There’s a general rule in comedy that things shouldn’t work out for the lead character because it’s funnier that way. This is particularly true of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where a lot of the humor comes from misunderstandings. Even if Larry is in the right, he often comes off as the bad guy.
Still, on the very odd occasion throughout the show’s 10-season run, Larry has come out on top, and a couple of season-long story arcs have had happy endings. That happiness is always short-lived, because another terrible faux pas is right around the corner, but Larry gets to enjoy brief bouts of joy.
Lowest: When Cheryl Left
It’s hard to get the TiVo guy out to your house, but it’s also important to take life-threatening situations seriously. While Cheryl is on a plane going through some rocky turbulence, she calls Larry to tell him what could be her last words, but he’s more concerned with the TiVo guy.
As soon as she gets home, she packs up her things and leaves. After a couple of failed attempts to win her back, it becomes clear to Larry that his marriage is over and he falls into a deep depression.
Highest: Being Ostracized After Tripping Shaq
In season 2’s “Shaq,” Larry accidentally trips over Shaquille O’Neal while sitting courtside at a Lakers game. He gets booed out of the stadium and everyone in the city hates him.
At first, this seems like a bad thing, but Larry starts getting out of social commitments and Cheryl’s parents go home, and he realizes his dreams have come true.
Lowest: “I Steal Forks From Restaurants”
In the season 2 finale “The Massage,” Larry and Cheryl take a car service to a restaurant. Concerned about the driver just sitting in the car, Larry decides to bring him some food. He’s caught taking a fork out to the driver and the cops are called. A judge sentences Larry to stand outside the restaurant and wear a sandwich board that reads, “I steal forks from restaurants.”
Coincidentally, this is on the same night that all the TV network heads he’s spent the season trying to sell a new sitcom to are having a convention at the restaurant, so the deal is pretty much done.
Highest: Making The Producers A Hit
Throughout the fourth season of Curb, Mel Brooks casts Larry in the Broadway version of his movie The Producers in the hopes that he’ll torpedo the show and put an end to its success.
As expected, Larry forgets his lines on the opening night. However, he manages to save the show by breaking into some improv stand-up comedy and winning the crowd back over, then remembers his lines, continues with the show, and makes it a huge hit.
Lowest: Getting Accused Of Harassment
In the 10th and most recent season of Curb, a couple of unfortunate misunderstandings leads Larry's assistant to sue him for sexual harassment.
Throughout the next few episodes, Larry pays through the nose and gives a disastrous speech to a room full of sexual assault survivors to keep his reputation intact.
Highest: Showing Solidarity To The Chef At His Restaurant
The season 3 arc revolves around Larry, Jeff, and Ted Danson investing in a new restaurant. When they find out the chef they’ve hired has Tourette syndrome, they worry that he’ll erupt into an expletive-filled rant during the restaurant’s grand opening.
Lo and behold, that’s exactly what happens. But inspired by some kids at Sammi’s school who shaved their heads in solidarity with a classmate suffering from cancer, Larry joins in the swearing, and everyone else in the restaurant follows suit.
Lowest: Briefly Dying
In the season 5 finale “The End,” Larry agrees to give Richard Lewis one of his kidneys when he thinks he’s an adopted gentile. When he finds out he’s not adopted, it’s too late to change his mind and pull out of the operation.
As Larry feared, there are complications during the surgery. Richard is fine — he jets off on a beachside vacation with his new girlfriend — but Larry briefly dies and goes to heaven, where he meets his personal guides and finds out Marilyn Monroe has a crush on him.
Highest: Accidentally Saving A Flight Attendant From A Drunken Passenger
In season 8’s “The Hero,” as Larry, Jeff, and Susie are flying out to New York, Larry comes out of the bathroom, trips on his overlong shoelaces, and accidentally takes down a drunken, abusive passenger who’s been harassing a flight attendant.
She and the other passengers praise Larry as a hero. Only Susie knows that Larry didn’t intentionally step in to save the flight attendant.
Lowest: Getting Fatwaed
At the beginning of the ninth season of Curb, Larry has just finished writing a new project: a stage musical about the Ayatollah’s death sentence on Salman Rushdie following the publication of The Satanic Verses.
After cracking some jokes about fatwas on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, the current Ayatollah denounces Larry and gives him his own Rushdie-style death sentence.
Highest: Opening A Spite Store Next To Mocha Joe’s
After being scorned by Mocha Joe in the season 10 premiere “Happy New Year,” Larry decides to open up a “spite store” in a vacant location next door. Latte Larry’s aims to put Mocha Joe out of business.
With its creative toilet designs, non-wobbly tables, and rock-hard scones, Latte Larry’s is a tremendous success. The spite store worked out exactly as Larry hoped.