The Genius of Larry David

This post can't even begin to do justice to Larry, but I'm going to try.

I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. I used to watch three episodes a day when it was on TBS and Fox. I've seen every episode and can usually tell the episode within a line.

I think I'm an even bigger Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, because it gives the Seinfeld fan in me insight into how the series was made, and the basis of George Costanza, which of course is Larry David.

Larry is an interesting guy. He doesn't like how society operates - in fact he's got plenty of problems with how "we do things". He's a smart ass. He plays with a huge system - broadcast television - and created a show that was literally about nothing. A billion dollar industry is turned on its head by such a backwards concept that only a twisted mind like David could conjure it up, pitch it, and see it become the most successful sitcom in television's short history.

Larry's perspective of the world is interesting - it's what we should think, but instead we've told ourselves to think otherwise. For example (which could be one of many) - The doctor sign in sheet. It's something everyone does when we get to the doctor's office, and usually don't think twice about it. Larry hates this idea for a few reasons; people seeing his name listed, and for the pecking order - why schedule an appointment if your order goes based on when you sign in?

Such simple concepts like that irk Larry (I just used the word irk). It makes sense when you think about it. But we don't. We go along and don't ask questions. It's these type of thoughts that put him into trouble on the show - and put George in trouble on Seinfeld. It's surprising how much real-life instances that happened to Larry inspired the George story lines.

I've obviously never met Larry, but there's a part of me that thinks his self portrayal on Curb is pretty accurate to how he acts in real life. He may not always find himself in situations where he is getting yelled at by everyone, but he has some kind of a problem with everything that goes on. He'd rather not comment on things because it gets him in trouble, but chooses to anyway.

I thought of Larry when I wrote my post about tips. It's very Larry-esque. He's talked about it on Curb - how much to tip, to leave the same tip, were they worth the tip, etc. These are all things Larry would talk about, get caught up in, and it would bother him for the rest of the day.

The funny thing is the Seinfeld curse. Aside from Julia Louis-Dreyfus' recent success with that show I've never watched, none of four have been successful at another show. Larry David is the most successful person coming out of Seinfeld. Curb is really just Seinfeld without the national TV boundaries. No holdback from the FCC about language or content. Part of the genius of Seinfeld was them playing around with words and using innuendo to reference what they couldn't say. Larry comes straight out and says it - which makes it even more hysterical.

It's weird, because when I talk about my favorite TV shows, Curb and Seinfeld don't usually come to mind - mainly because it's something you don't get invested into like The Wire, Lost, Dexter, Mad Men, etc. The comedies are simple and you can watch one episode at a random time and still enjoy it. I think most comedies suck - that's why I don't watch them. In fact, outside of Larry's brainchildren, the only other two I watch are Eastbound & Down and It's Always Sunny. All the rest are lame.

Anyways, I'm starting to ramble, but my point is, I think Larry David, to sum it up in his own words, is pretty good.

Pret-tay, pret-tay, pre-tay, pretty good.