The fictionalized version of Larry David that carries the Seinfeld co-creator’s HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm is a curious invention. David didn’t base the character on himself, but rather on humanity’s darkest impulses. TV Larry’s natural reaction is to disagree with people, and he prides himself on boldly defying social convention.
TV Larry is usually wrong, and real-life Larry is the first to admit that, but there’s also the rare occasion that TV Larry’s crusade against society’s unwritten rules is justified. So, throughout the past nine seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, here are 5 Times Larry Was Right (And 5 Times He Was Wrong).
Right: Staying in the back of Ben Stiller’s car
When Ben Stiller picks up Larry to give him a lift as they prepare to star in The Producers together on Broadway, his then-wife Christine Taylor is in the passenger seat. So, Larry gets in the back. But when Ben drops off Christine right around the corner from the rehearsal hall, where Ben and Larry are going next, Ben invites Larry to move up to the front.
Larry says it’s not worth the hassle because they’re only going a couple of blocks over. Ben gets insecure about looking and feeling like Larry’s chauffeur, but those are his issues. Considering how long it would have taken for Larry to switch seats and how close their destination was, Larry’s in the right here.
Wrong: Stealing flowers from Ida Funkhouser’s roadside memorial
Marty Funkhouser has lost both of his parents over the course of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s nine seasons. In the episode “The Ida Funkhouse Roadside Memorial,” Larry needs to get some flowers as a peace offering. He couldn’t get any flowers from the florist, so he stole some from Funkhouser’s mother’s roadside memorial.
She had been killed by a car, and well-wishers had left flowers at the spot where it happened. Since there were so many, Larry didn’t think a few bouquets would be missed. But of course, Funkhouser noticed the missing flowers, and he was justifiably mortified by his friend’s actions.
Right: Refusing candy to teenage trick-or-treaters without costumes on
On Halloween night, when two teenage trick-or-treaters came to Larry’s door without costumes on, he was right to refuse candy to them. They weren’t wearing costumes (although one of them claimed she was dressed as her sister, which is a cop-out, and the other was “kind of Elvira-ish”), so they didn’t put in their half of the deal, and they were too old to be trick-or-treating anyway.
Larry made the right call when he refused to give them candy. Unfortunately, they didn’t see it that way, so they vandalized his house and spray-painted the words “Bald A*****e” on the front door.
Wrong: Interrupting Sammie’s song at Ted and Mary’s anniversary party
Whether or not getting your daughter to sing a song constitutes an adequate gift, Larry should not have cut off Sammie in the middle of her performance. Jeff and Susie did sort of cop out on a gift for Ted and Mary’s wedding anniversary party, but it was blatantly rude to interrupt Sammie.
It was similarly rude to cut off the opera singer in the restaurant later in the episode, but at least he was an adult. Sammie’s just a kid, and Larry cutting her off in the middle of a song – however funny, because it leans into the cringe-worthy elements – must have crushed her self-confidence.
Right: Calling out the “chat ‘n cut”
In the eighth season of Curb, Larry David outlined a new social convention that we’ve all seen: the “chat ‘n cut.” Someone will come along and feign familiarity with a person they vaguely recognize near the front of a line and use that to cut into the line.
According to Larry, people get away with a “chat ‘n cut” nine times out of ten. However, there’s that one time out of ten where a vigilant “social assassin” like Larry David will be watching you and step in. Larry was right to call this out because it’s a sneaky move to pull.
Wrong: Eating Oscar’s Pinkberry
In the season 8 episode “Vow of Silence,” Jeff and Susie’s dog Oscar gets so sick that he has to be put down. The dog has been with the family for years, so it’s a terrible loss, and Susie wants to make it as easy and peaceful for Oscar as possible. She sends Jeff and Larry to go and get Oscar some Pinkberry, which is his favorite food.
So, they go to Pinkberry and get it for him, but on the way back to the vet’s office, they eat it. When they return with no last meal for Oscar, they make up a lie about a Korean holiday.
Right: Eating his food before John Tyler’s food arrived
In the latter-day seasons of Curb, Larry seems to just revel in being a jerk. But in the early seasons, he protested outdated social conventions that didn’t make sense. For example, the social necessity to wait for everyone’s food to arrive at a restaurant before anyone can begin eating.
Larry protested this when he had lunch with John Tyler, who bought lunch with Larry at a charity auction. If your food is in front of you, you should be allowed to eat it. Your food is just going cold sitting there, and it’ll balance out when they’re still eating theirs, and you’ve finished yours.
Wrong: Telling Hugh he admired his son’s penis
Curb’s season 3 story arc saw Larry investing in a high-class L.A. restaurant that was beset with disasters from the beginning. At a barbecue in fellow investor Hugh’s backyard, Larry saw Hugh’s son getting out of the pool and noticed that the child had a large penis.
Later, when he saw Hugh, this boy’s father, he said the most shockingly inappropriate thing he could possibly say: “So, at the pool yesterday, I saw your son. The kid’s got some penis on him. He’s pretty good.” The scene is funny, sure, but it’s also quite disturbing – which is to say, classic Curb.
Right: Confronting the “sample abuser” in the ice cream store
Although she turned out to be the school administrator that Loretta’s kids were hoping to get into, Larry was right to confront the “sample abuser” in the ice cream store. She was holding up the line by getting sample after sample, and the person behind the counter didn’t have the time or patience to keep making those sample dishes.
Larry sums up his point perfectly, later in the episode, when he’s justifying himself. He takes the common phrase, “The customer is always right,” and puts his own unique spin on it: “The customer is usually a moron and an a*****e.”
Wrong: Not thanking Susan Braudy for dinner
In season 3’s “The Corpse-Sniffing Dog,” Larry and Cheryl are out to dinner with their friends, Stu and Susan Braudy. Stu pays for dinner, and Larry thanks him. Susan asks why Larry didn’t thank her, and Larry argues that because she doesn’t work, it’s not her money.
This is an unfair summation, of course, because she raises the kids and does the housework while he’s at his job, so it is their money. Larry David himself has used this as an example of where real-life Larry and TV Larry differ. Whereas real-life Larry would simply thank his friend’s wife along with his friend, TV Larry refuses to do so. The socially inappropriate behavior is just funnier, which is why TV Larry indulges it.