Jul 31 2009 First Look at Curb's 'Seinfeld' Pseudo-Reunion

The first shot of Curb Your Enthusiasm's long-awaited Seinfeld reunion been released by the Home Box Office Television Channel. Furthermore, Larry David talked to press about the scenario's inspiration, and how it will play out:

"The context is for years I've been asked about a 'Seinfeld' reunion -- as has Jerry and the other cast members," Larry David said at the "Curb" panel at the Television Critics Association's press tour in Pasadena.

"I would say, 'No, there's no reunion, we would never do that, it's a lame idea' ... but it might be really funny to do that on 'Curb' ... and I kept thinking of how we could pull this off, and Jerry was game ... so we're doing a 'Seinfeld' reunion show. ... We'll see the read-through, parts of rehearsals, the show being filmed ... you won't see the entire [mock 'Seinfeld' episode] ... you'll get an idea of what happened 11 years later [for the characters]."

"It was like getting on a bicycle," David said of writing "Seinfeld" dialog again. "Coming up with the right ideas about what they'd be doing 11 years later ... that took some thought."

How David, or science, plans to explain that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is somehow way hotter now than she was literally 20 years ago remains a mystery.

May 8 2009 'Whatever Works' Trailer (This Isn't What Works)

Woody Allen and Larry David, over the years, the two of you have thoroughly entertained me while making me more comfortable about being a neurotic, misanthropic freak than I should be, and for that I am grateful. But this collaboration of yours, Whatever Works. I don't know about this. I really want to like it, but I also don't particularly want to to see a comedy full of obvious shots at stupid, religious zealot Southerners paired with gay jokes from the Bruce Vilanch catalog, which appears to be what the two of you have made:

Continue Reading " 'Whatever Works' Trailer (This Isn't What Works) "

May 7 2009 'Whatever Works' Poster: L.D. Sold Like an iPod

Just as Apple advertises its products against a blank, white background to draw attention to their beautifully-designed product, the producers of Whatever Works know they have such a beautifully-designed Larry David that's all they need to show. No other neurotic Jew on the market has such a well-crafted annoyed grimace or such an ergonomic questioning posture. Smart to show off those features. Strange they wouldn't bother adding writer/director Woody Allen's name, though. That's like omitting the Apple logo.

Thanks for letting me stretch that comparison as far as it would go.

Vulture Premieres the Poster for Woody Allen’s Whatever Works [NYMag]

Mar 25 2009 Larry David Will Be So Larry Davidy in 'Whatever Works'

Ropes of Silicon has posted 44 new production photos from Woody Allen's Whatever Works, meaning it's time to play the smash party game Which is Most Larry Davidy? It's simple: you look at 44 photos of the Evan Rachel Wood/Larry David comedy and determine (answers must be in number form) which is most Larry Davidy.

I think the above photo, 32, with its gesticulation and askew mouth, might be most Larry Davidy, but I'd be willing to hear arguments that 3 (plain clothes, disgusted face), 21 (lifting-massive-ball pose), or 23 (rigid, emphatic, hands up gesture) are more Larry Davidy.

Have fun playing, and be safe.

Mar 6 2009 Seinfeld Cast on the Curb

Well, I'll have to record the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in SP mode: there's going to be a Seinfeld reunion!

The Seinfeld cast is making another must-see appearance. EW has learned exclusively that the four stars of NBC's long-running comedy -- Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards -- will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall. The cameos will mark the first time that all four actors have appeared together in a scripted TV show since Seinfeld went off the air nearly 11 years ago. No date has been set for this event, or for Curb's seventh season, which will run for 10 weeks.

Of course, Michael Richards is now largely considered a racist, Seinfeld is a humorless husk of his former self, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander have already done Curb, but come on, it's a Seinfeld reunion. And any Seinfeld reunion that doesn't begin with the reveal that Jerry and Elaine now have a baby named Cosmo should be considered at least a marginal success.

