Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Sixth Season

HBO's long-running hit Curb Your Enthusiasm hit a bit of a slump during the 2007 sixth season as creator-star Larry David and onscreen wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) separate, even as off-screen Larry was in the middle of a divorce from his actual spouse Laurie David. The narrative arc in these 10 episodes revolve around the decision by the Davids (the fictional ones) to take in an African-American family with the last name of Black (“that'd be like if my name was ‘Larry Jew',” Larry is compelled to point out), displaced by Hurricane Edna. The first two episodes, “Meet the Blacks” (in which Larry unwittingly eats cake from an erotic bakery, and is apoplectic that friend Marty Funkhouser “knowingly served us penis”) and “The Anonymous Donor” (Larry goes into investigative mode after Cheryl discovers a semen stain on a blanket) are among the best episodes ever. But the comedy starts to become a little more forced and the stories more contrived starting with the third episode, reaching an absolute nadir in “The Freak Book,” in which Larry ends up chauffeuring around a decidedly unfunny John McEnroe. Still, given the fact that the show is built on improvisational humor, genuinely funny moments are still liberally sprinkled throughout, as Everyman hero Larry (okay, Pettyman antihero Larry), riffs with houseguest Leon Black (a hilarious J.B. Smoove), manager/friend Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin), Jeff's wonderfully foul-mouthed wife Susie (Susie Essman), husband-and-wife Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, and others. DVD extras include an entertaining conversation between David and Essman, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a great gag reel. While not top-drawer Curb, this sixth season still has enough comedic gems to recommend it. (R. Pitman)