Larry David and Conan O’Brien on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’
HBO
[This story contains spoilers from season 12, episode eight of Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Colostomy Bag.”]
Conan O’Brien made his long-awaited cameo on the most recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The discuss present host — who’s a detailed pal to creator-star Larry David in actual life — appeared on the HBO comedy as a high-profile neighbor, somebody TV Larry (performed by the actual David) felt he wanted “clearance” in an effort to strategy.
For the ultimate season’s eighth episode bit, Larry sought out his pal Richard Lewis (who additionally performed a model of himself on the sequence) to assist him get permission to strategy the comic however, as a result of episode’s chain of occasions, clearance doesn’t are available in time when Larry finally ends up needing an enormous favor.
So Larry arrives, unannounced, at O’Brien’s house, begging for “emergency clearance” as a result of his automotive died (Larry angered a valet, who unplugged his electrical automotive) and he’s afraid that Susie Greene (Susie Essman) goes to uncover Larry and Jeff Greene’s (Jeff Garlin) newest scheme. “She’s going to kill us, you don’t know what this lady is able to!” he cries to O’Brien. O’Brien finally ends up acquiescing and lends Larry his automotive. Sadly, he tosses his keys (which is the motion that bought Larry in his battle with the valet) and hits Larry within the eye. Larry finally ends up being too late; Susie enacts her revenge, and each Larry and Jeff are proven sporting matching eye patches.
“We lastly bought Conan on the present, we’d at all times wished to have him on,” government producer Jeff Schaffer tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Conan and Larry are mates and actually crack one another up, that’s why Conan was good to play this position and actually crap throughout Larry about his conversational expertise. When somebody is being very stern and imply to Larry, he simply can’t cease laughing. The extra Conan would crap throughout Larry, the extra Larry would giggle. He has constructed up no giggle immunity to being scolded, and he simply giggles like a schoolgirl.”
Larry David and Conan O’Brien on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
HBO
The episode additionally noticed visitor cameos from returning star Sean Hayes (as Larry’s lawyer, whom he fires on this episode) and Steve Buscemi, taking part in a person who’s making an attempt to promote his automotive to Lewis and who will get offended by a joke Larry makes a few colostomy bag. However O’Brien was the one well-known actor within the episode taking part in himself.
“Nobody goes to imagine the actual Steve Buscemi has a colostomy bag. In order that story doesn’t work if he’s taking part in himself,” says Schaffer, explaining how they determine which visitor actors play roles, and who performs themselves on the Emmy-winning improv sequence. “On the opposite facet, the clearance story solely works with a star. So it’s all on a story-by-story foundation. We form of do that a la carte.”
Because it seems, the clearance story was primarily based on a real-life movie star story, one which got here from Curb alum Alec Berg, the TV showrunner and author who additionally labored with Schaffer and David again throughout their days on Seinfeld.
“I cannot inform you who the movie star was,” says Schaffer. “However there was a star in Alec’s neighborhood and he wished to say hello, however didn’t need to simply come up and bug him and be bizarre. He was texting me about this and we went forwards and backwards over textual content, imagining this bureaucratic system of pointers to get clearance when approaching a star.”
Examples he cites from their alternate had been “you solely have clearance to textual content or say hello in a bunch” or “you’ll be able to solely have clearance if you’re spoken to first: speak-if-you-are-spoke-to clearance.”
“We thought this was a humorous Curb story,” he continues. “After which Conan was simply essentially the most good particular person to do that with.”
Larry David in episode eight.
HBO
For anybody considering that Larry wouldn’t have qualms about approaching anybody, Schaffer vehemently pushes again. “Larry is a rule follower. His guidelines could appear idiosyncratic, possibly even arbitrary, however there are guidelines they usually have to be adopted,” he says, calling out the frustration on Larry’s face when he realizes he’s speaking to O’Brien with out approval. “Each movie star would like to have a clearance system in place. As Conan says, you’ve bought to observe the degrees. How nice would that be? Larry can’t stroll down the road with out wishing he had clearance.”
The scene ended up being a full-circle second for Schaffer, who has a multihyphenate position on Curb. “Considered one of my very first jobs together with Alec was engaged on Late Evening With Conan O’Brien when it began out,” he mentioned. “The home that we shot [his Curb scenes] in was our previous film agent Marty Bowen’s home. So it was like 30 years of being within the enterprise, all wrapped up into one loopy scene.”
By the best way, did Berg ever find yourself getting his clearance? “You recognize what, I don’t suppose he ever did,” says Schaffer.
Listed here are extra odds and ends from Schaffer, who goes behind the scenes as Curb prepares to log off in two extra episodes.
