Curb Your Enthusiasm

I watched a couple episodes of this and didn't really like it, but I know it's one of the most popular shows of all time, so I was surprised. Did I not give it enough of a chance? Is this the kind of show that starts off slow to take to but gets better as it progresses? Or, if I didn't like the first couple of episodes, was that pretty representative of the show and it may just not be for me?

Are you referring to the Sopranos or to Curb? Confusing.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

I am asking about the Sopranos.

I was totally hooked by the opening credits & I loved everything about the show.

Huge fan so don’t know how to relate to someone who doesn’t feel the same way.

Sorry.

I got through season 9, ep 8 over the weekend. This whole thing with Larry's Salmon Rushti musical was way over the top but still pretty funny. Loved the episode with Michael J Fox and the episode where Larry was torn a new one by his new girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) and Susie for interpreting the fact that girlfriend's son was gay and giving him a sewing machine for a birthday present. Hahn's character was made clueless for this episode to work...she had no idea her son's favorite TV show was Project Runway and it just seemed to go right by her when her son told her he LOVED the sewing machine. The dinner party with Funkhauser's new girlfriend played by Elizabeth Perkins where she threw him out of her apartment for criticizing her tap water was pretty funny. Just watched Larry have another challenging relationship with a girlfriend's son. Why do all the single mothers that Larry dates hate him? And what's the deal with every time Larry goes the bathroom? Why is the bathroom always such an adventure for Larry? The hotel with the cookies and the tongs and the restaurant with the "disturbance" was funny too. You can so tell that David was the creative force behind Seinfeld because the plotting of the episodes is so similar to Seinfeld...it's silly and a lot of time hard to swallow, but it always brings the funny.

So far, I'm underwhelmed by this last season of the show after the first two episodes.

I had the same reaction - but then, I think the first episodes I caught were only bits & pieces airing on regular TV (which means they were chopped up virtually beyond making sense since all the cursing & violence had to be trimmed).

It does start slow as I think the producers were setting the players in place and stories don't start to get intricate until a few episodes in. So I think you do need to give it more of a chance - it's character driven so a viewer feels a bit disconnected until they start to learn who the characters are (and what motivates them).

However, if cursing & violence really turns you off no matter how good the story is, then maybe the Sopranos is not for your because cursing & violence is pretty consistent throughout.

Stirchley mentioned the opening theme. I personally couldn't stand it. So whenever I watched the Sopranos On Demand or on DVD, I'd fast forward past the opening credits.

I have just completed the first ep of season 10. Thrilled that it looks like Larry and Cheryl are getting back together and LOVED their ventriloquist routine at Susie's party. The whole thing with Lin Manuel Miranda and the Fatwai musical was roll on the floor funny, especially the duel. Fell out of my chair when I realized that was Oscar winner F Murray Abraham playing he Ayatolla in Larry's musical. Really enjoyed the return of Mocha Joe (Saverio Guerra) too. I'm still finding JB Smoove as Leon and Bob Einstein as Marty Funkhauser beyond annoying and every time they appear onscreen the laughs come to a halt.

Finished season 10 over the weekend, which was brilliantly anchored by the storyline arc of Mocha Joe (Saveo Guerra) Vs Latte Larry which spread into a lot of other funny stories. Loved Jon Hamm following Larry around because he had been offered a movie role based on Larry. The scene where he recreated thee scene where Larry complained to Mocha Joe about his cold coffee was hysterical. Richard Lewis playing the lead in "Flowers for Algernon" also had me on the floor, as well as Larry's former assistant suing him for sexual harassment, which was temporarily slowed by her getting knocked unconscious in the elevator parking lot. That whole story reminded me of George, Susan, and the poisoned envelopes on Seinfeld. Was also very amused by the story of Larry getting upset with the restaurant host (Nick Kroll) who he accused of only seating good looking people by the window in his restaurant. I wasn't happy about Larry and Joe's restaurants burning down because I'm pretty sure Joe is going to take Larry to the cleaners. Though I'm not sure how much he's going to get, because think about all the money that Larry has spent in the last decade to get out of various situations. He's probably gone through most of his Seinfeld money by now and why is it Larry is incapable of getting along with8 any of Richard Lewis' girlfriends?

