Jeff Greene (character)

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles, and for one season, New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager and best friend Jeff Greene, Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie, and J.B. Smoove as his house mate Leon Black. It often features celebrity guest stars, many of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves, including Ted Danson, Richard Lewis, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jon Hamm.

As with ''Seinfeld'', which David co-created, the humor of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' often revolves around the minutiae of everyday social life. Each episode's plot and subplot is established in an outline written by David, and the dialogue is largely improvised by the actors, a technique known as retroscripting.

The series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special, '' Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm'', which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. It was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras and a crew. The series, while not in documentary form, was shot in a somewhat similar cinéma vérité-like style.

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' received high critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. It has been nominated for 47 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series for nine of its eleven seasons. It won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. It aired for eight mostly consecutive seasons until 2011, and resumed with a ninth season in 2017. The tenth season aired in 2020 and the eleventh season in 2021. In August 2022, HBO renewed the series for a twelfth season.

Premise

Larry David has explained the show's name in TV interviews as reflecting his perception that many people seem to live their lives projecting false enthusiasm, which he believes is used to imply that "they are better than you". This conflicts with his dry style. The title also urges the audience not to expect too much from the show; at the time of the premiere, David wanted to lower expectations after his earlier success in the entertainment industry.

The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like the real-life David, the character is well known as the co-creator and main co-writer of the highly successful sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Although Larry maintains an office, he is rarely shown working. Episodes frequently center on Larry's ignorance of or disregard for well-established social conventions and expectations, and his insistence that others adhere to rules of which only he seems to be aware. This social ineptitude, combined with his inability to let even the most minor grievance or annoyance go unexpressed, often leads him into awkward social situations and draws the ire of his friends, family, and total strangers. He is also routinely the victim of labyrinthine misunderstandings wherein people think he has done something immoral or disgusting.

For most of the series, the Larry David character is living a married, child-free life in Los Angeles with his wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines). David's main confidant on the show is his manager and friend Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin). Susie Essman plays Susie Greene, Jeff's short-tempered wife, who is frequently at odds with Larry. Many of the show's frequent guest stars are celebrities and public figures, who will usually play fictionalized versions of themselves. Among the more frequently recurring guest stars are Larry's longtime friend Richard Lewis as well as Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen.

The show is set and filmed in various affluent Westside communities of (and occasionally in downtown) Los Angeles, as well as in the adjacent cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, and Santa Monica. David's hometown of New York City is featured throughout most of the episodes in season 8.

Episodes

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' premiered with an hour-long special on October 17, 1999, upon which the series was based. The first eight seasons of the series aired from 2000 to 2011. The series took a prolonged six-year hiatus, before returning for a ninth season in 2017, a tenth season in 2020, and an eleventh season in 2021.

The episodes are typically named after an event, object, or person that figures prominently in the plot, similarly to how ''Seinfeld'' episodes were titled. Unrelated events woven throughout a given episode are tied into an unforced climax that resolves the storylines simultaneously, either to Larry's advantage or detriment. While each episode has a distinct individual plot, most seasons feature a story arc that extends across several episodes and culminates in a finale that often features the return of many of the characters that appeared throughout the season.

Characters

Main cast

* Larry David as himself, the show's idiosyncratic, tactless and curmudgeonly protagonist. Larry is a semi-retired television writer and producer. Born and raised in New York, he is the only child of Nat and Adele David. He is Jewish, although he is not observant and is willing to betray his heritage when it suits him. After years struggling as a writer and comic, he gained massive success with the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Having made a fortune off the show, Larry now works only occasionally. Stubborn and self-centered, Larry frequently flouts social conventions which he perceives as pointless, inconvenient, or nonsensical. At the same time, however, he openly rebukes friends, acquaintances, and strangers for their failure to adhere to his self-imposed (and often equally nonsensical) social rules. Larry often becomes obsessed with minute, insignificant details of others' behavior, and is seemingly unable to let any grievance, annoyance, or inappropriate remark go unexpressed. Larry is often reluctant to apologize to people he has offended, firmly believing himself to be in the right, and frequently going to extreme lengths to prove the righteousness of his beliefs and actions. When he does apologize, however, he usually only does so because he needs something from the person in question, and he is often more self-defensive than truly apologetic. All this aside, however, Larry is generally well-intentioned, and is oftentimes simply a victim of circumstance, finding himself at the center of complex misunderstandings, or falling victim to others' selfishness and/or stupidity. He is even at times celebrated by those around him for his candor and his willingness to call others out for their hypocrisy.
* Jeff Garlin as Jeff Greene, Larry's manager and best friend. He is married to Susie Greene (Essman), with whom he has a daughter, Sammi (Ashly Holloway). Jeff and Susie have a tumultuous marriage, due in large part to Jeff's frequent extramarital affairs, as well as Susie's incessant criticism of Jeff, most often in regards to his weight and his cheating. Jeff often recruits Larry in his efforts to cover up his affairs from Susie, although these efforts usually fall apart and are quickly discovered by Susie. Jeff Garlin has stated that he does not empathize with his character at all and described him as a "pretty evil guy" who has "no morals, no scruples".
* Cheryl Hines as Cheryl David (seasons 1–7, 9–present; guest season 8), Larry's long-suffering wife (and later, ex-wife). Patient, friendly, and generally easygoing, she serves as a comic foil to the stubborn and nit-picky Larry and often serves as a voice of reason. She is nominally an actress, although she is not shown working for most of the series. She is very environmentally conscious, and devotes a great deal of her time and money to charitable causes, particularly the NRDC. Unlike Larry, Cheryl is outgoing, enjoys most social functions, and is the primary agent in maintaining many of the couple's friendships. Cheryl is also the driving force behind many of Larry's apologies. While she feels a deep affection for Larry and often shows near super-human patience with his various foibles, she has her limits, particularly with his obsession over minute, unimportant details. She is finally pushed to her breaking point in the season 6 episode "The TiVo Guy" when, on board a flight experiencing severe turbulence, she calls Larry to tell him she loves him. To her shock and anger, Larry pays no attention to what is ostensibly his wife's final goodbye and instead badgers her with questions about their DVR. In the wake of the incident, Cheryl leaves Larry. They briefly reunite at the end of season 7, before Cheryl is once again driven away by Larry's obsession over minor details, in particular, a stain left by Cheryl's coffee cup on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' table. They finalize their divorce at the start of season 8. In season 9, Cheryl begins dating Larry's friend Ted Danson. Prior to this, she and Ted shared a close, platonic friendship, of which Larry was always suspicious.
* Susie Essman as Susie Greene (season 8–present; recurring seasons 1–7), Jeff's shrill and overbearing wife, known for her explosive temper and her filthy mouth. Her interactions with Larry often begin friendly and quickly degrade into vicious arguments that occasionally border on physical violence. Shrewd and perpetually suspicious of both Jeff and Larry, Susie is often the first to uncover Larry and Jeff's schemes and wrongdoings and will often rebuke them with profanity-laced tirades. Susie and Jeff have an "on-again, off-again" relationship. She often uses Larry as a scapegoat for her marital problems. She is known to refer to Larry as "Larry Fucking David", "Bald Asshole", and "Four-Eyed Fuck," and when he crosses her, she is known to respond "Fuck you, Larry David!" Her most common epithet for her husband is "You fat piece of shit!" She often defends traditional moral standards, such as the sanctity of marital vows and fealty to hearth and home, at times against her husband, at others against Larry, and usually against both.
* J. B. Smoove as Leon Black (season 9–present; recurring seasons 6–8), Larry's friend, and later, roommate ( casita). He is the brother of Loretta Black, a single mother whose New Orleans