Over Winter Break, I had enough time on my hands to download and watch all seven seasons of Larry David’s critically acclaimed HBO Series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. (Yes, in case you were wondering, I do like to think I have a life). I found the series to be incredibly hilarious due to the fact that each episode is a thirty-minute segment of Larry David’s actual life in semi-retirement. Now, I realize that some of the story lines are created in order to add humor and plot, however huge chunks of material stem from his personal experiences, encounters and acquaintances. Furthering my interest on “LD”, I did some research on his background and found some very interesting aspects about his career and inspirations for creating two of the most successful television-comedies of our generation. I also felt compelled to share this with all of you:
David, who created, produced and wrote 62 episodes of the hit show Seinfeld, was not always destined to work on television. What many people don’t know is that before Seinfeld, David was a struggling stand up comedian from the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan. He also has stated that in order to pay bills he took side jobs as a limo driver, a television repairman and a grocery store clerk. While living in Manhattan, Larry was summoned by somewhat friend Jerry Seinfeld to help him write a pilot for a new NBC series in which Jerry would star. David and Seinfeld had no prior writing experience which lead to the show being about “Nothing” (or everyday life).
Inspiration for Seinfeld (similar to Curb) comes greatly from the two creator’s lives, as well as certain individuals close to them. For example, the character of George Constanza (who is named after Jerry Seinfeld’s college friend Mike Constanza) is largely based off of Larry David’s life and experiences. Also, the real Cosmo Kramer is actually Kenny Kramer, Larry David’s former neighbor whose intrusive and quirky personality was too unique to leave out of the show. When Larry told Kenny that he was going to use him as a character in Seinfeld, Kenny stated that the only way they could use his name is if he in fact played himself. David and Seinfeld immediately rejected the idea, however NBC granted Kenny Kramer with compensation and benefits for the use of his last name. The real Kramer is still around and tours the country on “Kramers Reality Road Show”, where he shares his life story.
After David’s great run with Seinfeld ended, HBO expressed interest in doing a 1-hour special called Larry David’s: Curb Your Enthusiasm which eventually became the pilot to Season One of Curb Your Enthusiasm. At first, the show was going to be a Mockumentary, much like The Office, however they decided to switch to a single-camera setup. One key aspect of Curb that often times goes unknown, is each episode is seventy-five percent improvised. Each episode is outlined (by David) in about 3-5 pages, and then it is all up to the other actors to fill in the necessary color. I have come to appreciate this show because of how they portray social conventions in the funniest ways possible. This style of television has immensely worked out for David as he has been nominated for and won numbers of Emmys, Golden Globes and other awards.
Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm plans to air sometime in 2011 and will be set in New York rather than in Los Angeles where all previous seven seasons have been located. Syndicated episodes of Seinfeld run on FOX and TBS while Curb on HBO and syndicated on the TV Guide Network.
Other random, yet cool facts about Larry David:
· Once David’s full contract has been fulfilled from working on Seinfeld, he will be worth an estimated $1.7 billion dollars. Add that to the reported $55 million he made in 2008 from Seinfeld syndication, DVDs and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
· During the 1984-1985 season of Saturday Night Live, David was hired as a writer but was only fortunate enough to have one of his sketches aired during the entire year. The sketch appeared in the latest and must unpopular time slot, just before the show ended.
· David is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Yankees.
· On Seinfeld, he was the voice of NY Yankees Owner, George Steinbrenner and made several subtle cameo appearances.
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