Watched the first two episodes of season 11 this morning and I agree with the previous poster who found the episodes underwhelming. Plots are starting to feel recycled and some recurring characters are becoming very tiresome, Susie Green and Leon Black in particular. When she jumped on that couch and spilled Larry's wine and then tried to blame him for it I wanted to punch her in the face. How Jeff hasn't murdered her in her sleep after 11 years is really stretching credibility. The whole Albert Brooks live funeral thing was dumb and who was this woman dating Leon to just leave her dog at his house and let the dog defecate all over his house and not even ask Larry if it's OK. And the guy with dementia using that as an excuse not to pay Larry the $6000 he owed him and everyone having his back? Yeah, this show's appeal is slowly starting to circle the drain.

Watched eps 3 & 4 of season 11 last night and I can't believe I'm actually typing this, but there was absolutely nothing funny about either episode. On the positive side, ep 3 featured the first Susie dinner party that Larry didn't get thrown out. However, the whole "middle" thing was so not funny and neither was Larry taking a klansman robe to a dry cleaner. The mini bar story was stupid as was Woody Harrelson's silly cow-creamer story. Can't believe Harrelson agreed to even do that. I think the only thing that made me laugh was when the klansman told Larry that what they do was about tradition and Larry rolled off the lyrics to the song from Fiddler on the Roof. As always, everything involving Leon was stupid, especially the watermelons in the supermarket.

"Curb" is not a character or plot driven show. It's a formula based show. Larry says or does crazy things. Other people call him on it. He stands his ground and sometimes reacts in ways which are sometimes right, and sometimes wrong, but that are almost never socially acceptable, but Larry remains the same, consequences be damned. If you like the formula, it's good. If you don't like the formula, or grow tired of the formula being applied over and over again in slightly different scenarios, I can see it wearing thin over time.

I understand all of that and I really enjoyed the show for almost 10 and a half seasons, but the last two episodes I watched were not funny to me, all shows run out of steam eventually, especially sitcoms, and this one is no difference. Not sure why you felt the need to jump in and defend the show, I enjoyed ten great seasons and that's saying a lot. I don't think I have ever enjoyed ten seasons of a sitcom before like I did this one.

Happy to clarify. I am not necessarily defending the show, just sharing my perspective of how I see the show, since I think this kind of show may not resonate with everyone for the reasons that I suggested. By you, I wasn't specifically referring to you in particular, but potential viewers in general. That may have been my error in not being clear about that. I remember liking last season, that you are watching, and not enjoying. I do, however, find this last season, so far, to be underwhelming. Like you, there have definitely been seasons I've enjoyed less than others and some of the stories seem to be very similar to ones that they did before. I did really hate the Maria Sofia character last season and did not find her funny. Not sure if that is an aspect of that season that you may also not enjoy, but if it is, you have an ally!

Watched eps 5-8 of the final season last night. Julie Bowen was terrific as Larry's latest paramour and Vince Vaughn garnered big laughs after making the mistake of loaning Larry his favorite. Personally, I don't see why anyone would loan out their favorite shirt to someone but I guess then there would have been no story. I also knew the second that Larry gave the host his umbrella to hold that Larry would never lay hands on it again. I didn't know exactly how it was going to happen, I just knew, especially after ruining the shirt. Ep 6 with the tiny woman driver was absolutely hysterical, though it was kind of odd the way Larry and Vaughn were BFF's again like the previous episode never happened. Tracey Ullman should have received an Emmy nomination for her work as Irma Kostroski. which had me rolling on the floor. I also loved seeing Leon's house husband app fail big time, watching Leon pay some consequences for some of his stupid behavior was long overdue.

I’m confused. I have only 3 episodes of the final season to stream right now on Max.

She's talking about Season 11, not the most recent season, Season 12.

She is a he & he says quite clearly he’s discussing the final season.

Wait a minute...there's a 12th season?

Yes, it’s airing right now. It will be the final season. As I said, we’re 3 episodes in.