“Curb Your Enthusiasm” — The Anonymous Donor
The big complaint made about recent seasons of Curb is that the connections have seemed too forced and maybe a little lazy. So when you get an episode as sharp as Sunday’s, we’re all reminded why we started watching this series in the first place. More after the jump…
This isn’t to say you can’t find humor in an episode that has an especially obvious trajectory, but there is something genuinely rewarding when the pieces come together before you realize what is happening. I’m thinking specifically of the scene where Susie comes over to the David’s house to accuse Larry of “leaving his mark” on Sammie’s teddy bear. The connection between the bear and Cheryl’s frequent desire to tell people the “anonymous donor” was Ted Danson was almost serendipitous in its execution.
The other arcs, like the Yankees jersey, the rule of dry-cleaning, the wing at the NRDC, hell, even Barbara Boxer were good and certainly above par, but didn’t even come close to the scene with Suzie and the teddy bear. It also didn’t hurt to have Leon in these scenes. Leon is great. He and Larry’s relationship has a lot of “Crazy Eyez Killa” in it, and that’s OK with me. Their give and take is pretty terrific — not to mention the odd visual of the two of them sitting on a couch, both wearing Joe Pepitone jerseys playing War.
This is also as good a time as any to again sing the praises of Ted Danson. I’ve always liked him on Curb, but now that he’s on my television twice a week (both here and on Damages) it shows just how great of a television presence he can be. He’s one of those actors that never really made it at the multiplex (I guess with the exception of “3 Men and a Baby”…?) but who has had a long television career that, amazingly, has gone mostly unnoticed (Becker was on for SIX years!). Not anymore. This is the summer of Danson.
