March 28, 2024 • 42 mins
Jeff and Susie discuss *Affirmative Action* from season 1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You can watch the original episode we'll be discussing in
every other episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, including the
new and final season, on Max. You can also watch
the video version of the History of curbyr Enthusiasm podcast
on Max and YouTube as well. Links available in the
episode description. So here we are. I'm Stusisman, Who are you.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm Jeff Garland, one of America's top teens.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And what are we doing.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We're making Ambrosia. That'll come up next to you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Come up.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We're doing the History of Curby Your Enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And we're doing season one, episode nine, Affirmative Action.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yes, it's really funny. Well, like, this is really funny
and interesting.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Very interesting in so many levels.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You know, by the way I talked earlier a bunch
of episodes back that the only person that Larry compared
to was a guy named Nat and net Hike, and
we said, Dispilko car fifty four? Are you? And mind you?
These are nineteen fifties, early sixties shows, so I expect
most of you have never seen them, but if you
find them, please you'll be very happy. Anyhow, ned Hiken
(01:14):
is like it goes all over the place, and then
you don't know where it's going to end, and this
one went was one of those.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, yeah, I love that. It opens up with Larry
on the phone with Richard Lewis, and the first line
is did I do something?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well? By the way, when my wife, my ex wife,
my girlfriend, or anyone says my name, I go, what
did I do? I think it's a Jewish I think
it's a Jewish men's thing. The what did I do?
I do?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
What?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I was taken aback by and I didn't notice them
we're doing I'm focusing on the bigger picture. Larry does
really good phone work. He does it's not easy to
act like you're in a conversation. And that's a believable conversation. Yeah.
And one of my pet peeves. And I hate the
term pet peeves, so that should be a pet beeve?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Is it? Is? It also a fun fact?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Jeff uh No, that's an interesting fact, I think. But also,
now here's a fun fact. I will watch a show
and know how matter how I am involved in it.
When two characters are drinking coffee, if they do bad
coffee work, I'm out the minute I know there's nothing
in their cup and they're faking coffee. I leave. That's
(02:22):
I swear to God.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I think that's the nature of being in the business.
I think most people don't notice those things. A lot
of continuity stuff that people don't even notice.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Curb your enthusiasm. Has there ever been a time where
there hasn't been water or something else in your glass? Always? Yeah,
we never have to mind it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
No, that's a good prop person. That's a great prop person.
You know, there are so many people that go into
doing their job to make a show, to make a movie.
There's hundreds of people on a crew, and they are
all completely focused on what they do.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, that being said, if an actor is so focused
on what they do, why did I not say can
I have some water in my cup? Or be as
humble to say I'm not good at coffee drinking on
I need water for girth, You need girth, All right,
let's move.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
But it is interesting to me when you're on a set.
You know, Thomas, our makeup artist, all he's looking at
it is my makeup wardrobe. All they're looking at is
my wardrobe. Everybody has a very specific job.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I very much understand the two people of the three
people on a set that should be noticing everything, or
the actor because if you're so self involved, you're not
going to be present in the scene. The director obviously,
and any good.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Producer and the script person.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well script he pays attention to what's being said or
on our show, it's a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And if not just what's being said, but also am
I holding my arm like this in the last scene?
Or is it continuity right, which we have never been
great at on Curb And I think it's hard for
us because we improvise.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I told you that in the words of I believe
Francis Ford Coppola. I'm not sure if it's him. Continuity
is for pussy's. So if you're noticing mistakes, we're not
doing a good job. But you know, if you're noticing continuity,
whatever you're watching, isn't that good?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, unless it's egregious, obviously. So we start out with
Larry's on the phone with Lewis, did I do something?
And Lewis wants to meet him in person, doesn't want
to talk about it on the phone. Lewis has an
issue and wants to meet Larry in person, and Larry's
why do we have to meet in person? But they do,
and then Cheryl gives Larry a prescription. Cheryl's scratchy, scratchy, scratchy.
(04:35):
She has dermatitis, and she's scratching the entire episode, and
she has a contact dermatitis, and she gives Larry a
prescription to fill for her when he goes to meet Lewis.
You know, nothing good is going to come of him
having a prescription.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Obviously, by the way, little do we know of what
that actually means.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
No, that's the beauty of it.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
But also Cheryl, she says, will you pick me up
and we'll go to the restaurant? He says, can't you
meet me there? I need you to meet me there.
And it's so from two standpoints. One is from Larry's
point of view, the Larry the character, which, by the way,
at the end credits, I'll say this now so I
don't forget it, says Larry David as himself, which is
(05:16):
completely wrong. It's a fictional life, Larry David. And yeah,
and we took it out. I'll see if we took
it out the second season, but I don't think it
lasted past the first season. But anyhow, he asked her
to take a cab, have the housekeeper driver, what have you? Well,
by the way, I want to bring that up later. Anyhow,
she is frustrated with him because he gives her excuse
(05:38):
it's too far to come back. Blood h blah, and
she says, okay. Now, I don't know a woman that
I've ever been with that would be okay with that.
Cheryl is a freak of nature. And by the way,
I believe her saying okay because that's her character. And
also she's not Jewish, so I believe that she should.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Be saying about Jewish women.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Jeff, I'm saying that a lot of men don't marry
Jewish women. Let's leave it at that. But I happily
married a Jewish woman and my girlfriend's Jewish, and I
am in a great deal of pain at all times.
I'm not saying it's due to them. I know it's
not due to them.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I'm by I know I have lots of it's due
to them. It's not a fact.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Oh do you all right? And the fact that you're
one of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You know, it's so funny.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
We were my best friend that I can count on,
and you're a Jewish woman, but you're different and when
you give me shit, I know it's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
We're in the middle of shooting right now, season twelve,
and we were shooting with Cheryl the other day and
there was a scene where she was Larry was doing
something and she was just like okay, okay. And when
she came off the set, same set, I said to her, Shoe,
how many times have you said that responding to Larry,
like okay, okay? That exact thing that she does, She's
(06:51):
been doing it since season one.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
She certainly has.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Nothing's changed. But there's a lot of things in all
of these episodes that that date that date us, right,
you know, in terms of like the episode porn O'Gill,
no nav system this one, you know, no uber. There's
a lot of things like that. This is two thousand
that we shot this. So she gives him the script.
She's going to meet him at the restaurant at six o'clock,
and Larry goes to meet Lewis in Santa Monica. Okay,
(07:17):
were you struck by Lewis's outfit? He's got the big
pantted shoulders in his jacket, he's got the Hendrix tie.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Hold on, I agree with you. One hundred percent. But
I wasn't struck by it because I remember it so vividly.
We were on Santa Monica Beach on the upper part
where you walk. Yeah, and that I will say, in
terms of dated it looked normal to me, although that
look has never looked normal to me. I'm more of
a blue jeans and T shirt guy because it never
(07:45):
goes out of style, or a white cotton button down
shirt with jeans. You know what.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
He had, the big patted shoulders jack.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
See, that's what the style was then, and it was
absurd it was.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
And the Hendrix tie, which is his thing.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, he probably owned that tie.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Probably, And then Lewis has something to tell Larry and
he's telling it to him because his shrink told him
to something bothering Lewis and.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Normal that your therapist would say, maybe you want to
express that.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And what was bothering him is that Larry never calls him.
You never call me, Okay, you never call me.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
He's the initiator, is what he said. Right. Yes, so
I have some friends that I know I'm also the
initiator constantly. I love all these people. I don't believe
I have resentments from any of them. Because they're all
crazy successful and crazy busy. And by the way, they're
great responders. But one's a terrible responder. But the ones
(08:45):
I contact mostly who live here in LA. The one
in New York is a bad responder, but the two
in LA great responders. So the fact that they respond
with positivity and love, I'm okay with it. But I'm
always thinking, initiator. So I didn't remember remember this until
I saw it and I thought, wow, Man, if Larry
doesn't cover everything of the human condition, I don't know
(09:07):
who does. I mean, that is just I loved it. Initiator.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, I agree, But everything's in negotiation in life, you know,
in Larry's life, in all of our lives, whether it's
who calls who, who wants to have sex, everything, Larry.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I think it's more of a reactive interaction, meaning he
only initiates because he's stuck to initiate, you know, he
I guarantee Larry David has never thought with a friend
of his. Why am I always initiating?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, or maybe it happened once and he noticed it
and wrote it down, you know, But he's a reactor,
and he's put in situations because he I don't remember.
