(Season 4, Episodes 7-8)
It’s no fun being on the outside of a joke, especially if it’s one from a TV show that you want to be laughing at. Twice during the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode “The Surrogate” Larry and Cheryl were lying in bed watching a Seinfeld rerun when Marilyn called to see if they were watching … who’s Marilyn, and why is it funny that she’s calling?
4.7 “The Surrogate”
Larry’s preparations for The Producers keep moving ahead — he’s already getting the physical that he needs to meet the show’s insurance requirements. Do you think people’s heart rates really increase like that when someone that they find attractive walks into the room? I don’t think we’ve ever discovered Larry to be any kind of really depraved pervert, so I found that a bit odd.
The ensuing story with the heart monitor was kind of funny, but it was nothing special. Faking a heart attack so he wouldn’t be attacked by a nut with a tire iron, and then faking another after checking out Muggsy Bogues’ penis in the restroom … all kind of weird. But okay, that’s Larry.
And while I applauded Larry’s desire to buy his and Cheryl’s friend’s surrogate a gift, doing so (or at least presenting it in front of everyone at the shower as he did) was wrong. Cute panda, though.
Larry meeting Irving Schwimmer (Jack Heller), David Schwimmer’s father, was inevitable. And boy was it explosive! I enjoyed when they met after rehearsal, but the phone message incident, with Larry inadvertently cursing Irving out, was awesome. That guy does not make a good first (or second) impression.
4.8 “Wandering Bear”
No offense to anyone, but before seeing it I had assumed that this episode was going to be about a bear on the loose, like on The Sopranos. Not once did I imagine the Native American, played by Russell Means. I loved when he asked Cheryl how her vagina was feeling.
The thing with Larry ordering the Girls Gone Wild video (loved the fake voice he did on the phone) — Cheryl has ears, doesn’t she? She wasn’t more than a half step out of the room when he switched the channel back. In real life she would have heard the commercial from all the way down the hall.
Larry and Cheryl seem a bit beyond having birth control issues, but I did see a lot of George Costanza in Larry’s inability to work a condom. I can’t believe he put it on inside-out and numbed Cheryl below the waist!
Larry’s assistant Antoinette (Antoinette Spolar) has always been really annoying, so I certainly don’t mind her quitting (she’s not coming back, right?), but I loved the awkwardness (or lack thereof on Larry’s part) between Larry and her boyfriend Marvin (Joey Slotnick) when Larry started asking about his and Antoinette’s relationship troubles. I certainly didn’t see that being the manner in which the condom story would tie back into the assistant story. Nice one.
But both of these episodes were kind of blah. I hope the end of the season picks up on the early hilarity.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Nov 12, 2010 @ 17:00 EST5EDT
