Larry David Gets Meta

It’s starting to feel dated, but Seinfeld still stands up as one of the finest sitcoms ever produced within the medium. The show was never quite as good once Larry David left the show (who had served as the showrunner for seasons 1-7), but the strength of the remaining writers and of the shows amazing cast kept the show at a very high level of quality.

A part of me would love to see a series reunion to find out where the characters are now (presumably no longer in prison, unless George shanked the wrong inmate). Chalk it up to what can only be seen as a combined love for the characters and an exceedingly strong morbid curiosity. The more logical part of me knows that a reunion show would be a horrible mistake.

Most Seinfeld fans would be hard-pressed to cite anything other than season four as the best year of the series. Season four took the series in a very meta direction, with the characters of Jerry and George getting the opportunity to pitch a sitcom idea to NBC. The entire season continues this arc as the duo struggle through the writing and producing processes of getting a TV pilot up and running. Much of the season was filled with moments inspired heavily by what the real-life Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David went through in getting ‘Seinfeld’ produced. The entire season is a meta inspired journey.

Since Seinfeld wound up, Jerry and Larry have subsequently become wildly wealthy. Jerry went off to be seen as the Yoda of standup comedy. Larry opted instead to wander Hollywood as a cantankerous wealthy Jew. He then took this approach to life and turned it into the very funny series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David plays a slightly fictionalised version of himself. With each episode written by David, then opened up for improvisation by the cast, CYE has proven itself as very worthwhile viewers. It’s certainly not as easily accessible as Seinfeld was for your average viewer, but for those who loved the darker, more acidic moments of Seinfeld, CYE is an absolute treat.

At the Television Critics Association press tour yesterday, details were announced regarding the 7th (and likely final) Curb Your Enthusiasm series. It promises to be the best yet as Larry David has taken his meta-fiction even more meta.

Utilising a similar approach as the great season four of Seinfeld, the fictional Larry David will produce a Seinfeld reunion program. Bringing Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louise Dreyfus, and Michael Richards on board in guest roles as themselves, the entire final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm will show what could have been. And never will be. Being that the show is CYE, this will all end very badly for all involved. And as a fan, I couldn’t want it any other way.