Nov 26 2008 'Whatever Works' Shots Make Chess Uncomfortably Neurotic

Voir.ca has the first production photos to emerge from the supernova of neuroses that is Whatever Works, Woody Allen's latest that stars Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. Is anyone else excited about the natural pairing of Allen and David? I'm really looking forward to this, despite knowing I'll be humming the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme as a Pavlovian response to every scene change.

Two more under the cut.

Continue Reading " 'Whatever Works' Shots Make Chess Uncomfortably Neurotic "

Oct 23 2008 Good News for Home Box Office Comedy

I don't have HBO (I possess nothing that could ever be regared as "premium" anything), but as a fan of DVD sets and criminal downloading, I'm pretty excited by a couple things I read today regarding the cable network's comedy lineup.

1. Variety reports Curb Your Enthusiasm season seven will start shooting in December, with ten new episodes coming next year. Who is Larry David going to provide disaster relief to this season? I can't wait to find out!

2. On Ricky Gervais's blog, he said (possibly joking?) he's started work on another Extras special:

Steve must have seen the thing in the press about me thinking about doing another Extras Special. He's in LA at the moment but the story that went out across America was that, although I would consider it, I thought Steve would take some convincing. Well I got an email today from him saying he's up for it. I started work on it immediately. Does anyone know Al Pacino?

Now where's news of a surprise Arrested Development special so we can hit my favorite-fairly-recent-television-comedy trifecta?

Jul 14 2008 Larry David Bringing Back 'Curb', Is Uncharacteristically Excited

L.D. is officially bringing back Curb Your Enthusiasm for a seventh season on HBO! Another year of laughs that will also fuel my crippling neuroses! In celebration, enjoy a season 5 highlight under the cut. I mean, assuming you're in an environment where you can listen to a minute-long monologue about getting up in someone's asshole.

Continue Reading " Larry David Bringing Back 'Curb', Is Uncharacteristically Excited "

Apr 23 2008 Evan Rachel Wood and L.D. on Set of Typical Woody Allen Film

Here's a shot from Woody Allen's latest, still-untitled lasagna of neuroses that was shooting in the Lower East Side Tuesday. The film appears to feature Allen's typical pretty young girl-meets-old neurotic Jewish guy dynamic, this time starring Evan Rachel Wood as pretty girl and Larry David as old guy. I'm pretty sure L.D. can't really act (outside of his brilliant appearance on Hannah Montana, of course), and Woody is obviously writing himself again, so we'll likely be seeing Larry David playing himself playing Woody Allen as written by himself. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

Evan Rachel Wood Dating Larry David? [Just Jared]

Mar 7 2008 Seinfeld Making His Own 'Curb'

After Jerry Seinfeld's departure from his NBC series, years of shamelessly recycling the same jokes he made in 1990 finally culminated with an assaulting campaign for a mediocre animated movie. And I hoped, having seen that Larry David was clearly the talent in the duo, perhaps Seinfeld would again retreat under the shadow of his wife's cookbook, leaving no evidence he had ever emerged save for a faint yellow and black-striped blob permanently burned in my retina.

Unfortunately, it sounds like this might not be the case. According to the always-reputable Page Six, the Bee Movie hawker is in talks with NBC for a new series being described as "just like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but with Jerry, instead of Larry."

Just keep latching on to Larry's talent, Jerry. Maybe, since it's on network TV, those without HBO or DVD players won't notice you riding his coattails like a bicycle. I'd really like to know what L.D. thinks about this.

UPDATE: It turns out Page Six isn't the paragon of journalism I thought it was, and the report is false. Good job debunking, Chaz.

Jerry Seinfeld working on a new show for NBC [Page Six]

Feb 7 2008 Larry David, Woody Allen Uniting, Forming Voltron of Neuroses

Woody Allen has found a new solution to his constant struggle of finding someone to essentially play himself: cast another old, neurotic Jewish comedian. EW is reporting that Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David will take the lead in Allen's latest film, starring alongside Across the Universe's Evan Rachel Wood. Clearly David can play the type, and Curb revealed he can at least fictionally work with big name directors, so the only question remaining is if Woody will be able to write the part of an old Jewish guy fixated on a much younger, beautiful woman. We can only hope.

Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood to star in Woody Allen's next movie [EW]