Enthusiasm

At the behest of son #2 and thanks to the miracle that is Netflix, we’ve begun watching Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and currently have made it through to the middle of Season 2 (or 3, I’m not quite sure). It’s an amazing show, but it’s not exactly what you’d call consistent. Virtually every episode has a moment that is truly cringe-worthy, and sometimes – but not always – those moments are hysterically funny. Other times, they just make you cringe.

I have a theory – I don’t think David and his creative team have any idea, when they begin filming an episode, how funny it’s going to be. They just plow through, and if it works, great. If it doesn’t, well…there’s always another episode. For me, the best moments are those which focus on David’s relationship with his wife Cheryl, and his manager/friend Jeff (and Jeff’s hilarious wife Susie). The “special guest star” moments are hit-and-miss; it’s hard to imagine interplay between David and Ben Stiller falling flat, but in the last few episodes we watched (where the two are starring in “The Producers”), it sort of did.

But there’s no doubt that we’ll keep watching, because when the moments are good, they’re spectacularly so.