'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Treads Dangerous Territory
by EG
Most people don't remember the 1989 incident in which Iran's religious leader called for the murder of author Salman Rushdie. Larry David hopes that fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm do, though, because the incident is the inspiration for the joke that drives the plot of the series' long-awaited season nine. Fortunately for David, there's plenty of worldwide fear of Islamic extremism still around, so Curb can still mine it for laughs. Read about the controversial beginning to Curb's season below.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the season nine premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm, "Foisted."]
Curb Your Enthusiasm is about finding the funny in subject matters most others wouldn't dream of touching. After Sunday's long-awaited season nine premiere, consider that mission accomplished.
Larry David returned as TV alter ego Larry David and in one jam-packed episode, the HBO comedy caught viewers up on what Larry has been doing for the past six years since he's been away, while launching him into uncharted territory for the remainder of the season: Larry David is now a wanted man.
Curb aired its last episode in 2011. The season eight finale saw Larry and pal Leon Black (J.B. Smoove) taking their shtick to the streets of Paris, a move Larry initiated to avoid an invitation to Michael J. Fox's charity event. Sunday's premiere filled in that missing time, as Larry has been working on a Broadway musical during the six-year hiatus. Inspired by the story of novelist Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses controversy, Larry drops his script titled "Fatwa! The Musical!" with manager Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin). When promoting the play on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, however, Larry's impression of Iran's Ayatollah ends up backfiring when the Muslim cleric issues an actual death sentence, delivering the Islamic religious ruling and calling for the Seinfeld creator's head. The controversy sends all potential "Fatwa!" investors running, leaving Larry back in Los Angeles without an impending play and with the edict following him around.
"The idea that Larry gets a fatwa is perfect," executive producer Jeff Schaffer tells The Hollywood Reporter about the season-setting idea. "It permeates the entire season, but not in ways you’d expect. But even knowing the surprise of the first show, you are never going to expect where the season ends."
In short, the fatwa is not a one-episode gag. In fact, Schaffer says the idea inspired enough of a story arc that when they came up with it in the writers room last year, Schaffer knew it would clinch the official and long-awaited return of the always second-guessing David. HBO announced the show was returning shortly after. Schaffer, who is back to executive produce the season alongside David and Garlin, says the unpredictable and supersized 10 episodes end in a way that has the potential to set up a tenth run.
The premiere episode also saw Larry foisting his inept but disabled assistant (Carrie Brownstein) onto Susie Greene (Susie Essman) after Jimmy Kimmel first foisted her onto Larry, breaking up a lesbian wedding by insisting the bride wasn't "bridey" enough to be the one wearing the gown and reuniting with many of his old pals, including his ex-wife Cheryl David, who is played by Cheryl Hines.
Read an interview with Curb's exec producer at The Hollywood Reporter.
Did you watch the Curb Your Enthusiasm premiere? What did you think? Let us know in the comment section below.