Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete First Season

Larry David is not an actor, nor does he look like one. When the brilliant Curb Your Enthusiasm hit the airwaves, not many people knew who he was, but they knew he co-created one of the largest sit-coms in television history. His association with Seinfeld was almost impossible to shake in the early days, as seen in the hour-long special that accompanies this collection. In a mock documentary involving David's comeback to stand-up, he's subjected to a potential set design of the Seinfeld set that would swing to show the back of the familiar living room, thus making David the "man behind Seinfeld." Somewhat disgusted, David decides that regardless of all the time and effort spent in preparing this design it isn't going to work and opts for a simplistic curtain instead. The scene is incredibly uncomfortable to watch and you're left cringing at his insincerity, but this is how Larry David operates. He's not exactly a loveable character and at times you want to bury your face in your hands rather than watch his surroundings crumble, but at the same time he's the voice that's speaking up on your behalf. As discussed in a 30-minute interview with Bob Costas, David explains that he's not out to make everyone happy and is letting his inside voice and feelings come out. These are the things that everyone is thinking but no one would have the guts to actually speak-up. What makes Curb Your Enthusiasm such a fantastic show is the method of improvisation between the cast of talented characters who are genuinely funny, and how they capitalise on the lack of script proves this. With no laugh track, a loose plot and equally loose censors, we're given a quality of comedy that you won't see on network television anytime soon. Along with the ten great episodes that make up the debut season, Curb Your Enthusiasm contains a feature that should become standard in television series DVDs: the episode preview. Each show comes with the preview commercial that originally ran to promote next week's episode, making episode selection easier, as well as allowing you to just enjoy the art that was put into advertising the show. This DVD is essential comedy viewing. Plus: selected episode commentary. (HBO/Warner)