The late Richard Lewis had an enormous storyline this episode, which Schaffer says was sparked by not having the ability to scent and needing a “visitor nostril.” The cheese bit was a joke from a season 10 episode that bought reduce that they reworked right here as a result of, as Schaffer says, it dovetailed so properly with Lewis having lengthy COVID, no sense of scent and never realizing how unhealthy his automotive smelled with previous cheese within the backseat. The scent was so unhealthy, it ruined his date. And that lady was performed by the late comic’s spouse of 19 years, Joyce Lapinsky, a casting that was David’s concept. “Richard Lewis is speaking about real love and in search of the one. Larry is at all times crapping throughout him for that. However, I imply it’s Curb, so she will get within the automotive, realizes it smells like scorching rubbish and leaves. However, the intent was candy!” says Schaffer of the episode’s closing scene. “They had been each so supportive of one another. Lewis saved saying, ‘You’re doing so nice.’ It was a candy, candy second. A very fantastic method to shoot that scene. And I like that they bought that second to complete the present.” [Lewis died Feb. 28, 2024, at age 76.]
Viewers needed to fill within the blanks about how Jeff bought his black eye. “It was manner funnier to think about that Susie socked him. We tried to arrange that Susie has a little bit of a mood,” says Schaffer of the husband and spouse. “If she finds out about this, who is aware of what she’s going to do? They thought they’d plan, then all of it went south. And he or she bought actually mad! Her signing these papers and saying, ‘We’re executed right here,’ is the largest boss transfer. She’s in full management.” However don’t fear: “His eye will perform once more.”
All of this season’s late-in-life humor hasn’t actually been intentional. “We undoubtedly didn’t set out this season making a option to say: Our forged goes to confront their mortality,” says Schaffer when requested about storylines round end-of-life authorized paperwork. “A few of it’s simply the tales we thought had been humorous. We find yourself on the hospital a minimum of as soon as a season. And we get into these life-and-death conditions repeatedly — I’ll name Jeff’s a life-and-death scenario! When issues are tremendous vital, screwing them up is tremendous humorous.”
David has by no means mentioned to somebody, “a minimum of you don’t have a colostomy bag,” but it surely’s one thing he at all times thought could be humorous to say as a result of, what if that particular person did? “It’s a narrative he’s had for some time,” says Schaffer. “Susie and Steve Buscemi dwell in New York; they ran into one another and he’s an enormous fan. We’re like, ‘Oh shit, Steve Buscemi likes the present. How can we get him in?’ We’re very glad he may come out and do a day.”
The true David will get a kick out of his TV alter-ego being known as repugnant. “The mock jury didn’t like his vitality and the phrase repugnant got here up once more, identical to within the rating playing cards of the film the place Jon Hamm was taking part in a Larry David character [in season 11],” Schaffer explains. “We simply love that individuals preserve discovering Larry repugnant. This tickles Larry to no finish.”
Schaffer stands by Larry heading into the ultimate two episodes and dealing with his looming trial with out a lawyer (he fired Hayes’ legal professional character over the entire cheese debacle): “Like anybody, Larry desires a lawyer who’s going to be on his cheese facet. For those who can’t defend a person who was in the precise about cheese in a fridge, how are you going to be trusted to defend the identical particular person in courtroom?”
And, who is aware of, says Schaffer, Larry might not even make it to a trial. “The previous felon-in-chief is meant to be on trial now 4 instances over, and none of them are taking place! TV Larry must be envious at how [former President Donald] Trump is delaying all these things. So, who is aware of what’s going to occur on Curb?”
The season 12 bit that Schaffer and David have gotten essentially the most real-life suggestions on is in regards to the pangs of being added to a bunch textual content chain. “It struck a nerve,” says Schaffer, who proposes a “one-day ceasefire” the place “everybody may get off a textual content chain with none repercussions. Some form of text-chain armistice.”
David additionally made headlines this week by taking his campaign towards goalposts within the NFL to an interview with The Rock, which has been going viral. “Larry has theories about every part. He’s an enormous soccer fan and one thing that has irked him for years and years is the truth that soccer is settled typically by a kick,” says Schaffer. “He desires to get it out of the game. He thinks it’s as nugatory as deciding a tie recreation by having a pie-eating contest on the 50-yard line. The NFL is pretty entrenched in what they do, so he’s beginning with the fledgling league, the UFL. And he pitched his little coronary heart out to The Rock to get all kicking out of the sport. If the UFL is successful, possibly the NFL could have no selection however to contemplate Larry’s well-reasoned arguments.”
Curb Your Enthusiasm releases new episodes Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO and Max. Learn THR’s different season chats with Schaffer right here.