I was going to say, okay, all.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Right, Well anyway, so Lewis confronts him and he says,
you never call me, and he says it's Sophia, isn't it,
because ld is not comfortable if Sophia picks up the phone.
Of course, because they had that big fight back in
episode one in the pants tent, they had a big
fight in episode one. Lewis is still seeing her, which
is amazing after all these episodes. And they decide that
(10:13):
Larry and Cheryl that Larry invites them to meet for dinner.
He says they can't they have something. They decide they're
going to stop there for dessert after dinner at Byzantine.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I always as I always do this, I want to
go back to the initiating thing. And Larry explains it
to your girlfriend. You know that the Richard character, not
the Richard I know in real life, but the Richard character.
Anytime Larry and he would have plans for lunch, he
probably would have wanted to bring Sophia.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
So Larry, they make a plan to come over for
dessert and then a man jogs by and Lewis screams out, hey,
justin it's his friend Justin Graham's or something like that,
and he happens to be African American, and Lewis introduces
him to Larry as his dermatologist, and Larry says, doctor
Grants and my friend Larry David really, oh yeah, look
(11:04):
fifteen years really, you.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Know with the whole affirmative action thing. I'm sorry, I mean,
which is a joke that I still don't get.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, you know, it's a tough joke. It's a tough joke.
I think what he meant.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Well, maybe that was I'm sure that was done purposely.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, it was a bad joke. I think what he
was saying was, you would go to this guy knowing
that he only got into medical school because of a phone.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's the implications. Boy, is that a bad joke?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it's a bad, bad joke. And it had to
be a bad joke because of course the dermatologist justin
takes offense to it, as he should.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Right, because it's who would understand the joke like that,
Because if I'd say, I'm standing next to him, whether
in real in real life, Larry would never do something
like that, but in character, I would say to him
over and over, why would you say that, Why would
you say that? Yeah, that's insane. But after the.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Guy left, Yes, and Larry's just I was just trying
to be effable. I was just trying to be effable,
and he uses that word several times. My question that
I have is could we do this episode today?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Most definitely, I think today it has more resonance than
it did then. Oh my god, yes you could. Well,
we'll get to it, but I think without a doubt
you could because it's about him being well meaning but
ignorant in the ways of that.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And then he says one of my favorite lines, I
tend to say stupid things to black people. Larry says
that to Lewis, I tend to say stupid things to
black people, and it happens to be true. There are
many incidents coming up in many other seasons where he
tends to say stupid things to black people.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, we'll think about the our pilot Slash special. Early on,
a black guy walks by any nods and he says,
I tend to nod at black people. Black people rather
not that a black person would notice just some guy nodding.
Maybe he knows him, maybe he doesn't. But I think
the line of that scene is you sounded like Pap
you Can.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's Jim Partner.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I never noticed it when we did it, and I
thought that is so classic Richard Lewis.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It's such a Lewis line, it's so succinct. And Brens
he comes up with things like that all the time.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
For those of you listening, Pap you Can and today
could be comparable to Ted Cruz or someone along those lines.
You sound like Ted Cruz is Jim Partner, although it's
not as funny with Ted Cruz, even though you got
the k sound Pap you Can and it was perfect.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Or Sean Hannity, somebody.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sean Hannity, and I don't even want to mention the
other guy.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, we won't even mention the dis.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
We'll be right back. Stay tuned, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Then they're in the restaurant and Cheryl's scratching, scratching, scratching,
and obviously he didn't fill her script. We knew after
he offended the dermatologist. We knew that prescription was never
going to get filled. And again he's defending himself with saying,
I was trying to to be affable, trying to be
a fault.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
But it was also, let's be honest here, his wife
has a medical condition, and he's too self involved to
even notice, you know, like the real Larry David, unless
unless there's something extraw, and he would not forget. He
would be thoughtful. If his wife said please do this
prescription for me, he might be really, you can't get
(14:32):
anyone else to do it. But nonetheless, if he has
the task, he would totally.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
But then there's no story, so he doesn't know you.
And they're at the restaurant. There's a long wait for
the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Wait, wait again, I have to go back, go, go.
What happens again? Here Cheryl's understanding.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, but she's getting pissed off, Jeff, you see in
her face she's getting really annoyed us.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But she never explodes. But I'm saying, she's like, let's
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Oh, but of course, you know what he wrote that
character to be the fantasy wife. That would be understanding.
Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
He wrote my character to be the shrew.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
No, he gave you a premise for your character, because
you came up with your character, but the premise was
your behavior. But you came up with it. Same with Cheryl.
This show, everybody came with their own characters. Larry gave
everybody the premise to run with it. Now, if he
didn't like what you were doing, that's.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Totally still be here in season twelve.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, right, if he didn't, but he obviously you kill
him where Cheryl I think, just played it true to herself.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
But that's part of why she got the part, because
she had that steadiness.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
No, actually it's the opposite why she got the part,
because I was in the casting session when she came in.
She was the only one, only one that didn't count
cow to Larry.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
She called him out on his shitef she does call
him on a ship.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But I know that, I know she's even. We didn't
know that yet.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It wasn't like, oh, she's even. She was obviously really great.
You could see it that there was something going on
here that being said, everyone else sort of played up
to Larry, had fun with Larry and all the things
Larry did. There was something about eating a bowl of
cereal for the scenario. I don't remember what it was,
(16:29):
but she really, like really gave it right back to
Larry everything he said, and he would laugh constantly boom.
When she left the room, it was evident you know
she was going to get the part. I don't remember
if he said. I think she was the quickest person
he ever cast. And know that before she came in
we looked at fifteen to twenty actresses improvisers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So there's a forty five minute wait for a seat
at the restaurant and LD Larry decides he's going to
shmo guy and he's the most awkward sch mirror I've
ever He folds up a twenty dollars and.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
By the way, that is real life. I can't By
the way, I can't even imagine him walking up, I know,
and handing somebody money.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That's follows to a very small little thing and then
just kind of shoves it across the matrix D podium
and they get it low and behold it works, and
they get a table and Larry says to share ol,
women are attracted to criminals. Larry'ses a guy in a
wheelchair and says, how can a handicapped person use a
non motorized wheelchair? It was just like this throwaway thing.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, you know what, okay, but I have a theory
about it. Tell me that he's seen that situation a
dozen times before easy in his life, and he's already
thought absolutely because he always pictures himself in the situation.
That's where he's very empathetic. What would I do, which
is again narcissistic, but nonetheless what would is that narcissistic?
(17:57):
I don't know. Only a therapist could tell me, But
the point being is that he has probably seen that
a dozen times and the opportunity to put that in
the show is delightful. Right.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
That's that was my take as well. He sees that
Ted Harbert, who's an ABC executive, sitting over, and this
was the part that just killed me. Larry needs to
go to the bathroom, but he doesn't want to run
into Ted Harbor because he's a boring guy and he's
going to get stuck in a conversation. So he leaves
the restaurant, goes two doors down to use a bathroom
(18:27):
in another restaurant, in a Mexican restaurant down the block.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Oh, you know what, I think, most people, When I
say most people, I mean ninety nine percent of other
people would never avoid going to the bathroom because somebody
has is full of small talk as a matter of fact,
my thing so I wouldn't be stopped, would be to
go to tell him when I see him, I'll be
right back and use the restroom, come back and listen
to whatever the bullshit is and sit down. Larry David
(18:52):
is one of the few people to avoid that situation.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
The way out of me this way. You know, there's
an art extricating your off from a conversation. My husband
does not have this ability. I am very good at it.
My husband has to stop and talk to the doorman.
He feels obligated in that way that Larry would. I'm
just like hi, and I keep walking, polite, nice, but
just extricate yourself. And there's nothing wrong with saying sorry,
(19:17):
I can't talk right now. I'm in the middle of
my having dinner with my wife.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Well, your husband is a true men.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She love that, as is Larry. But he has to
go two doors down to the bathroom. So he goes
to the Mexican restaurant and there's a woman in the
hallway when he comes out of the bathroom again, an
African American woman who was up for a job on
Sour Grapes as a script supervisor. And she didn't get it,
and she really berates Larry and calls him a racist
(19:44):
and all kinds of other things, and you know, goes
on and on about Seinfeld not having one black girlfriend
and there was not one black person on the show,
all of which is true, and Larry's very aware of that,
and she's accusing him of racism, and he's quite taken aback,
and he goes back back to the other restaurant two
doors down and he sits down and who walks over
Ted Harbert and starts talking boring conversation about hold on,
(20:07):
hold on.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Hold on, hold on, hold on, you have to wait on.
