a patron of young voices in comedy, especially with “Dave,” which has been a huge hit with FX and Hulu. Do you expect Larry to want more help behind the scenes to help shape those young voices in comedy?
Schiffer: I think Larry is still a very young voice in comedy. People always say that “Curb” is about Larry's life. that's wrong. “Curb” is about Larry’s thoughts. And he still has ideas. He still goes out and interacts with the west side of Los Angeles, which by the way is full of horrible people. It's an evergreen work, documenting the flaws of people on the West Side. He will not suddenly go to the monastery and paint with watercolors. He'll get into things. We will see what happens.
Essam: I live in New York, and most of the people who come up to me on the streets are men in their twenties. The fact that this age group loves this show – all people over 60 – it tells you how important Larry and Jeff's voices are to every generation.
I was at an event on Friday where Larry was asked why “Curb” resonated so deeply with young audiences, and he sheepishly responded, saying only, “It's funny.” But do any of you have any other idea why “Curb” transcends generations, seemingly more than any other sitcom on television?
Essam: Because it's funny.
Schiffer: no Triple Down on that, but I'll say the same thing in a different way. Because it's wish fulfillment. Everyone — whether you're 20 years old or 60 years old — you've ever interacted with someone and said, “This is a 'hold back' moment.” You're watching the show and saying, “Someone did that to me. I wish I could have said what Larry did. Or, 'I can't believe Larry did that.'” It's the audience's wish fulfillment, because Larry is saying the things they've been thinking out loud — or maybe They don't even know they were thinking until he says it. What's interesting about it is that it's also the fulfillment of Larry's wish. He walked in one day and said, “I was at this dinner party and the hostess served tap water. Who serves tap water at a dinner party? I should have said something.” And I said, “Well, the real Larry didn't say anything, but TV Larry would say something.” That's a story. That's how the show exists.
Essam: Larry used to say he aspired to be that person. He aspires to be the guy who, when you meet him on the street and say, “Let's have lunch,” says, “You know what? We'll never have lunch. Why are we going through this charade? For my character, I can't tell you how many women have told me that.” he wishes They can talk to their husbands the way I talk to my husband.
I was at a Bruce Springsteen concert last night, which explains my t-shirt, and there were multiple signs in the audience indicating Bruce's appearance on “Curb,” including one that said: “If I'm a libertine on earth.”
Schiffer: I got a lot of those texts last night. By the way, have you washed this shirt? Or did you get it from the party and now you're wearing it?
I got it from a party and now I'm wearing it.
Schiffer: interesting.
You seem disappointed in me.
Schiffer: I'm worried about your skin. But anyway, ask your question.
What was it like when Bruce appeared on the show, and what was it like with Susie improvising with him?
Essam: It was great. It was really natural and couldn't be sweeter. When he left, he said to me: Do you mind if I take a selfie with you? Do you mind? Nah, come on, Bruce, it's okay. I'll make an exception!
He was very humble, and would improvise all his lines. He was a great actor, and we really enjoyed having him on set.
Schiffer: Despite his brilliance and generosity in presenting the show – he did it all in one day – do you know how he was rewarded? He now has “fuckin' floor” signs all his life at every concert he goes to. And by the way, I felt bad because we made a show about how Larry got sick and had to cancel concerts. A month later, we were in the editing room, and Bruce got sick and had to cancel the gigs. I turned to Larry and said, “You have the supreme ability to manifest negative things. You did this.”
Essam: I found Larry to be very insightful. Something on the show will then appear in the real world so many times that it can't be a coincidence. He's got some kind of woo woo going on.
Well, thank you both for your time, and congratulations on a wonderful trip.
Schiffer: Thanks, Ethan. Wash the shirt.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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