Executive producer Jeff Schaffer reveals that Larry David actually filmed a death scene that was eventually cut from Curb Your Enthusiasm season 11. The show, which was created by David and stars him as a fictionalized version of himself, originally premiered on HBO in 2000. He plays Larry, a television writer, producer, and misanthrope who winds up in various awkward situations. The show, which has won two Emmys over the years, also features an ensemble cast that includes Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, and J.B. Smoove.
Curb Your Enthusiasm originally ran for 8 seasons, ending in 2011. However, it was rebooted for season 9 after 6 years. Although the show briefly went dormant again after that, it returned to the air for season 10 in 2020 and season 11 in 2021. Earlier this year, it was announced that Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 is also a go, proving the show's inimitable capacity to survive against the odds.
Although Curb Your Enthusiasm shows no outward signs of slowing down, a recent THR interview with Schaffer revealed that the people behind the show nearly always go into a season assuming it will be their last. In fact, they planned and even filmed a death scene for Larry that would have concluded season 11. The sequence would have involved the character falling into a pool and drowning in an ironic twist following his refusal to erect a fence around his own pool. Read Shaffer's quote about the scene below:
We shot as if it was going to be the last one ever. I had to at least prepare for it.
This one lent itself too perfectly. We just got high and wide on the pool, with one light shining on it and the envelope floating in the middle. And we said, “OK, if this is how we go, this is how we go!”
Larry's character's death certainly would have been a fitting finale for Curb Your Enthusiasm season 11. The show's acid-tongued sense of humor has allowed it to present the character as something of an antihero, allowing the viewer to relate to his opinions but never particularly presenting him as being in the right. The show's willingness to throw its own lead under the bus would have been perfectly encapsulated in such a shocking ending.
It is currently unknown when Curb Your Enthusiasm will end, though it is probably now unlikely that the show will end with Larry's death. Now that Schaffer has let the cat out of the bag, it has taken away the surprising sting that the scene would have had otherwise. While the eventual series finale is certain to be bittersweet, with an emphasis on the bitter, they will probably find an entirely new way to surprise and appall the audience. Considering that David is the writer behind the infamous Seinfeld series finale, where the main characters are sent to jail, he certainly has no qualms about a downbeat denouement.
Source: THR