This started out as an e-mail to Bill, but by the time I was three paragraphs into it, I figured “eh, screw it that’s a blog post!”
Did you turn your HBO back on for Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm? I know you had talked about it. If so, are you caught up on Curb? If not, stop reading!
I thought Curb had a particularly great season and there was only one episode I didn’t care much for. I absolutely loved how Curb handled the faux Seinfeld reunion. With all the press coverage of the Seinfeld theme heading into the season I was bracing for the worst. But it was awesome.
It was great to see the actors in character again, though sadly, only one brief moment with Newman, but one “Hello, Newman” and “Hello, Jerry” with stank eye is probably really all that was necessary.
It was great just to see the diner and apartment sets again. But Larry briefly playing George (aka himself) as played by Jason Alexander was hysterical.
It was also nice that the reunion show premise wasn’t a special show (as the actual finale was) but rather a regular episode of Seinfeld that just gets you caught up. Between the last two Curb episodes it was like getting 5-10 minutes of a real (and new) Seinfeld episode. It makes me wish they’d have shot a full 20 minutes of show and packaged it up and sold it, not as a reunion show, or a better finale, but just as one “special” new episode of Seinfeld.
Judging from the brief minutes of show we got to see, it seems to me that they still have their creative chops, at least when they have a mind to do so. George getting rich on the iToilet iPhone application only to invest all his money with Bernie Madoff. Classic! But it’s hard to say just how much of my enjoyment was due to the Seinfeld scenes. The Curb portion of the show was also good, making a classic Seinfeld catchphrase out of “Having said that” and making a mockery of “respecting the wood” was very meta. I also liked “Mocha Joe” as Larry’s nemesis and “that’s not a book, it’s a pamphlet!” But between the Curb pieces and the Seinfeld pieces I felt like I got one last very, very good episode of Seinfeld.
If they would’ve shot a full episode of Seinfeld, I’m curious how much they could charge for it. And that assumes there aren’t a lot of legal entanglements with existing licensing and actor contracts that would preclude it.
I’m even more curious about what the ratings would be for the first airing of that episode.
the finale was great yesturday and rob what was the episode that u didn’t care for
I think it was like the fourth episode of the season, its always possible there were extenuating circumstances that didn’t have anything to do with the show itself…
Can you find out what the ratings were for the last 2 episodes of curbed??
First airing (9:02p) of last week’s Curb averaged 1.257 million viewers. I expect we will see last night’s numbers sometime today.
$3,299,999.
Terrific show — they’ve all still got ‘it’ — I could go for more, more, more.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. They could have easily produced an entire 23 minute episode, used it for Curb and then sold it to NBC. Who knows, maybe it will be an extra on the DVD.
Do we know for sure that they didn’t shoot a full episode and kept it under wraps for a surprise? It would be a great Christmas present!
I loved the finale of Season 4 when Larry was in The Producers and we basically got a show of The Producers in the episode that was great! I was hoping the Seinfeld reunion would be much similar.
I’m a MASSIVE Curb Fan and a MASSIVE Seinfeld fan so I would be very happy if they did shoot a full episode and prehaps released it as a special feature on the Seventh Season DVD set.
I would pay nothing – in fact if you expect me to watch it *I* want to be paid.
The only stinker this year was the one with the assistant who wore the short tops and had her fat showing. That was maybe the worst episode of Curb ever. The entire rest of this season was all time great, so I’m happy to give them one missed note.
I hope Larry brings it back for another year, he’s still producing genius. I’m happy to get 10 episodes every 2 years or so, or however long he wants to take to figure them out.
I know NBC is desperate, but what good would one half hour television do for them? Even if it drew the biggest rating in history, which it wouldn’t, but even if it did, so what? Is 8 minutes of ad time really going to be a big deal for them? No repeat value these days, really, and you can’t use it to launch another show or anything, because one night of lead in doesn’t really do much for anyone–not that lead-ins really matter a great deal anymore.
I don’t know, Bob. Kind of a weird question, but I think they would just pay whatever the going rate is for a half hour of television that would produce some big ratings, and nothing more. Maybe 3-4 million, I guess. Tops.
Heck, for that matter, how big would the rating really be? Long time since Seinfeld. Could it even draw the double digit demo it would need to be worth that dollar figure?
Does NBC have the Superbowl this year? They could pair it with that and maybe convince advertisers that the ads would be worth almost as much.
How much would it cost for NBC to rerun Friends Seinfeld and Fraiser reruns on Thursdays again? Hell I’m sure they’d all get more than 5m viewers.
CBS has the Super Bowl this year.
I don’t know if existing syndication arrangements would preclude a broadcast network from licensing repeats to air in primetime, but it will never happen unless NBC decides to become a “programming service” or whatever MNT is now dubbed.
I’m not as sure as you are the reruns would average more than 5 million – though I am not sure they wouldn’t!
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/18/syndicated-ratings-top-25-two-and-a-half-men-judge-judy-and-oprah/33892
Does anyone know if that was Curb’s SERIES finale? I know David says every year that he isn’t coming back, but ending with the Seinfeld reunion, as much as I hate to say it, is a perfect time and way to end this series.
Big Boss, HBO will let David continue as long as he wants to. I heard that he wants to do another season, but who knows if he still does.
Funny. Funny. Funny.
The whole season of Curb!! Starting with Larry breaking up with his girlfriend because her cancer treatments intefere with his gof game! Cringeworthy! In typical Larry David form. The ‘Short Top’ episode was fine, despite the above post. The murder of the swan in the country club was hysterical. And of course, Seinfeld. We got another (mini) Seinfeld episode. And it was great. Add Mocha Joe to the long list of Seinfeld characters. Uh, Curb characters. Uh, same thing.
I loved the finale and think that it would be a perfect way to end the SERIES of Curb.
Having said that, I’d love to see another season.
I read somewhere about this that they brought back a lot of the behind the scenes people from Seinfeld to work on this. When they had the round table read of the script, a lot of the original writers were at the table and i think all the set/prop people around the studio were from the original series. They made it a ‘true reunion’. Whoever the guy was helping Jerry & Larry cast the part of George’s Ex was probably their original casting guy.
Hope we get another season of Curb in 2 years.
Absolute perfection! It really should end this way — the SEINFELD REUNION, Larry getting Cheryl back. I don’t want to be selfish — and am really unsure how they could top it.
I think the Seinfeld actors were a lot more entertaining when they played themselves and that’s what made the episode so great; and I would like to see them appear in future episodes of Curb as a opposed to a full reunion episode which I think would fail to meet expectations.
Jeff/others. My post was mostly a jokey/slow-news Monday thing. I think real-life Larry really does abhor the idea of reunion shows. I’m sure even Larry David has a price where he might change his mind, but since he’s Larry David, that price is very, very, very high and probably a lot higher than NBC or anyone else would be willing to pay.
Cable Ratings: ‘Curb’ Finale Draws In 1.3 Million
HBO comedy posts best ratings in five seasons
By Stuart Levine – Daily Variety — Broadcasting & Cable, 11/24/2009 2:13:22 PM
Sunday’s finale of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” drew 1.3 million viewers, the most-watched season-ender of “Curb” in five seasons.
Last season’s final “Curb” telecast drew slightly more than 1 million viewers.
Combined with a repeat showing later Sunday, “Curb” — in which the “Seinfeld” gang gathered to put the final touches on their reunion — was seen by more than 2 million.