Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television comedy of manners [ 2 ] [ 3 ] created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with a hour-long special in October 17, , with the rest of the episodes airing from October 15, , to April 7, David stars as a fictionalized version of himself and it follows his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and, for one season, New York City.
Smoove as Larry's housemate Leon Black. It was shot as a mockumentary , in which the characters were aware of the presence of cameras and a crew. Each episode's plot and subplot is established in an outline written by David, and the actors largely improvise the dialogue, [ 4 ] a technique known as retroscripting. In Season 7, the series began producing and airing episodes in high definition.
Curb Your Enthusiasm received high critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. The tenth season aired in and the eleventh in The series was renewed for a twelfth and final season that premiered on February 4, , and the series finale aired on April 7, Larry David has explained the show's name in TV interviews as reflecting his perception that many people seem to live their lives projecting false enthusiasm, which he believes is used to imply that "they are better than you".
This conflicts with his dry style. The title also urges the audience not to expect too much from the show; at the time of the premiere, David wanted to lower expectations after his earlier success in the entertainment industry. The series stars David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like the real-life David, the character is well known as a co-creator and main co-writer of the sitcom Seinfeld.
Although Larry maintains an office, he is rarely shown working. Episodes frequently center on his ignorance of or disregard for well-established social conventions and expectations, and his insistence that others adhere to rules of which only he seems to be aware. This social ineptitude, combined with an inability to let even the most minor grievance or annoyance go unexpressed, often leads him into awkward social situations and draws the ire of his friends, family, and total strangers.
