The last few seasons of Curb have been enjoyable; typically full of amusing social misunderstandings that spiral out of control - but six and seven were both mostly "amusing" or "funny" rather than hilariously inventive and contrived as the best of the series has been. Regardless though, Curb at "amusing" is still worth watching so I didn't come to this season with any worries or doubts. As it turns out, this eighth season is up there with the best seasons of the show and it avoids the problems inherent in the previous two.
Although harsh, the decision to move past the relationship with Cheryl gives the show a lot more freedom and it adds even more to the mix by giving the season a very generous narrative arch by nothing really having an overall story beyond moving the action to NYC halfway through the season. Within this loose frame we have all sorts of plots but the key thing is that they all provide the usual multi-thread episode where all the funny contrivances come together to produce an even funnier overall contrivance at the end. This season produces some great examples of these; my personal favourite having to be the contest with Rosie O'Donnell over a woman, with Barry Bonds and baseball throughout - this one worked really well and was very clever. However what makes the difference is that even the sillier episodes worked - so for example the one involving a random one-armed man and an invention is daft in terms of content but yet the comedic timing and imaginative construct of the episode means it still works and is very funny.
For sure at times it is a bit obvious, but only in regard the imminent delivery of a joke; so yes it is pretty clear what is going to happen in regards a ball being thrown around and Bill Buckner standing next to an open window - yes you can see it as "obvious" at that point, but to suggest you can predict where an episode is going is ridiculous - they are all too wonderfully contrived to be "obvious" or predictable in that regard. The writing is helped again by great delivery. David is in great form here and his material has him just right in the middle of things where he is not a total jerk but not innocent either - it is a balancing act that has to happen to make this work and this season it is bang on. Garlin and Essman continue to be strong in support and, although his character's inclusion makes almost no sense anymore, JB Smoove continues to be hilarious.
As with previous seasons the cast features loads of famous faces, mostly playing themselves. In some shows this is a sign of desperation - of including cameos for the sake of it but not producing any benefit apart from water cooler chat and maybe a small ratings bump. This is not the case with Curb and in this season all the cameos are good and benefit the show, not the marketing department. Michael J Fox of course, Gary Cole, Larry Miller, Rich Somer, Ricky Gervais, Samantha Mathis - even Mayor Bloomberg and Buckner manage to get laughs despite both being a little stiff and unnatural.
Overall, this eighth season really picks up its game after a couple of seasons that were only "good" - a target for some shows, but a slum for this one. The plots vary from the incredibly smart to the silly but they all work really well and produce good consistent laughs and entertainment. Even the weaker episodes are very funny.
Although harsh, the decision to move past the relationship with Cheryl gives the show a lot more freedom and it adds even more to the mix by giving the season a very generous narrative arch by nothing really having an overall story beyond moving the action to NYC halfway through the season. Within this loose frame we have all sorts of plots but the key thing is that they all provide the usual multi-thread episode where all the funny contrivances come together to produce an even funnier overall contrivance at the end. This season produces some great examples of these; my personal favourite having to be the contest with Rosie O'Donnell over a woman, with Barry Bonds and baseball throughout - this one worked really well and was very clever. However what makes the difference is that even the sillier episodes worked - so for example the one involving a random one-armed man and an invention is daft in terms of content but yet the comedic timing and imaginative construct of the episode means it still works and is very funny.
For sure at times it is a bit obvious, but only in regard the imminent delivery of a joke; so yes it is pretty clear what is going to happen in regards a ball being thrown around and Bill Buckner standing next to an open window - yes you can see it as "obvious" at that point, but to suggest you can predict where an episode is going is ridiculous - they are all too wonderfully contrived to be "obvious" or predictable in that regard. The writing is helped again by great delivery. David is in great form here and his material has him just right in the middle of things where he is not a total jerk but not innocent either - it is a balancing act that has to happen to make this work and this season it is bang on. Garlin and Essman continue to be strong in support and, although his character's inclusion makes almost no sense anymore, JB Smoove continues to be hilarious.
As with previous seasons the cast features loads of famous faces, mostly playing themselves. In some shows this is a sign of desperation - of including cameos for the sake of it but not producing any benefit apart from water cooler chat and maybe a small ratings bump. This is not the case with Curb and in this season all the cameos are good and benefit the show, not the marketing department. Michael J Fox of course, Gary Cole, Larry Miller, Rich Somer, Ricky Gervais, Samantha Mathis - even Mayor Bloomberg and Buckner manage to get laughs despite both being a little stiff and unnatural.
Overall, this eighth season really picks up its game after a couple of seasons that were only "good" - a target for some shows, but a slum for this one. The plots vary from the incredibly smart to the silly but they all work really well and produce good consistent laughs and entertainment. Even the weaker episodes are very funny.