ShareThisThere's no question that some "Seinfeld" fans would do anything for an on-air reunion of the show's cast. If it means subscribing to HBO and sitting through the discomfort stirred up by the Larry David character on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," so be it.
The "Seinfeld" season of "Curb" begins Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT, but no "Seinfeld" cast members appear until the Oct. 4 episode; however, the seeds for that reunion show are sown in this weekend's season premiere.
Larry (Larry David playing, one hopes, a more extreme version of himself) is up to his usual nasty plotting again. This time he has to contrive a way to get his potentially cancer-stricken girlfriend (Vivica A. Fox) to move out of his house by breaking up with her before she gets a definitive diagnosis. He has no interest in nursing her back to health; that would require a level of selflessness the fictional Larry is unacquainted with.
Both reality Larry and fictional Larry have long held that they would never make a "Seinfeld" reunion. But when fictional Larry sees an opportunity to woo back estranged wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), he quickly changes his mind in the Oct. 4 episode that features Larry working to convince the "Seinfeld" regulars to make the reunion.
Jason Alexander, who played George on "Seinfeld" (a character based on Larry David), isn't sure at first that viewers would want to see the jerky, selfish, stupid George again or believe that he could woo back his ex-, the only plot Larry has conjured for the "Seinfeld" reunion. But, Alexander concedes, "It makes up for the (series) finale, that's for sure."
In the process of locking in the cast, Larry manages to make most of them angry and he insults the head of NBC, which is when the show hits a false note. An NBC executive, particularly in the network's current state, would happily submit to any ill behavior from Larry to get a "Seinfeld" reunion on the air.
Truth be told, as enjoyable as it is to see the "Seinfeld" characters on the famous sitcom's set again, of the three "Curb" episodes HBO sent for review, the Oct. 4 installment was the least funny. "Curb" is much more entertaining in its first two outings as Larry takes umbrage when a visitor to his home gets a lemonade from the refrigerator without invitation, argues with his girlfriend about the temperature of the house, wails like a stricken animal over plastic packaging he's unable to open and gets inspired by "Dr. Phil."
"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."
HBO gets "Bored"
It's tempting to say HBO's "Bored to Death" lives up to its title, but that's not entirely true. Sunday's premiere (at 9:30 p.m.) is a little dull, but future episodes have more entertainment value. Still, you have to be a fan of neuroses humor for "Bored" to have much comedic impact.
Created by Jonathan Ames, "Bored" stars actor Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames, a Brooklyn writer who moonlights as a detective in an effort to be heroic. He undertakes his new endeavor -- in addition to writing his second novel and magazine pieces -- after his girlfriend leaves him because he drinks too much and smokes too much pot.
Lanky-haired Schwartzman makes for a pretty likable loser who says, "I'm not good with anger. I go straight to depression." His best friend is played by Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover"), who's in his usual weird-guy mode, although slightly less odd than in some past roles.
The show's funniest moments come from the situations Jonathan gets himself into while on his investigations. When he goes home with a woman from a party thrown by his magazine-publisher boss (Ted Danson), they end up making out on a couch in her therapist father's office.
"I keep thinking about people sitting on this couch talking about being sexually abused," Jonathan says.
"Bored" is another one of these comedy series, like HBO's "Hung," that's not all that funny. Both are really more like half-hour dramas with moments of levity. Nothing inherently wrong with that except viewers have come to expect actual humor in half-hour shows. Fail to deliver and viewers may take titles like "Bored to Death" at face value.
Channel surfing ...
TBS has renewed "My Boys" for a fourth season. ... ABC Family has ordered an additional 10 episodes of "10 Things I Hate About You," but canceled "Ruby & the Rockits." ... ABC hasn't officially canceled "Defying Gravity," but no further episodes are scheduled, so don't hold your breath for those remaining episodes to air.
(Contact TV editor Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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