Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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This season is much like last years, Garth. Kind of hit or miss, at least for me. However, I feel like there have only been two real misses, and the rest have been pretty damn good.

The last one was really great, right up there with the best of seasons past. Lots of great bits (the Bluetooth bit was hilarious. I'd love to pull that on someone, but I never actually see anyone with those, outside of TV or the movies - And as usual, Leon got the biggest laugh of the episode out of me) and a pretty big plot twist, actually. Looking forward to next week!

Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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Well, I saw that coming at the start of the episode but I fell out of my chair laughing when Vivica Fox went off on Susie. And Susie's look, like "What in the hell just happened?" Classic.

I thought it was a pretty solid season, all things considered. Looking forward to another one which I understand is possibly in the works.
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Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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Yeah, the first half of the season was a little rocky, but it really stepped up from "The Tivo Guy" on! The finale was pretty good, more for that final montage than anything else. Larry and the Blacks at the movies was hilarious, especially with Leon shooting out of his seat and all. That character is just fantastic. Loretta sticking up for Larry was great too, with Susie's look of confusion and Larry's gloating in the background. He never would have had such a moment of victory, when with Cheryl.

I wonder if the Blacks will be back next season, or if they'll be long gone by the time season seven premieres, with nothing but a single line of dialogue to explain their absence. I could see it going either way.

Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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I'm actually most looking forward to seeing Leon (JB Smoove) again - I thought he really breathed life into every scene he was in last season. I read that the Seinfeld cast don't appear until episode 3, so we've got a couple of weeks of stand-alone (or set-up?) episodes to go. Looking forward to it.

Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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I thought this thread might see a little action today!

Well, it was a pretty shaky start, I thought. Don't get me wrong, sometimes this show still gets it really, really right. There were several great moments in the episode, and the way it ended was brilliant. For the dark places this show has taken us in the past, I was still pretty floored that they actually gave Loretta cancer (and Larry's reaction was absolutely hilarious). Pretty brave choice, even by "Curb" standards. The way the cheerful theme played us out as the doctor was listing her (very real, and very scary) symptoms - it made me borderline uncomfortable. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to react, but all's I knew was that it was funny for some reason.

Still, am I the only one who thinks the show is only a shadow of what it once was? In the early years, Larry's observations and rants would be better entwined with the plot; there would be a bit of subtlety to it, and the dialogue felt much more natural. Now? We just get thrown rant after rant, rapid-fire style. Larry's just trying to cram in as many topics as possible, and sometimes it comes across pretty half-assed.

The temperature! Feeding the fish! Apricots are a low-percentage fruit! There was a time when these non-sequitur conversations would emerge halfway-organically, and feel really natural. Not so much anymore. Everything feels a bit more scripted, and Larry seems to be over-doing his acting. It's like he's doing an impression of an earlier incarnation of the "character", instead of the character itself.

Perfect example: Even Larry wouldn't interrupt the doctor in the midst of giving him important news just to finish his complaint about the fish. We get it, he doesn't really care about Loretta. Do they have to show us in such an artificial way?

And the doctor bringing up the temperature at the end was near cringe-worthy. Talk about hitting us over the head. At its best, this show (as well as "Seinfeld") ties together seemingly unrelated plot-points in the end, in a manner that both feels like the natural progression of the story, but is still completely unexpected. Now, they're just trying too hard to do that, and it's coming across scripted and uninspired.

Oy, that unnecessarily long rant aside, here's hoping for a great season! Last year had a questionable kick-off too, but it really picked up big-time after Cheryl left Larry. And despite all I just said, it wasn't all bad tonight. As already mentioned, the ending was pretty great, and I didn't mind Catherine O'Hara's appearance.

And this season has something huge going for it, and that's simply the very presence of the "Seinfeld" arc. I'm sure I'll end up loving this season, just for that. The nostalgia-factor can take this a long, long way.

Anyone else?

Re: Curb Your Enthusiasm

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I was a little confused by Catherine O'Hara's character. She's what... slow? Mentally ill? The whole thing was a little off, but in a more confusing way than anything. I'm not sure if I should put the blame on Larry David or on Catherine O'Hara. I got the feeling she won't be around long, but we'll see.

I'm sort of with you, Universal Polymath, but for different reasons. I think that no matter how rude Larry might've been about the lemonade with the doctor, no one in the world would treat a mutual friend of the host of a dinner party they are at the way he treated Larry. I think the actor might've added to the problem.

Those issues aside, I liked a lot of the small moments. The Larry/Cheryl scene was surprisingly sweet and illustrated in a very nice, and subtle (for Curb), way, why they're a good match. I look forward to their reunion (or not, depending on how the season plays out).
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