> Larry David left the show (as a writer) after season 7.
I’m rewatching with my wife, who never watched it before, and definitely the latest seasons feel worse. I didn’t remember it this way. Now I understand why.
Larry David contributed so much of his trademark awkwardness, but also was responsible for tying together multiple plot arcs at the end of episodes.
The episodes that all seemed to culminate perfectly on multiple levels as the credits rolled where largely his doing.
Similar to George learning to walk out on a high note, leading to outsized expectations. And that type of pressure is largely why David left the show.
ETA: If you've never watched curb your enthusiasm, watch a couple of episodes and you'll immediately recognize what was largely missing in the episodes once David left.
> Similar to George learning to walk out on a high note, leading to outsized expectations. And that type of pressure is largely why David left the show.
I’m not sure I follow? do you mean that he was worried about the show going downhill as it became more popular, so he preferred to leave when it was still doing great?
yes, I watched some curb your enthusiasm. it was harder to get used to because of the improv style, but I enjoyed it a lot. Hope my wife will like it as next step after we finish seinfeld.
He was so good at ending the episodes on a that multi-dimensional high note- it was a hard thing to keep doing. At least to his standards.
I think it was more of not wanting to disappoint himself/others in that role than any expectation that the show would go downhill or was on the verge of getting stale.
But that's just my layman's take.
There's plenty of early era blog posts written on the topic by people more informed than me, though. As well as dead-tree entertainment magazine articles.
I think to some degree Larry David is more selfish than you’re describing and I’d argue he cares more about himself being embarrassed rather than disappointing fans of the show
Not just Larry leaving, but David Mandel writing and running more of it. By accounts a very nice man, easy to work with, financially predictable for the network, but hardly a brilliant or challenging comedy writer. He also took over more of Curb and Veep in their later seasons and the corresponding quality drop happened on both of those shows as well.
honestly fwiw I only vaguely remember festivus and don’t remember serenity now at all.
I don’t think seinfeld was great for jokes as such. if anything, I feel like later episodes were a bit trying too hard to create jokes and over-the-top silly situations (e.g the episode where Kramer sells the real Peterman bus tour and Elaine trying to dump the stumps of the cupcakes)
that’s what I love about HN. Thank you! now that’s hilarious! Unfortunately it fell completely flat for me without knowing the backstory. Or perhaps the execution of the story was just lame, particularly trying to tie the other story arc felt artificial and forced.
I’m rewatching with my wife, who never watched it before, and definitely the latest seasons feel worse. I didn’t remember it this way. Now I understand why.