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From Amazon.co.uk
It's more of the same for Larry David's sitcom from HBO, and for fans, that's a good thing. The show--largely extemporized--follows suit of David's former series, Seinfeld: it's a show about nothing, just the everyday life of the star going about his pseudo-real world. But David's show has far more edge (thanks, in part, to airing on cable TV) with all the bad luck, embarrassing situations, and dreadful behavior as its premiere season. The closest thing to an arc is David's season-long pitch to the networks for a new show starring former Seinfeld stars Jason Alexander and Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Each network is lampooned, especially HBO, which David has a bad history with in this alternate world. Sure to repel those with soft funny bones, Curb's acerbic comedy allows jokes where David is accidentally framed--if ever so briefly--as a child molester, wife abuser, or murderer. But for those who do love his shtick, there are big laughs, especially when we bump into characters as unbridled as David, like a fellow writer who is quite protective of his dad's invention, the Cobb salad.
Many comic actors pop up, some as "themselves" (Richard Lewis, Rob Reiner) and others as characters (Rita Wilson, Ed Asner) along with the delights of co-stars Cheryl Hines as David's wife and his affable manger, Jeff Garlin. There are several touchstone bits: what a thong brief can do to a relationship, a run-in with pro wrestler, Larry's first baptism, and one very collectible doll. To pick one episode to capture this second season--and its grandstanding nature--it would be "Shaq," in which the NBA star is accidentally tripped, changing David's usual bad luck with gut-busting results. --Doug Thomas
Product Description
All 10 episodes from the second season of the award-winning US TV series in which Larry David (of 'Seinfeld' fame), has it all - career, happy marriage, friends, beautiful home - but always finds that in spite of his seemingly perfect existence, his day-to-day life can, and generally does, turn into a sequence of misfortunes. Guest stars include Rob Reiner, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Episodes are: 'The Car Salesman', 'Thor', 'Trick or Treat', 'The Shrimp Incident', 'The Thong', 'The Acupuncturist', 'The Doll', 'Shaq', 'The Baptism' and 'The Massage'.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Maybe it's just me but does Larry speak for all of us? The strongest comic element seems to rely on the frustration of the one sane man in an insane world.
The premise is simple. The execution sublime. Larry is a rich, well-connected man about Hollywood with an uncanny knack of putting his foot in it. Most episodes are based on Larry making a rational or humourous comment which is then misunderstood by some pompous and/or humourless aquiatance and so it spirals on.
These are essentially old fashioned farces but the take on it is unquestionably modern. The show is far edgier and riskier than you would normally associate farce with and has elements of the raging comedy of the Richard Pryors and Bill Hicks's of the world in Larry's "world gone mad" rants.
I suspect that Larry's interpretation of Hollywood establishment sub-culture speaks to that society with the same head-noddingly frightening familiarity that Alan Partridge's inspired portrait of middle-England does to us over here.
It takes a little getting into but all the best comedies do and don't be put off if you didn't like Seinfeld. I hated it but this is probably the first American comedy to match up with the recent dramas coming out of the same HBO studio.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The well-meaning but eternally tactless and self-centred Larry David returns for a second series of cringe worthy encounters, after the runaway success of season one. This time around, Larry manages to alienate two more TV studios through sheer pig-headedness; convince his entire social circle that he is a sexual pervert; assault basketball start Shaquille O-Neal; lead his long-suffering wife Cheryl to believe he is having an affair, and get arrested for stealing a fork from his favourite restaurant.
As usual, Larry's misplaced trust in his oafish manager Jeff is the root cause of many of his troubles, whilst his hard-headed determination to insist that others see the world his way invariably leads to conflict and social trauma.
It is sometimes easy to sympathise with Larry; for instance when a well-meant but clumsy hailing of his next-door neighbour leads her to accuse him of harassment, and most of the people he encounters seem to be either hyper-sensitive or emotionally fragile. However, many of the problems he comes up against are entirely self-inflicted and it is this combination of pathos and embarrassment that makes the show so addictive.
I would recommend that you get this series if you've seen season one; the opening series served to establish Larry's character and introduce his world, but this one really takes off and is consistently hilarious, albeit in a way that makes you squirm in embarrassment.
As usual, Larry's misplaced trust in his oafish manager Jeff is the root cause of many of his troubles, whilst his hard-headed determination to insist that others see the world his way invariably leads to conflict and social trauma.
It is sometimes easy to sympathise with Larry; for instance when a well-meant but clumsy hailing of his next-door neighbour leads her to accuse him of harassment, and most of the people he encounters seem to be either hyper-sensitive or emotionally fragile. However, many of the problems he comes up against are entirely self-inflicted and it is this combination of pathos and embarrassment that makes the show so addictive.
