Curb Your Enthusiasm

With this delightful and boldly distinctive new series, the co-creator of "Seinfeld" has managed to accomplish two seemingly impossible things at once: He has given HBO its best sitcom since "The Larry Sanders Show," and given all of television the best sitcom since "Seinfeld." [13 Oct 2000]

Curb Your Enthusiasm has an unhurried, improvisational style that may cause restlessness. And David, playing himself as a cranky pessimist, is a determinedly unlovable star. But stay with the 10-week series and you'll be ensnared by his sly humor.

No one has created a funnier TV character this fall. ... While the first four shows have their fair amounts of laugh-out-loud moments, each ends on an enormous knee-splitter; it's a show viewers will remember the following day and likely laugh at even harder than they did the first time. [12 Oct 2000]

I haven't enjoyed a new cable comedy so much since the first episode of "Larry Sanders." [15 Oct 2000]

David is thoroughly disagreeable. And that’s what makes 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' so deliciously perverse, and so true to the impeccable nastiness of 'Seinfeld.' For those of us who’ve been making do with syndicated 'Seinfeld' reruns, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' is the treat of the new season.

On "Seinfeld," this cranky sensibility was filtered through likable actors. Here, nothing stands between the audience and Mr. David's acerbic vision and morose face. There is every reason to despise the man, or at least to feel irritated by his narrowness and self-pity. Instead, for those who aren't immediately put off, Mr. David's comic brilliance becomes even more apparent in this unvarnished form. [13 Oct 2000]

Imagine "Seinfeld" distilled to its cynical essence. [12 Oct 2000]

This one is not for everyone. I'm just glad it's one for me. [15 Oct 2000]

There will be those who will find true comic insight in the sharp comments and ugly little moments of truth. And there will be those who will flee "Curb Your Enthusiasm," seeking something just a bit less off-putting. [14 Oct 2000]

As with most HBO series, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" isn't for everyone. Prerequisites include not only a desire for more of the best of "Seinfeld" but a willingness to go along with David's Brooklyn-bred grumpiness. [13 Oct 2000]

The most stylistically innovative comedy to hit American television since HBO's great, barely seen "The Larry Sanders Show" ... It's also the most squirm-inducing look at everyday deceit that I've seen outside of an Albert Brooks or Woody Allen movie. [14 Oct 2000]

The first four episodes contain more solid laughs than most sitcoms manage in a year. [13 Oct 2000]

Funny and wickedly weird.

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]

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

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]

The humor is minutely observed, but the improv reminds you how much nonactor Jerry Seinfeld benefited from comic backup and tight scripts.

The project as a whole reeks of self-indulgence and vanity. [13 Oct 2000]