The woman. She was magnificent, terrific, the woman who was
a line producer. And she said one thing that always
made Larry laugh. At the end of her krang karrange,
she said, mister Larry David, good night, do whatever. But
(20:29):
when she said mister Larry David, not only did Larry laugh,
but he repeated that to himself all the rest of
the time we're filming. He would look at me and go,
mister Larry David because it struck him as so funny.
But she was amazing. And by the way, there are
those situations especially situations, especially now, where you don't think
(20:51):
of yourself as racist and you have a good heart
and you're unintentionally being racist, or you're insensitive to what's
going on in the world. World. And what he did
was he did a form of nepotism. He wasn't related
to this man. But if he didn't hire the man
for the line, producer, Cheryl, I'm not going to say
it would have been mad at him, but you would.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Well yeah, let me just say that I didn't mention
that the guy Barry who got the job was a
friend of Cheryl's.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yes, yeah, But whenever you do nepotism, there's either resentment
from whoever they're working with. Oh I know how you
got this job, or I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So they go back and he gets stuck in a
boring conversation with Ted Harbert, and then they decide to
go to the drug store to get the Wait.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Wait, wait, wait, wait, I apologize for I don't care
about to run the point. Okay. The beautiful thing is
he went to the other.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Rest but didn't get stuck to avoid Ted Harbert.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
He had a situation at the restaurant that was a
million times worse than anything that could have happened with
Ted Harbert and lo and behold, Ted Harbert walks up
to the tableau, so.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Larry can't win the character.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
When it rains, it pours and yes, and by the way,
Ton Harbert did a great job. He's a real guy. Yeah,
and he did a great job. We didn't let it
go on too long because he asked him about the
golf game, which was incredibly boring and whatever, so we
faded out, knowing.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Folk he was aggressively boring. Yes, and they're in the
car and they're on their way to go to the
pharmacy to get the prescription filled. Yes, Larry supposedly still
has the prescription and he goes into this whole thing
in the car. Why don't we just call your doctor
because he can't call my doctor on the weekends. And
(22:36):
let it's a life threatening emergency.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, if you call his machine, it'll tell you can't
page him.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's what you called up and that's what it said.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
That is obscene, you know, that can't disturb the doctor
on the weekend. Don't call the doctor, Sappler on the
weekend unless it's life threatening. Norman, there's somebody calling.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
We're in the middle of dinner. Norman, this better be
life threatening, Norman.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
I ought going to leave this house. I beg you, Norman,
unless they.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Were burned in a fire.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I don't want you getting up from your chair.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You understand, Norman.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Ah, but that whole thing cracked me up. Norman imitating
the wife. You mean you can't look at the phone.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Norman, yeah, doing the wife. Don't call the doctor over
the weekend. And by the way, the thing that he
closed with, no, unless somebody's on surviving from being on fire,
don't call the doctor an emergency. Really funny.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
They get to the pharmacy, he can't find it.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
And by the way, that's comedian thinking if I will,
if I may, and you can will just Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Larry can't find the prescription at the pharmacy. So yes,
because he pulls out of his pocket a twenty all
folded up into a little, tiny little square. He realizes
he gave the matre D the prescription and the twenty
dollars bill. So they have to go back to the restaurant.
Now it's always this, it's always going back, and you know,
(24:07):
and the maitre D said he threw it was very nonplused,
and he threw the prescription in the garbage, and then
they have to go back into the kitchen and go
through the filthy, disgusting garbage and there's no prescription. What
are they going to do? So then I forgot which one. Oh, oh, Cheryl,
I think comes up with what about Richard's friends the dermatologist?
(24:27):
And they're on their way to Richard's house anyway, maybe
the guy that Larry completely offended. They now have to
ask for a prescription because Cheryl's really really uncomfortable. So
they go to Richard's house and Sofia's on the phone,
not a cell phone, a regular phone again it's the
year two thousand, a regular phone, and Lewis fights with
(24:49):
Sophia to get off the phone because they need to
use the phone to call the doctor to get the prescription,
and then she hangs up, very upset because she was
on the phone with her agent. And Sophia and Larry
go through a pantomime fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,
giving each other the finger and really hating each other.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Okay, before we get to that, a couple of things.
When they're at the door and Richard lets them in,
she's in the background on the phone and they say
we need to talk about there is a problem, like
don't hug me, don't shake cheryld, don't hit him hand
and Richard as he's walking away, don't worry. Well, we'll
talk it out.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
We'll talk it out, which is sopized. And then he
gets into a fight. He gets into a big fight
with his girlfriend because.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
It's important, they explain to Richard and he knows it's important,
and she does and she's on the phone we find
out with her agent. But Richard at this moment has
dived in to help his friend. He's being the great
friend that he isn't on camera and off and he
does it. So I want to establish that as you
continue what you say.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, So and then you know they do this big
fuck you fest Larry and Sophia, which is hilarious, right,
and then he calls the doctor and the doctor said,
if I can't just do it over the phone, if
they want a prescription, they have to come over to
my house. This is where they use the nave. Jeff,
I see in my notes where Larry's figures out the navigation.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Wait, here's here's the reason. Hold on. This is where
I set up the setup because what I want to
say is Richard. You see, Larry does this to other
people who he doesn't realize the damage that might happen
to the other person. So Richard gets into a fight
and his girlfriend Italian. See I'm always throwing in who
(26:34):
gets angry in terms of real anger Italians, Jews, etc.
By the way, there are exceptions, all right. Nonetheless, his
Italian girlfriend is furious at him for doing this. And
so Richard had good intentions and what he did was
help his friend. But the the detriment of his relationship,
which you know at some point will come up with Larry,
(26:55):
although not in necessarily.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Because always in this show, no good deed goes unpunished.
That's just the it is.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
And Nod doesn't punish whether it's Larry or other people.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
And so now they're using the navigation to get to
the doctor's office, and Larry says, yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Hear the navigation system. I figured it out. It's working.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's telling us exactly how to go to the doctor's house.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Oh, I can't wait to call my parents.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
They're gonna be so proud of me.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Can I tell my father I figured out that navigation system?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
He's gonna flip his wig and he's.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Got one, Joe. Can you tell me he's gonna be
very proud of Larry figuring out the navigation system. Daddy,
I'm not so.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Stupid, which I found interesting.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Richard also said in the set up a great joke
that I'm gonna point out that he was talking about
the way Larry behaved with his friend, and he said, the.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Only guy I could think of his your friend from
dermatologist as a dermatologist.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Maybe if you could just call him and he could
call in a prescription.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And wow, I mean you can imagine.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
I mean, really you were like, you know, James Olray today,
I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I'll do it.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Just tell him, I'll apologize. What do you James? Or
he did James Olray reference in a casual way with
something else, playing cards with James Ray whatever. And James
o'ray is the man who killed Mark.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
He's very he's very big on the references Lewis and
very funny.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
By the way, as a fan, I lived for them.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Stay tuned. Okay, we're back.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So now they get to the doctor's house and.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
No, no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, you're skipping
the other thing the navigation just mentioned. But what's amazing
about that is it's such a big deal. And I guarantee,
and I'm pretty sure that I experienced with this with Larry.
He did not know how to use the navigation, and
to be honest, most people didn't. It was very confusing.
And so you look back at those moments and now
(29:14):
navigation is like breathing. Everybody can navigate. Sometimes it's hard
to do the voice version of navigation. It doesn't quite work.
But it's like I remember Uber. A friend of mine
told me very early on. He goes, I'm gonna turn
you on to something. Pick up this app and Uber,
And at that point Uber, nobody had a clue what
(29:36):
Uber was. And he goes, you can't tell anyone, it's
our secret. Well, lo and behold, it's everybody's secret now.
But I remember doing Uber references on stage to silence
no reason.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
It's fascinating to watch these shows from two thousand and
see the phone attached to the wall and see that
not knowing how to use the nap and no cell phones,
because it all feels very contemporary to me, except for
these little pieces you know, the whole show feels very relevant, except.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Like I said, you said, can we do the show today?
And yes, you know we have to cut the navigation
and maybe a few more things, but nothing about race.
That's all beautiful. So anytime there's white ignorance and has
pointed out comedically and with anger, always funny.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So Larry goes to the doctor's house and he apologizes
and they were like, what did you say? What did
you say? He doesn't want to say, what is it?
Eight ten people sitting around?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
And Becca asked me, is the conversation with all the guests?
Was all of that improvised? I assume?
