Larry David swears it’s not a joke this time; “Curb Your Enthusiasm” will be coming to an end.
“It’s time,” the 76-year-old television series creator told Variety before the show’s Season 12 premiere at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. “Twelve seasons – that’s a lot for a television show – over 24 years. It was time.”
The “Seinfeld” producer admitted he had said the show was done before only to come back, but he insists this time is different. “Yeah, I said it before. But I wasn’t 76 when I said it,” David added.
David attended the premiere with castmates Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, J.B. Smoove, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Ted Danson, and Vince Vaughn.
Hines, who plays David’s ex-wife Cheryl in the long-running comedy, said the announcement that it was really over wasn’t too theatrical.
“Larry would always say, ‘I think this is the last season,’ and he said that again and I said, ‘OK, I’ll believe it when I see it in print,’” she said. “So it wasn’t a big ceremonious moment. I just thought OK, it’s not the last season.”
Essman said the series is ending partly because it’s been on the air for so long.
“I think he just feels done. He did all those ‘Seinfelds.’ He did 120 ‘Curbs.’ Plus, the pilot hour. So I think he just feels done, and it’s time to move on to some other craziness,” the actor said. “We talk a lot,” Essman continued. “We’re very close friends so we talk on the phone a lot and we test a lot, and I think in a conversation before we started shooting this season he told me it was over. He’s told me that before.”
Garlin, who plays David’s manager and best friend Jeff Greene on the show, said he was the only one who cried when it was all over.
“But only one person cried – me!” he said, per Variety. “No one else cried. People got a little bit teary, but I bawled. [Larry] patted me on the back. He showed support. You have to understand, it was overwhelming in that moment. This is 25 years of my life. It was very emotional, but I’m so happy that we’re done.”
Meanwhile, Smoove said even though they filmed a finale, he still believes the show could come back.
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“I don’t trust Larry,” he said. “I think he’s going to get home, sitting around his fancy living room with his fancy little coffee table, drinking one of those espressos with his leg crossed over. He’s going to get bored. Larry is going to get bored, and Larry is going to call everybody one at a time. Might be two years from now, might be three years from now. Might be four. I don’t know when but Larry will get bored.”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” premiered in 2000. The sitcom follows David’s life as a semi-retired television writer and producer with many celebrities and guest stars playing fictionalized versions of themselves. It has been nominated for 47 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series for ten seasons. It won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.