I would recommend that you get this series if you've seen season one; the opening series served to establish Larry's character and introduce his world, but this one really takes off and is consistently hilarious, albeit in a way that makes you squirm in embarrassment.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Frank T
Format:DVD
There hasn't been a duff series of "Curb", but Season 2 is comedy perfection. As usual, it's a portrayal of a grotesque version of LA where everybody is petty, hypersensitive and absurdly defensive about their social identity.
The central theme of "Curb" is the unspoken rules and taboos of social engagement. It's stuff we all recognise from real life, blown hilariously out of proportion. It presents a world in which all the stupid little resentments we harbour privately are given full voice - where nobody, least of all Larry David himself, ever lets anything lie; where good intentions are wilfully misinterpreted, and where small lies and discourtesies are punished a thousandfold.
The improvised dialogue allows the real-life chemistry between the actors to show through - and a large part of the hilarity comes simply from facial expressions and spontaneous nuances of comic timing. (Check out Cheryl's delivery of the line, "This is so stupid", when Larry announces his intention to become a car salesman.)
But it's not just the belly laughs that lend this series to repeat viewing: in fact it's only on re-watching that you notice some of the subtleties of the brilliantly intricate plotting.
In some of the later series, a few episodes are a little slack. Here, every episode is a classic, and to quote a couple of memorable one-liners would do a disservice to the dozens of others. All the same, one line really ought to go down in history with "Don't mention the war" from "Fawlty Towers": the moment in "The Doll" when Susie Green stands outside her house yelling, "Where's the f***ing head?!"
The central theme of "Curb" is the unspoken rules and taboos of social engagement. It's stuff we all recognise from real life, blown hilariously out of proportion. It presents a world in which all the stupid little resentments we harbour privately are given full voice - where nobody, least of all Larry David himself, ever lets anything lie; where good intentions are wilfully misinterpreted, and where small lies and discourtesies are punished a thousandfold.
The improvised dialogue allows the real-life chemistry between the actors to show through - and a large part of the hilarity comes simply from facial expressions and spontaneous nuances of comic timing. (Check out Cheryl's delivery of the line, "This is so stupid", when Larry announces his intention to become a car salesman.)
But it's not just the belly laughs that lend this series to repeat viewing: in fact it's only on re-watching that you notice some of the subtleties of the brilliantly intricate plotting.
In some of the later series, a few episodes are a little slack. Here, every episode is a classic, and to quote a couple of memorable one-liners would do a disservice to the dozens of others. All the same, one line really ought to go down in history with "Don't mention the war" from "Fawlty Towers": the moment in "The Doll" when Susie Green stands outside her house yelling, "Where's the f***ing head?!"
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good
Bought this as a present haven't watched it myself but went down very well with my daughter and her family.
Published 4 months ago by Mary Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Curb Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm centres around the misadventures of Seinfeld Co-Creator Larry David as he goes about his daily life with hilarious and cringe worthy consequences. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Andrew Whitby
5.0 out of 5 stars
4 curb 2
Love Larry Davis in Curb. Series 2 is great, Trick or treat the best. Wagner and Larry David! Very funny
Published 12 months ago by robert34
5.0 out of 5 stars
My new favourite type of comedy!
Well to be honest, the first one I saw was Season 7(or 8?) when Larry 'accidently' killed a black swan which was a classic, the music and pace reaching the cilmax with his shocked... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Bubbles
4.0 out of 5 stars
He Should Have Been Called Roy Walker - He Sees It And Says It
Larry David's improv style in Curb Your Enthusiasm is quite refreshing compared to other shows, Larry doesn't tell his actors what to say, but just gives them a situation, and lets... Read more
Published 19 months ago by DL Productions UK
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow
Just seen series 2 on virgin cable and went through 4 episodes one after the other; probably the most original and genuinely laugh out loud comedy I have seen for years. Read more
Published on 26 May 2009 by kdog
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Quite so Funny
After the hilarious first season this was a disappointment.
Why?
The timing is frequently off, the supporting characters are not developed, the relation... Read more
Why?
The timing is frequently off, the supporting characters are not developed, the relation... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2009 by Ocean
1.0 out of 5 stars
worst show ever - don't be fooled by the 5-star reviews, this is NOT...
This is the worst show ever produced - taking advantage of Seinfeld fans misguided loyalty, and the wrongful thought, that since this is made by Larry David, it has to be good... Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2009 by David Hroar Soltau Larsson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Improvised comedic genius
The Car Salesman
- Thor
- Trick or Treat
- The Shrimp Incident
- The Thong
- The Acupuncturist
- The Doll
- Shaq
- The Baptism... Read more
- Thor
- Trick or Treat
- The Shrimp Incident
- The Thong
- The Acupuncturist
- The Doll
- Shaq
- The Baptism... Read more
Published on 15 April 2008 by Billy Ray Cyrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply the best.
Curb your enthusiasm is probably one of the best series to ever hit our screens.It is incredibly original in its themes- it doesn't have any. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2007 by Tom Hepplewhite
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