Speaker 2 (30:35):
So it was completely improvised? Yeah, I mean there was
intention there mat Larry. You know, let Larry know and Larry,
but also just when you see the group, the wife
is actually giving them kind of a hard time. Well
the best laid plans blah blahlah blah. So she's not
making it easy and you can tell she's irritated. Larry
(30:56):
walks into a room with a bunch of black people
having some sort of dinner party or meeting. He doesn't
know what, but he knows this is going to be
crazy awkward, Okay, keep going.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
So he finally does tell them what the joke is,
and they written, hold.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Ond on here. He tells them, after a lot.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Of a lot of pleading, tell us a.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Joe, no, no, no, but we showed on camera a
lot of pleading and all of it was organic and real,
and go ahead.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, and he sees before he tells the story, tries
to butter them up by this guy's in very good
shape about the dermatologist, and it talks about trying to
be too affable, and he tells them the whole story,
and they reprimand but they're very forgiving of him. I
think everybody's very accepting and forgiving, and you learned a lesson,
and all very forgiving and understand that he's trying to
be too affable. And then who walks in?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
But wait, wait, wait here. At this point again, I said,
I associated with so much that nothing can ever come of.
It was the doctor that saved Larry. Larry says the joke,
which is done subtle and bullshit, and their reaction is
very negative to it until the doctor saves him.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So now they all forgive him, and they, you know, reluctantly.
But I thought they were quite forgiving, and it was
kind of a nice scene, and everybody's friends, fans, friends,
until he's about to leave. The doctor examines Sheryl. He
gives a prescription, calls it a prescription. That's another thing
that beca pointed out that was so different that no
doctors hand you a prescription anymore. It's all done digitally.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
You go to the oh no no, no, no no,
but but hold on in this circumstance because it wouldn't
be ethical, and he's there with him. Doctors do hand you,
They usually do it electronic or call it in you
or call it in now. I know that.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
My point is it was just another example of how
times have changed. Is what that was then? And then
what happens then The woman who confronted him in the
bathroom just two hours earlier, let's say, saying calling him
a racist, that he didn't hire her as a script
producer or a line producer, I forget which one it was,
(33:04):
enters the room and starts railing against him that he's
a racist.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
If I may, yes, if I may. I gave her
her opening line, which she had made up. I said,
when you walk out there, the first thing you're gonna
say when you see him, is mister Larry David.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Larry, mister Larry, and I'm on a roll.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Yeah, And that's how she opened and she walked out,
which again got Larry. He burst out laughing. We had
to reset and reset. He couldn't handle himself after mister
Larry David. But she does often not with mister Larry David.
There's things that completely tickle him.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
He ruins runs all bestakes.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
By the way, can I say something to you? He
really does, not your best takes because you're always great,
but he does. If you liked your take, you're fucked.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Jimsey giggles, and she starts calling him as racist, racist, ranting, ranting,
ranting about why he's a racist, and of course they
all turn on him, and he doesn't give her well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
By the way, what she's saying, whether Larry, that's called
the best intentions, You're screwed because everything she's saying is
true or can appear to be true.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
She says, mister Larry David, the man who refused to
hire a sister because he's a racist, and then honor
on and so Cheryl does not get the prescription. That's
the whole point is that Cheryl does not get the prescription.
Then they're in the car again and Larry is telling
she's scratching, scratching, you got to call the doctor. Of course,
she can't call the doctor because it's not life threatening.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
To go back, I'm always going back, hold on, hold on,
I'm always going to go back. The end of that scene,
after she gives her speech she said, she ends it
with what she did and the other one, except she
says good evening.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Good evening.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
That was her last line, which I thought was beautiful.
She said all these angry things, then she ended up with.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Goody, very polite.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Now Cheryl can't call the doctor because it's not a
medical emergency. It's not a life threatening emergency. And Larry
finally convinces her to call the doctor, and she calls
the doctor's pager and then their home.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
By the way, I want to add here, still she's
not losing her shit with Larry. Yet he has fucked
it up on every occasion, and she's understanding. She's put on,
but she's understanding, even though we can see she's upset,
but she lets it go. In the real logical Larry
David way, the way he'd want.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
This is who she chose to marry, and this is
what you get.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
By the way, you're right, And later on chooses divorce.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And then they're home staring at the phone waiting for
the doctor to call, and there's the Vertigo music. It's suspense.
It's the Vertigo music from the Hitchcock movie Vertigo.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Did they use Bernard Hermann or did they do like
a similar topably similar?
Speaker 1 (35:57):
But it was very similar. It was very similar, so close.
Very Ramon, by the way, for those of you who
don't know, is one of the greatest composers for film ever,
and he did a lot of Hitchcock stuff, and it
was that didn't give her that that suspenseful And the
phone rings and she hangs it up and you know,
it's a life threatening emergency. She could scratch yourself to death.
(36:18):
And finally the doctor calls and says something about it's
not a life threatening emergency, of course, because he's being
a bit of a doctor dick, but he does call
in the prescription.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Well, by the way, I got to say in all
sincerity that I personally know I always feel bad about
calling a doctor, but I don't. I've never come across
a doctor that has ever said, don't call me on weekends.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Neither of I.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
They have to encourage me to call on weekends, for
me to call on weekends unless I, you know, have
an emergency.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
We do a lot of doctor stuff on this show.
Funny doctor stuff.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, but by the way, it's based on experiences.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
So Larry goes to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.
It's very veryvery crowded, and the pharmacist tells him there's
a forty five minute wait, and then we see Larry
take that little folded up twenty dollar bill. Larry goes
to the pharmacist. It's very very crowded, and then we
see him take out that little, rolled up, tiny little
(37:16):
square of a twenty dollar bill that he never gave
to the matre d at the restaurant. Again, the puzzle,
the call back, the all fits together, and he looks
at it and we know exactly what's going to happen,
and you know it's not going to end well. And
what does he do with it, Jeff, He hands it.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
To the pharmacist and the pharmacist is outraged.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
And he says, I hear things are done just like
he said to the matre d I hear things are done.
And the pharmacist, you know, this guy was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
And by the way, look the indigo. The great line was,
nobody bribes a pharmacist.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
No one bribes a pharmacist. Do I look like I
could be bribed? No one bribes a pharmacist. He's indignant,
and Larry just SLINKs out and he's just home, walking
up the stairs, completely dejected because now he's really and
now I think Cheryl's going to have had enough. We
don't see it the episode ends, but you know he's
(38:15):
just slinking up those stairs because this is the last
straw for her and she's been really, really patient, and
you know, she's miserable and she's scratching, and he didn't
get the fucking prescription. I would in the chef.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
That walk of him going up the stairs feeling all
the shit, the walk of shame. Well, the stairs of
Hell is what I wrote down Richard lewis the stairs
from Hell. Anyhow, at the bottom of the stairs, I
think everybody gets it that you're looking at a guy
who's about to take a walk to hell. And by
(38:51):
the way, it worked with him going up the stairs.
But I always thought, I'm always thinking that way. I
don't like a empty water cup for people to do
their cup work. But also I don't like telling us
too much of the story.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So I like the walk up the stairs because I
felt like it was a nice button.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
By the way, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
So there we go. And this episode was directed by
Brian Gordon. It was the first one that he directed.
First did yeah, yeah, yes, Brian.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Who used to write on Fridays, so he knows Arry
from I'm going to say this about as lovely a
man as there ever could be.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Indeed, indeed, and there we.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Lovely a wife as ever could be.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
So there you go, very dear friend of mine, And
there we have affirmative action and episode nine of season
one and we're done.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
One that I actually when I watched it, I was
so pleasantly surprised and how much I loved it. And
this was also one of those episodes in and out,
in and out, in and out, you know, you don't
know where it's going, you don't know where how much
worse could it possibly get? And Larry will show you, I.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Think also, you know, to the point that we were
making in a few earlier episodes starting with The Wire
episode six. This is where we really see the show
has come into its own completely with beloved Ant, the Wire,
beloved Ant.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
And it's very similar to the future of where Curve goes.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
But absolutely in.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
This season it stands out is different.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Do you think so?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Why because just yeah, just because the way it goes
in and out. None of the other episodes did this
up to this one. None of them. They had moments
of it, but none of them were really the circle
of how much worse can it get?
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Yeah, you know which we see the.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Wire, Yes, how much worse can it get? But very
spread out longer scenes in this that one, this.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
One, well, this is a very self contained storyline. There
wasn't a lot of different storylines here hold on the
whole season.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
For the most part, except for a referenceer to are
all individual storylines?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's got more complicated.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
But don't remember offhand what year season three we went
in two Season three is when we went into the story.
What was season three arcs?
