Larry David on ‘Curb’: ‘I No Longer Feel a Need to Wrap Things Up’
Larry David admitted the odds are against another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, telling Bill Simmons in a recent chat with Grantland the line is about “six to one.” While Simmons suggested one last 90-minute mockumentary to wrap up the beloved HBO series, David seemed unsure, recalling the negative reactions to the infamous Seinfeld finale.
“I got so much grief from the Seinfeld finale, which a lot of people intensely disliked, that I no longer feel a need to wrap things up,” David said. When asked if he was still mad about the reaction to the last episode, David added: “I wouldn’t say I’m mad about it, but it taught me a lesson that if I ever did another show, I wasn’t gonna wrap it up.”
While David didn’t remember any of the specific criticisms leveled against the Seinfeld finale — in which the four main characters end up in jail essentially for being terrible people — he said he was glad to hear Simmons had come around to it, adding he hoped it would start a groundswell.
As to why Seinfeld ended the way it did, with a cavalcade of past characters airing their grievances against Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, David said neither he nor Jerry Seinfeld were interested in ending the show on a mushy, emotional note à la Cheers. “Let me toot my own horn for a second: I thought it was clever to bring back all those characters in a courtroom and testify against [the four] for what they did, and then show those clips,” David said.
Fittingly, David has skirted a Curb finale for a new endeavor: The comedian will make his Broadway debut when his new play, Fish in the Dark, opens next year. David wrote the comedy, about a death in the family, and will also star in it after producer Scott Rudin urged him to take on the role. He described his character, perhaps unsurprisingly, as “somebody very similar to Larry David — it might even be Larry David with a different name.”
Fish in the Dark also stars Rosie Perez, Jerry Adler, Jayne Houdyshell, Jonny Orsini and Jake Cannavale. It begins previews at the Cort Theater on February 2nd and opens on March 5th.