Curb Your Enthusiasm

HBO | Release Date: October 15, 2000

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

84	METASCORE Universal acclaim based on 130 Critic Reviews

Positive:

121

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Gregg Kilday

Season 7 Review: There's reliable pleasure to be had in watching an increasingly embarrassed and panicky Larry rush from one self-created crisis to another until, wham, he steps on a figurative steel trap and suddenly realizes he'll probably have to gnaw off his leg if he's ever going to escape the hell he's made for himself. Read full review

David Hinckley

Season 7 Review: There are a lot of good laughs here, and they are not the result of Larry David changing anything about the show or his character, who is the show. He'd still trip his mother to get the last seat on the bus. Read full review

Alessandra Stanley

Season 7 Review: Both “Bored to Death” and Curb Your Enthusiasm have heroes who are hell-bent on doing the impossible and are doomed to fail. And it’s impossible not to prefer them just as they are. Read full review

Alan Sepinwall

Season 7 Review: The "Seinfeld" plot doesn't kick off until the season's third episode. The first two, meanwhile, are a reminder of what a brilliant show, and a deep cast of characters, Larry has built ever since he said goodbye to Jerry and company. Read full review

Danette ChavezOct 25, 2021

Season 11 Review: “The Five-Foot Fence” wasn’t a riotously funny premiere for the show, but it did excel at putting Larry through the wringer. Read full review

Tim GoodmanJul 9, 2013

Season 6 Review: Just when it seemed that "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the crotchety, disdain-filled embarrassment of absurdities, was going to lose its way, Larry David seems to have found a new batch of wince-inducing scenarios to mine his comedy. [7 Sep 2007]

Robert BiancoJul 9, 2013

Season 1 Review: Curb is an experiment in free-form TV, one that is just as happy to make you cringe in embarrassment as make you laugh, and even happier just to dawdle along provoking no response at all. [13 Oct 2000]

Terry KelleherJun 28, 2013

Season 4 Review: Hilariously peculiar. Read full review

Kris KingJul 8, 2011

Season 8 Review: It's a funny episode, boisterously so in parts, but it's difficult to shake the feeling that we've seen this before. After eight seasons, it's started to become too easy to spot Curb Your Enthusiasm's patented ironic twists and callback gags coming a mile away. Read full review

Tom GliattoJul 7, 2011

Season 8 Review: This eighth season finds him spending time in New York City, and the trip rejuvenates him. [18 Jul 2011, p.35]

Paige Wiser

Season 7 Review: In the end, it all amounts to pretty much the same thing: a half hour with a self-sabotaging wit. Read full review

Jen ChaneyFeb 6, 2024

Season 12 Review: Attempts at “timely” humor — a Giuliani hair-dye joke, an uncomfortable exchange with a trans man whom Larry knew before he transitioned, and a guest star I cannot reveal but whose presence will certainly spark conversation — feel forced and fall flat. But then there are moments when the show is just as hilarious as it’s been at its best. Read full review

Brian LowryFeb 5, 2024

Season 12 Review: Much of this season feels more tired, or perhaps just familiar, in an “Old Man yells at cloud” (or in Larry’s case, Siri) kind of way. That said, there are still explosively funny moments, underscoring David’s knack for identifying the absurd and a prevailing attitude that has long since made clear he doesn’t care who he might offend, but rather mischievously revels in it. Read full review

Ed BarkJul 9, 2013

Season 4 Review: Sometimes he's just too grating. [4 Jan 2004]

David ZurawikJul 9, 2013

Season 1 Review: It has genuinely funny moments... [but] the biggest problem with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is the unevenness of the improvisation. [13 Oct 2000]

Rob Owen

Season 7 Review: Curb is filled with uncomfortable comedy, as always, but its humor stems from the relatable minutiae of everyday life, not unlike what viewers watched on "Seinfeld." Read full review

James Poniewozik

Season 7 Review: Curb, meanwhile, stopped being appointment viewing for me a couple seasons ago, but it threatens to become so again. Read full review

Danette ChavezJan 21, 2020

Season 10 Review: Curb Your Enthusiasm has hit on several of the biggest developments that have cropped up since it last premiered. Where any of this is going is anyone’s guess, including David & co.’s, I’d wager. But I will always hem and haw over niceties, so Curb still has my attention... for now. Read full review

Verne GayOct 2, 2017

Season 9 Review: It’s great have an old friend back, even better to see he’s still the best part of his own joke. It’s also reasonable to wonder whether that joke has grown just a little bit stale. Read full review

Robert RorkeOct 2, 2017

Season 9 Review: This season of “Curb” may not set the world on fire, but there will always be that one unbelievable thing Larry says that will make you shake your head as you laugh, really hard. Read full review

Phil RosenthalJul 9, 2013

Season 1 Review: Perpetually miffed, always digging himself out of one disaster while inadvertently miring himself in yet another, David is either making you wince or making you laugh. Unfortunately, it's probably more of the former than the latter. [13 Oct 2000]

ColliderGregory LawrenceJan 21, 2020

Season 10 Review: For better or for worse, this episode of Curb is the Mad Max: Fury Road of Curb — we’ll see if the rest of the season is given any room to pump the breaks and deal. Read full review

Mary McNamaraJul 9, 2013

Season 6 Review: Larry is getting a little ridiculous... and a little too mean even for Larry. [7 Sep 2007]

James PoniewozikJun 28, 2013

Season 1 Review: The humor is minutely observed, but the improv reminds you how much nonactor Jerry Seinfeld benefited from comic backup and tight scripts. Read full review

Alan SepinwallJan 29, 2024

Season 12 Review: There are usually a few vintage episodes per season, but the batting average is way down. Of this year’s first nine installments, the opener is by far the best, while the others range from uneven to largely ineffective. Read full review

Matt Zoller SeitzOct 2, 2017

Season 9 Review: On paper, I love the idea of Larry becoming an American Salman Rushdie by trying to tell his story in the form of a stage musical. It’s got a shamelessly metafictional kick. ... But the fatwa that’s declared against Larry is too predictable and half-assed. ... [Episode five is] not great, either, but it’s much better and funnier than this debut. Read full review

San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times

Charlie McCollumJul 9, 2013

Season 3 Review: The comedy is so darkly cynical that it's off-putting. If you're a glass-half-full kind of guy like me, it's hard to make the show part of your regular TV menu. [13 Sep 2002]