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Arcs Season three was the restaurant opening.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Oh, rest that's the one from then on every season,
So there's only one episode from then on that and
I'll save this one only one self contained episode after
season three started one.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I think there's more than one.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
All the others were on point and on story.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
There's a couple each season. There seems to be one. Really,
we'll get to it, we will, we will, okay, and
we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
And yeah, I'll be just as annoying next time. So
I apologize to anyone who hates me. Bye, Susie, I
Love You by Jeffy.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
The history of Curb Your Enthusiasm was the production of
Ieart Radio. For more podcasts from i Art Radio, visit
the iHeart Radio Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
You can watch the original episode we'll be discussing in
every other episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, including the
new and final season, on Max. You can also watch
the video version of the History of curbyr Enthusiasm podcast
on Max and YouTube as well. Links available in the
episode description. So here we are. I'm Stusisman, Who are you.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm Jeff Garland, one of America's top teens.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And what are we doing.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We're making Ambrosia. That'll come up next to you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Come up.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We're doing the History of Curby Your Enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And we're doing season one, episode nine, Affirmative Action.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yes, it's really funny. Well, like, this is really funny
and interesting.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Very interesting in so many levels.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You know, by the way I talked earlier a bunch
of episodes back that the only person that Larry compared
to was a guy named Nat and net Hike, and
we said, Dispilko car fifty four? Are you? And mind you?
These are nineteen fifties, early sixties shows, so I expect
most of you have never seen them, but if you
find them, please you'll be very happy. Anyhow, ned Hiken
(01:14):
is like it goes all over the place, and then
you don't know where it's going to end, and this
one went was one of those.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, yeah, I love that. It opens up with Larry
on the phone with Richard Lewis, and the first line
is did I do something?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well? By the way, when my wife, my ex wife,
my girlfriend, or anyone says my name, I go, what
did I do? I think it's a Jewish I think
it's a Jewish men's thing. The what did I do?
I do?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
What?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I was taken aback by and I didn't notice them
we're doing I'm focusing on the bigger picture. Larry does
really good phone work. He does it's not easy to
act like you're in a conversation. And that's a believable conversation. Yeah.
And one of my pet peeves. And I hate the
term pet peeves, so that should be a pet beeve?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Is it? Is? It also a fun fact?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Jeff uh No, that's an interesting fact, I think. But also,
now here's a fun fact. I will watch a show
and know how matter how I am involved in it.
When two characters are drinking coffee, if they do bad
coffee work, I'm out the minute I know there's nothing
in their cup and they're faking coffee. I leave. That's
(02:22):
I swear to God.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I think that's the nature of being in the business.
I think most people don't notice those things. A lot
of continuity stuff that people don't even notice.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Curb your enthusiasm. Has there ever been a time where
there hasn't been water or something else in your glass? Always? Yeah,
we never have to mind it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
No, that's a good prop person. That's a great prop person.
You know, there are so many people that go into
doing their job to make a show, to make a movie.
There's hundreds of people on a crew, and they are
all completely focused on what they do.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, that being said, if an actor is so focused
on what they do, why did I not say can
I have some water in my cup? Or be as
humble to say I'm not good at coffee drinking on
I need water for girth, You need girth, All right,
let's move.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
But it is interesting to me when you're on a set.
You know, Thomas, our makeup artist, all he's looking at
it is my makeup wardrobe. All they're looking at is
my wardrobe. Everybody has a very specific job.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I very much understand the two people of the three
people on a set that should be noticing everything, or
the actor because if you're so self involved, you're not
going to be present in the scene. The director obviously,
and any good.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Producer and the script person.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well script he pays attention to what's being said or
on our show, it's a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And if not just what's being said, but also am
I holding my arm like this in the last scene?
Or is it continuity right, which we have never been
great at on Curb And I think it's hard for
us because we improvise.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I told you that in the words of I believe
Francis Ford Coppola. I'm not sure if it's him. Continuity
is for pussy's. So if you're noticing mistakes, we're not
doing a good job. But you know, if you're noticing continuity,
whatever you're watching, isn't that good?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, unless it's egregious, obviously. So we start out with
Larry's on the phone with Lewis, did I do something?
And Lewis wants to meet him in person, doesn't want
to talk about it on the phone. Lewis has an
issue and wants to meet Larry in person, and Larry's
why do we have to meet in person? But they do,
and then Cheryl gives Larry a prescription. Cheryl's scratchy, scratchy, scratchy.
(04:35):
She has dermatitis, and she's scratching the entire episode, and
she has a contact dermatitis, and she gives Larry a
prescription to fill for her when he goes to meet Lewis.
You know, nothing good is going to come of him
having a prescription.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Obviously, by the way, little do we know of what
that actually means.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
No, that's the beauty of it.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
But also Cheryl, she says, will you pick me up
and we'll go to the restaurant? He says, can't you
meet me there? I need you to meet me there.
And it's so from two standpoints. One is from Larry's
point of view, the Larry the character, which, by the way,
at the end credits, I'll say this now so I
don't forget it, says Larry David as himself, which is
(05:16):
completely wrong. It's a fictional life, Larry David. And yeah,
and we took it out. I'll see if we took
it out the second season, but I don't think it
lasted past the first season. But anyhow, he asked her
to take a cab, have the housekeeper driver, what have you? Well,
by the way, I want to bring that up later. Anyhow,
she is frustrated with him because he gives her excuse
(05:38):
it's too far to come back. Blood h blah, and
she says, okay. Now, I don't know a woman that
I've ever been with that would be okay with that.
Cheryl is a freak of nature. And by the way,
I believe her saying okay because that's her character. And
also she's not Jewish, so I believe that she should.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Be saying about Jewish women.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Jeff, I'm saying that a lot of men don't marry
Jewish women. Let's leave it at that. But I happily
married a Jewish woman and my girlfriend's Jewish, and I
am in a great deal of pain at all times.
I'm not saying it's due to them. I know it's
not due to them.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I'm by I know I have lots of it's due
to them. It's not a fact.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Oh do you all right? And the fact that you're
one of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You know, it's so funny.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
We were my best friend that I can count on,
and you're a Jewish woman, but you're different and when
you give me shit, I know it's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
We're in the middle of shooting right now, season twelve,
and we were shooting with Cheryl the other day and
there was a scene where she was Larry was doing
something and she was just like okay, okay. And when
she came off the set, same set, I said to her, Shoe,
how many times have you said that responding to Larry,
like okay, okay? That exact thing that she does, She's
(06:51):
been doing it since season one.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
She certainly has.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Nothing's changed. But there's a lot of things in all
of these episodes that that date that date us, right,
you know, in terms of like the episode porn O'Gill,
no nav system this one, you know, no uber. There's
a lot of things like that. This is two thousand
that we shot this. So she gives him the script.
She's going to meet him at the restaurant at six o'clock,
and Larry goes to meet Lewis in Santa Monica. Okay,
(07:17):
were you struck by Lewis's outfit? He's got the big
pantted shoulders in his jacket, he's got the Hendrix tie.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Hold on, I agree with you. One hundred percent. But
I wasn't struck by it because I remember it so vividly.
We were on Santa Monica Beach on the upper part
where you walk. Yeah, and that I will say, in
terms of dated it looked normal to me, although that
look has never looked normal to me. I'm more of
a blue jeans and T shirt guy because it never
(07:45):
goes out of style, or a white cotton button down
shirt with jeans. You know what.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
He had, the big patted shoulders jack.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
See, that's what the style was then, and it was
absurd it was.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
And the Hendrix tie, which is his thing.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, he probably owned that tie.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Probably, And then Lewis has something to tell Larry and
he's telling it to him because his shrink told him
to something bothering Lewis and.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Normal that your therapist would say, maybe you want to
express that.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And what was bothering him is that Larry never calls him.
You never call me, Okay, you never call me.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
He's the initiator, is what he said. Right. Yes, so
I have some friends that I know I'm also the
initiator constantly. I love all these people. I don't believe
I have resentments from any of them. Because they're all
crazy successful and crazy busy. And by the way, they're
great responders. But one's a terrible responder. But the ones
(08:45):
I contact mostly who live here in LA. The one
in New York is a bad responder, but the two
in LA great responders. So the fact that they respond
with positivity and love, I'm okay with it. But I'm
always thinking, initiator. So I didn't remember remember this until
I saw it and I thought, wow, Man, if Larry
doesn't cover everything of the human condition, I don't know
(09:07):
who does. I mean, that is just I loved it. Initiator.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, I agree, But everything's in negotiation in life, you know,
in Larry's life, in all of our lives, whether it's
who calls who, who wants to have sex, everything, Larry.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I think it's more of a reactive interaction, meaning he
only initiates because he's stuck to initiate, you know, he
I guarantee Larry David has never thought with a friend
of his. Why am I always initiating?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, or maybe it happened once and he noticed it
and wrote it down, you know, But he's a reactor,
and he's put in situations because he I don't remember.
