I’ve been saying all year that “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” while consistently funny, hadn’t yet hit a home run this season- through the first seven episodes there hadn’t yet been a perfect half-hour, in the tradition of “Beloved Aunt,” the trick-or-treating episode, and the restaurant-opening curse-a-thon that closed last season. But the show finally achieved that in Sunday’s finale, with the entire final half-hour both depicting Larry David’s debut in “The Producers” and parodying the movie/play itself.
While “The Producers” musical itself is already metatextual enough, as a Broadway show about a Broadway show; the ‘Curb’ episode merely added another layer. All season long the show has depicted rehearsals of the musical, which inexplicably starred non-actor/non-singer/non-dancer David, and in the finale we discover that, like Max Bialystock, Brooks hired David because he wanted a flop, so he and his wife Anne Bancroft could retire. But, like the Elvis/Hitler in the original movie, the actor (Larry) ruined the producer’s plan by improvising brilliantly- and since the show is improv-based anyway, there’s meta level #4.
One question to those who watched: in the scene where Brooks and Bancroft are drinking in a bar across the street, was the lone drunk next to them played by Gene Wilder, or not? This has been a matter of much dispute between my friends and I. Less mistakable were cameos by Nathan Lane and Jerry Seinfeld.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 16, 2004 09:07 PMFor someone who finds all this information on the web, I wonder why you haven't figured out who played the drunk yet.
No, I am sorry to say it was NOT Gene Wilder (as I have seen him recently in my home town of Stamford, and he's looking quite a bit older than that gentleman. The "drunk, was in fact played by Bill Buell (and to show you that I did some research, here's the link where I found that information... plus I watched the credits too) http://www.hbo.com/larrydavid/episode/season4/episode40.html
And if you want to know more about mister Buell, here is his IMDB info http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0119144/
But now that that is laid to rest, I would like to complain about your "Elvis/Hitler" characterization of Dick Shawn's brilliant character. There is no Elvis there, just flower child with big hair.
Posted by: Dan Sichel at March 17, 2004 12:13 AMWell, we all owe a debt to Dan Sichel,not only for that authentic bit of frontier gibberish... oh wait, that's something else.
While I liked the Producers bit, it was up there at the level of a good Seinfeld bit. Where Larry topped himself-- and Seinfeld-- was with the bit of hiring a hooker so he could put her in the front seat so he could ride in a high-occupancy-vehicle lane. (No-- not a perfect episode-- but as good a bit as CYE has ever gotten, IMHO.)
Query whether after that season closer, if its not going to prove to be a series finale?
Posted by: the talking dog at March 17, 2004 12:11 PMi think we'd all know if that were the actual end of CYE. and i'm surprised, knowing what I know now, that Mel Brooks never uttered the line "that's our max!"
Posted by: LilB at March 17, 2004 02:41 PM