I was going to say, okay, all.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Right, Well anyway, so Lewis confronts him and he says,
you never call me, and he says it's Sophia, isn't it,
because ld is not comfortable if Sophia picks up the phone.
Of course, because they had that big fight back in
episode one in the pants tent, they had a big
fight in episode one. Lewis is still seeing her, which
is amazing after all these episodes. And they decide that
(10:13):
Larry and Cheryl that Larry invites them to meet for dinner.
He says they can't they have something. They decide they're
going to stop there for dessert after dinner at Byzantine.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I always as I always do this, I want to
go back to the initiating thing. And Larry explains it
to your girlfriend. You know that the Richard character, not
the Richard I know in real life, but the Richard character.
Anytime Larry and he would have plans for lunch, he
probably would have wanted to bring Sophia.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
So Larry, they make a plan to come over for
dessert and then a man jogs by and Lewis screams out, hey,
justin it's his friend Justin Graham's or something like that,
and he happens to be African American, and Lewis introduces
him to Larry as his dermatologist, and Larry says, doctor
Grants and my friend Larry David really, oh yeah, look
(11:04):
fifteen years really, you.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Know with the whole affirmative action thing. I'm sorry, I mean,
which is a joke that I still don't get.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, you know, it's a tough joke. It's a tough joke.
I think what he meant.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Well, maybe that was I'm sure that was done purposely.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, it was a bad joke. I think what he
was saying was, you would go to this guy knowing
that he only got into medical school because of a phone.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's the implications. Boy, is that a bad joke?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it's a bad, bad joke. And it had to
be a bad joke because of course the dermatologist justin
takes offense to it, as he should.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Right, because it's who would understand the joke like that,
Because if I'd say, I'm standing next to him, whether
in real in real life, Larry would never do something
like that, but in character, I would say to him
over and over, why would you say that, Why would
you say that? Yeah, that's insane. But after the.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Guy left, Yes, and Larry's just I was just trying
to be effable. I was just trying to be effable,
and he uses that word several times. My question that
I have is could we do this episode today?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Most definitely, I think today it has more resonance than
it did then. Oh my god, yes you could. Well,
we'll get to it, but I think without a doubt
you could because it's about him being well meaning but
ignorant in the ways of that.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And then he says one of my favorite lines, I
tend to say stupid things to black people. Larry says
that to Lewis, I tend to say stupid things to
black people, and it happens to be true. There are
many incidents coming up in many other seasons where he
tends to say stupid things to black people.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, we'll think about the our pilot Slash special. Early on,
a black guy walks by any nods and he says,
I tend to nod at black people. Black people rather
not that a black person would notice just some guy nodding.
Maybe he knows him, maybe he doesn't. But I think
the line of that scene is you sounded like Pap
you Can.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's Jim Partner.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I never noticed it when we did it, and I
thought that is so classic Richard Lewis.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
It's such a Lewis line, it's so succinct. And Brens
he comes up with things like that all the time.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
For those of you listening, Pap you Can and today
could be comparable to Ted Cruz or someone along those lines.
You sound like Ted Cruz is Jim Partner, although it's
not as funny with Ted Cruz, even though you got
the k sound Pap you Can and it was perfect.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Or Sean Hannity, somebody.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sean Hannity, and I don't even want to mention the
other guy.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, we won't even mention the dis.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
We'll be right back. Stay tuned, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Then they're in the restaurant and Cheryl's scratching, scratching, scratching,
and obviously he didn't fill her script. We knew after
he offended the dermatologist. We knew that prescription was never
going to get filled. And again he's defending himself with saying,
I was trying to to be affable, trying to be
a fault.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
But it was also, let's be honest here, his wife
has a medical condition, and he's too self involved to
even notice, you know, like the real Larry David, unless
unless there's something extraw, and he would not forget. He
would be thoughtful. If his wife said please do this
prescription for me, he might be really, you can't get
(14:32):
anyone else to do it. But nonetheless, if he has
the task, he would totally.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
But then there's no story, so he doesn't know you.
And they're at the restaurant. There's a long wait for
the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Wait, wait again, I have to go back, go, go.
What happens again? Here Cheryl's understanding.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, but she's getting pissed off, Jeff, you see in
her face she's getting really annoyed us.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But she never explodes. But I'm saying, she's like, let's
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Oh, but of course, you know what he wrote that
character to be the fantasy wife. That would be understanding.
Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
He wrote my character to be the shrew.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
No, he gave you a premise for your character, because
you came up with your character, but the premise was
your behavior. But you came up with it. Same with Cheryl.
This show, everybody came with their own characters. Larry gave
everybody the premise to run with it. Now, if he
didn't like what you were doing, that's.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Totally still be here in season twelve.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, right, if he didn't, but he obviously you kill
him where Cheryl I think, just played it true to herself.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
But that's part of why she got the part, because
she had that steadiness.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
No, actually it's the opposite why she got the part,
because I was in the casting session when she came in.
She was the only one, only one that didn't count
cow to Larry.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
She called him out on his shitef she does call
him on a ship.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But I know that, I know she's even. We didn't
know that yet.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It wasn't like, oh, she's even. She was obviously really great.
You could see it that there was something going on
here that being said, everyone else sort of played up
to Larry, had fun with Larry and all the things
Larry did. There was something about eating a bowl of
cereal for the scenario. I don't remember what it was,
(16:29):
but she really, like really gave it right back to
Larry everything he said, and he would laugh constantly boom.
When she left the room, it was evident you know
she was going to get the part. I don't remember
if he said. I think she was the quickest person
he ever cast. And know that before she came in
we looked at fifteen to twenty actresses improvisers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So there's a forty five minute wait for a seat
at the restaurant and LD Larry decides he's going to
shmo guy and he's the most awkward sch mirror I've
ever He folds up a twenty dollars and.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
By the way, that is real life. I can't By
the way, I can't even imagine him walking up, I know,
and handing somebody money.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That's follows to a very small little thing and then
just kind of shoves it across the matrix D podium
and they get it low and behold it works, and
they get a table and Larry says to share ol,
women are attracted to criminals. Larry'ses a guy in a
wheelchair and says, how can a handicapped person use a
non motorized wheelchair? It was just like this throwaway thing.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, you know what, okay, but I have a theory
about it. Tell me that he's seen that situation a
dozen times before easy in his life, and he's already
thought absolutely because he always pictures himself in the situation.
That's where he's very empathetic. What would I do, which
is again narcissistic, but nonetheless what would is that narcissistic?
(17:57):
I don't know. Only a therapist could tell me, But
the point being is that he has probably seen that
a dozen times and the opportunity to put that in
the show is delightful. Right.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
That's that was my take as well. He sees that
Ted Harbert, who's an ABC executive, sitting over, and this
was the part that just killed me. Larry needs to
go to the bathroom, but he doesn't want to run
into Ted Harbor because he's a boring guy and he's
going to get stuck in a conversation. So he leaves
the restaurant, goes two doors down to use a bathroom
(18:27):
in another restaurant, in a Mexican restaurant down the block.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Oh, you know what, I think, most people, When I
say most people, I mean ninety nine percent of other
people would never avoid going to the bathroom because somebody
has is full of small talk as a matter of fact,
my thing so I wouldn't be stopped, would be to
go to tell him when I see him, I'll be
right back and use the restroom, come back and listen
to whatever the bullshit is and sit down. Larry David
(18:52):
is one of the few people to avoid that situation.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
The way out of me this way. You know, there's
an art extricating your off from a conversation. My husband
does not have this ability. I am very good at it.
My husband has to stop and talk to the doorman.
He feels obligated in that way that Larry would. I'm
just like hi, and I keep walking, polite, nice, but
just extricate yourself. And there's nothing wrong with saying sorry,
(19:17):
I can't talk right now. I'm in the middle of
my having dinner with my wife.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Well, your husband is a true men.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
She love that, as is Larry. But he has to
go two doors down to the bathroom. So he goes
to the Mexican restaurant and there's a woman in the
hallway when he comes out of the bathroom again, an
African American woman who was up for a job on
Sour Grapes as a script supervisor. And she didn't get it,
and she really berates Larry and calls him a racist
(19:44):
and all kinds of other things, and you know, goes
on and on about Seinfeld not having one black girlfriend
and there was not one black person on the show,
all of which is true, and Larry's very aware of that,
and she's accusing him of racism, and he's quite taken aback,
and he goes back back to the other restaurant two
doors down and he sits down and who walks over
Ted Harbert and starts talking boring conversation about hold on,
(20:07):
hold on.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Hold on, hold on, hold on, you have to wait on.
The woman. She was magnificent, terrific, the woman who was
a line producer. And she said one thing that always
made Larry laugh. At the end of her krang karrange,
she said, mister Larry David, good night, do whatever. But
(20:29):
when she said mister Larry David, not only did Larry laugh,
but he repeated that to himself all the rest of
the time we're filming. He would look at me and go,
mister Larry David because it struck him as so funny.
But she was amazing. And by the way, there are
those situations especially situations, especially now, where you don't think
(20:51):
of yourself as racist and you have a good heart
and you're unintentionally being racist, or you're insensitive to what's
going on in the world. World. And what he did
was he did a form of nepotism. He wasn't related
to this man. But if he didn't hire the man
for the line, producer, Cheryl, I'm not going to say
it would have been mad at him, but you would.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Well yeah, let me just say that I didn't mention
that the guy Barry who got the job was a
friend of Cheryl's.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yes, yeah, But whenever you do nepotism, there's either resentment
from whoever they're working with. Oh I know how you
got this job, or I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So they go back and he gets stuck in a
boring conversation with Ted Harbert, and then they decide to
go to the drug store to get the Wait.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Wait, wait, wait, wait, I apologize for I don't care
about to run the point. Okay. The beautiful thing is
he went to the other.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Rest but didn't get stuck to avoid Ted Harbert.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
He had a situation at the restaurant that was a
million times worse than anything that could have happened with
Ted Harbert and lo and behold, Ted Harbert walks up
to the tableau, so.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Larry can't win the character.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
When it rains, it pours and yes, and by the way,
Ton Harbert did a great job. He's a real guy. Yeah,
and he did a great job. We didn't let it
go on too long because he asked him about the
golf game, which was incredibly boring and whatever, so we
faded out, knowing.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Folk he was aggressively boring. Yes, and they're in the
car and they're on their way to go to the
pharmacy to get the prescription filled. Yes, Larry supposedly still
has the prescription and he goes into this whole thing
in the car. Why don't we just call your doctor
because he can't call my doctor on the weekends. And
(22:36):
let it's a life threatening emergency.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, if you call his machine, it'll tell you can't
page him.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's what you called up and that's what it said.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
That is obscene, you know, that can't disturb the doctor
on the weekend. Don't call the doctor, Sappler on the
weekend unless it's life threatening. Norman, there's somebody calling.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
We're in the middle of dinner. Norman, this better be
life threatening, Norman.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
I ought going to leave this house. I beg you, Norman,
unless they.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Were burned in a fire.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I don't want you getting up from your chair.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You understand, Norman.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Ah, but that whole thing cracked me up. Norman imitating
the wife. You mean you can't look at the phone.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Norman, yeah, doing the wife. Don't call the doctor over
the weekend. And by the way, the thing that he
closed with, no, unless somebody's on surviving from being on fire,
don't call the doctor an emergency. Really funny.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
They get to the pharmacy, he can't find it.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
And by the way, that's comedian thinking if I will,
if I may, and you can will just Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Larry can't find the prescription at the pharmacy. So yes,
because he pulls out of his pocket a twenty all
folded up into a little, tiny little square. He realizes
he gave the matre D the prescription and the twenty
dollars bill. So they have to go back to the restaurant.
Now it's always this, it's always going back, and you know,
(24:07):
and the maitre D said he threw it was very nonplused,
and he threw the prescription in the garbage, and then
they have to go back into the kitchen and go
through the filthy, disgusting garbage and there's no prescription. What
are they going to do? So then I forgot which one. Oh, oh, Cheryl,
I think comes up with what about Richard's friends the dermatologist?
(24:27):
And they're on their way to Richard's house anyway, maybe
the guy that Larry completely offended. They now have to
ask for a prescription because Cheryl's really really uncomfortable. So
they go to Richard's house and Sofia's on the phone,
not a cell phone, a regular phone again it's the
year two thousand, a regular phone, and Lewis fights with
(24:49):
Sophia to get off the phone because they need to
use the phone to call the doctor to get the prescription,
and then she hangs up, very upset because she was
on the phone with her agent. And Sophia and Larry
go through a pantomime fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,
giving each other the finger and really hating each other.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Okay, before we get to that, a couple of things.
When they're at the door and Richard lets them in,
she's in the background on the phone and they say
we need to talk about there is a problem, like
don't hug me, don't shake cheryld, don't hit him hand
and Richard as he's walking away, don't worry. Well, we'll
talk it out.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
We'll talk it out, which is sopized. And then he
gets into a fight. He gets into a big fight
with his girlfriend because.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
It's important, they explain to Richard and he knows it's important,
and she does and she's on the phone we find
out with her agent. But Richard at this moment has
dived in to help his friend. He's being the great
friend that he isn't on camera and off and he
does it. So I want to establish that as you
continue what you say.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, So and then you know they do this big
fuck you fest Larry and Sophia, which is hilarious, right,
and then he calls the doctor and the doctor said,
if I can't just do it over the phone, if
they want a prescription, they have to come over to
my house. This is where they use the nave. Jeff,
I see in my notes where Larry's figures out the navigation.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Wait, here's here's the reason. Hold on. This is where
I set up the setup because what I want to
say is Richard. You see, Larry does this to other
people who he doesn't realize the damage that might happen
to the other person. So Richard gets into a fight
and his girlfriend Italian. See I'm always throwing in who
(26:34):
gets angry in terms of real anger Italians, Jews, etc.
By the way, there are exceptions, all right. Nonetheless, his
Italian girlfriend is furious at him for doing this. And
so Richard had good intentions and what he did was
help his friend. But the the detriment of his relationship,
which you know at some point will come up with Larry,
(26:55):
although not in necessarily.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Because always in this show, no good deed goes unpunished.
That's just the it is.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
And Nod doesn't punish whether it's Larry or other people.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
And so now they're using the navigation to get to
the doctor's office, and Larry says, yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Hear the navigation system. I figured it out. It's working.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's telling us exactly how to go to the doctor's house.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Oh, I can't wait to call my parents.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
They're gonna be so proud of me.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Can I tell my father I figured out that navigation system?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
He's gonna flip his wig and he's.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Got one, Joe. Can you tell me he's gonna be
very proud of Larry figuring out the navigation system. Daddy,
I'm not so.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Stupid, which I found interesting.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Richard also said in the set up a great joke
that I'm gonna point out that he was talking about
the way Larry behaved with his friend, and he said, the.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Only guy I could think of his your friend from
dermatologist as a dermatologist.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Maybe if you could just call him and he could
call in a prescription.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And wow, I mean you can imagine.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
I mean, really you were like, you know, James Olray today,
I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I'll do it.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Just tell him, I'll apologize. What do you James? Or
he did James Olray reference in a casual way with
something else, playing cards with James Ray whatever. And James
o'ray is the man who killed Mark.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
He's very he's very big on the references Lewis and
very funny.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
By the way, as a fan, I lived for them.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Stay tuned. Okay, we're back.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So now they get to the doctor's house and.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
No, no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, you're skipping
the other thing the navigation just mentioned. But what's amazing
about that is it's such a big deal. And I guarantee,
and I'm pretty sure that I experienced with this with Larry.
He did not know how to use the navigation, and
to be honest, most people didn't. It was very confusing.
And so you look back at those moments and now
(29:14):
navigation is like breathing. Everybody can navigate. Sometimes it's hard
to do the voice version of navigation. It doesn't quite work.
But it's like I remember Uber. A friend of mine
told me very early on. He goes, I'm gonna turn
you on to something. Pick up this app and Uber,
And at that point Uber, nobody had a clue what
(29:36):
Uber was. And he goes, you can't tell anyone, it's
our secret. Well, lo and behold, it's everybody's secret now.
But I remember doing Uber references on stage to silence
no reason.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
It's fascinating to watch these shows from two thousand and
see the phone attached to the wall and see that
not knowing how to use the nap and no cell phones,
because it all feels very contemporary to me, except for
these little pieces you know, the whole show feels very relevant, except.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Like I said, you said, can we do the show today?
And yes, you know we have to cut the navigation
and maybe a few more things, but nothing about race.
That's all beautiful. So anytime there's white ignorance and has
pointed out comedically and with anger, always funny.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So Larry goes to the doctor's house and he apologizes
and they were like, what did you say? What did
you say? He doesn't want to say, what is it?
Eight ten people sitting around?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
And Becca asked me, is the conversation with all the guests?
Was all of that improvised? I assume?
Speaker 2 (30:35):
So it was completely improvised? Yeah, I mean there was
intention there mat Larry. You know, let Larry know and Larry,
but also just when you see the group, the wife
is actually giving them kind of a hard time. Well
the best laid plans blah blahlah blah. So she's not
making it easy and you can tell she's irritated. Larry
(30:56):
walks into a room with a bunch of black people
having some sort of dinner party or meeting. He doesn't
know what, but he knows this is going to be
crazy awkward, Okay, keep going.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
So he finally does tell them what the joke is,
and they written, hold.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Ond on here. He tells them, after a lot.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Of a lot of pleading, tell us a.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Joe, no, no, no, but we showed on camera a
lot of pleading and all of it was organic and real,
and go ahead.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, and he sees before he tells the story, tries
to butter them up by this guy's in very good
shape about the dermatologist, and it talks about trying to
be too affable, and he tells them the whole story,
and they reprimand but they're very forgiving of him. I
think everybody's very accepting and forgiving, and you learned a lesson,
and all very forgiving and understand that he's trying to
be too affable. And then who walks in?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
But wait, wait, wait here. At this point again, I said,
I associated with so much that nothing can ever come of.
It was the doctor that saved Larry. Larry says the joke,
which is done subtle and bullshit, and their reaction is
very negative to it until the doctor saves him.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So now they all forgive him, and they, you know, reluctantly.
But I thought they were quite forgiving, and it was
kind of a nice scene, and everybody's friends, fans, friends,
until he's about to leave. The doctor examines Sheryl. He
gives a prescription, calls it a prescription. That's another thing
that beca pointed out that was so different that no
doctors hand you a prescription anymore. It's all done digitally.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
You go to the oh no no, no, no no,
but but hold on in this circumstance because it wouldn't
be ethical, and he's there with him. Doctors do hand you,
They usually do it electronic or call it in you
or call it in now. I know that.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
My point is it was just another example of how
times have changed. Is what that was then? And then
what happens then The woman who confronted him in the
bathroom just two hours earlier, let's say, saying calling him
a racist, that he didn't hire her as a script
producer or a line producer, I forget which one it was,
(33:04):
enters the room and starts railing against him that he's
a racist.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
If I may, yes, if I may. I gave her
her opening line, which she had made up. I said,
when you walk out there, the first thing you're gonna
say when you see him, is mister Larry David.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Larry, mister Larry, and I'm on a roll.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Yeah, And that's how she opened and she walked out,
which again got Larry. He burst out laughing. We had
to reset and reset. He couldn't handle himself after mister
Larry David. But she does often not with mister Larry David.
There's things that completely tickle him.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
He ruins runs all bestakes.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
By the way, can I say something to you? He
really does, not your best takes because you're always great,
but he does. If you liked your take, you're fucked.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Jimsey giggles, and she starts calling him as racist, racist, ranting, ranting,
ranting about why he's a racist, and of course they
all turn on him, and he doesn't give her well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
By the way, what she's saying, whether Larry, that's called
the best intentions, You're screwed because everything she's saying is
true or can appear to be true.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
She says, mister Larry David, the man who refused to
hire a sister because he's a racist, and then honor
on and so Cheryl does not get the prescription. That's
the whole point is that Cheryl does not get the prescription.
Then they're in the car again and Larry is telling
she's scratching, scratching, you got to call the doctor. Of course,
she can't call the doctor because it's not life threatening.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
To go back, I'm always going back, hold on, hold on,
I'm always going to go back. The end of that scene,
after she gives her speech she said, she ends it
with what she did and the other one, except she
says good evening.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Good evening.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
That was her last line, which I thought was beautiful.
She said all these angry things, then she ended up with.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Goody, very polite.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Now Cheryl can't call the doctor because it's not a
medical emergency. It's not a life threatening emergency. And Larry
finally convinces her to call the doctor, and she calls
the doctor's pager and then their home.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
By the way, I want to add here, still she's
not losing her shit with Larry. Yet he has fucked
it up on every occasion, and she's understanding. She's put on,
but she's understanding, even though we can see she's upset,
but she lets it go. In the real logical Larry
David way, the way he'd want.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
This is who she chose to marry, and this is
what you get.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
By the way, you're right, And later on chooses divorce.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And then they're home staring at the phone waiting for
the doctor to call, and there's the Vertigo music. It's suspense.
It's the Vertigo music from the Hitchcock movie Vertigo.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Did they use Bernard Hermann or did they do like
a similar topably similar?
Speaker 1 (35:57):
But it was very similar. It was very similar, so close.
Very Ramon, by the way, for those of you who
don't know, is one of the greatest composers for film ever,
and he did a lot of Hitchcock stuff, and it
was that didn't give her that that suspenseful And the
phone rings and she hangs it up and you know,
it's a life threatening emergency. She could scratch yourself to death.
(36:18):
And finally the doctor calls and says something about it's
not a life threatening emergency, of course, because he's being
a bit of a doctor dick, but he does call
in the prescription.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Well, by the way, I got to say in all
sincerity that I personally know I always feel bad about
calling a doctor, but I don't. I've never come across
a doctor that has ever said, don't call me on weekends.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Neither of I.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
They have to encourage me to call on weekends, for
me to call on weekends unless I, you know, have
an emergency.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
We do a lot of doctor stuff on this show.
Funny doctor stuff.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, but by the way, it's based on experiences.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
So Larry goes to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.
It's very veryvery crowded, and the pharmacist tells him there's
a forty five minute wait, and then we see Larry
take that little folded up twenty dollar bill. Larry goes
to the pharmacist. It's very very crowded, and then we
see him take out that little, rolled up, tiny little
(37:16):
square of a twenty dollar bill that he never gave
to the matre d at the restaurant. Again, the puzzle,
the call back, the all fits together, and he looks
at it and we know exactly what's going to happen,
and you know it's not going to end well. And
what does he do with it, Jeff, He hands it.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
To the pharmacist and the pharmacist is outraged.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
And he says, I hear things are done just like
he said to the matre d I hear things are done.
And the pharmacist, you know, this guy was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
And by the way, look the indigo. The great line was,
nobody bribes a pharmacist.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
No one bribes a pharmacist. Do I look like I
could be bribed? No one bribes a pharmacist. He's indignant,
and Larry just SLINKs out and he's just home, walking
up the stairs, completely dejected because now he's really and
now I think Cheryl's going to have had enough. We
don't see it the episode ends, but you know he's
(38:15):
just slinking up those stairs because this is the last
straw for her and she's been really, really patient, and
you know, she's miserable and she's scratching, and he didn't
get the fucking prescription. I would in the chef.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
That walk of him going up the stairs feeling all
the shit, the walk of shame. Well, the stairs of
Hell is what I wrote down Richard lewis the stairs
from Hell. Anyhow, at the bottom of the stairs, I
think everybody gets it that you're looking at a guy
who's about to take a walk to hell. And by
(38:51):
the way, it worked with him going up the stairs.
But I always thought, I'm always thinking that way. I
don't like a empty water cup for people to do
their cup work. But also I don't like telling us
too much of the story.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So I like the walk up the stairs because I
felt like it was a nice button.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
By the way, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
So there we go. And this episode was directed by
Brian Gordon. It was the first one that he directed.
First did yeah, yeah, yes, Brian.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Who used to write on Fridays, so he knows Arry
from I'm going to say this about as lovely a
man as there ever could be.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Indeed, indeed, and there we.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Lovely a wife as ever could be.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
So there you go, very dear friend of mine, And
there we have affirmative action and episode nine of season
one and we're done.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
One that I actually when I watched it, I was
so pleasantly surprised and how much I loved it. And
this was also one of those episodes in and out,
in and out, in and out, you know, you don't
know where it's going, you don't know where how much
worse could it possibly get? And Larry will show you, I.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Think also, you know, to the point that we were
making in a few earlier episodes starting with The Wire
episode six. This is where we really see the show
has come into its own completely with beloved Ant, the Wire,
beloved Ant.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
And it's very similar to the future of where Curve goes.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
But absolutely in.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
This season it stands out is different.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Do you think so?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Why because just yeah, just because the way it goes
in and out. None of the other episodes did this
up to this one. None of them. They had moments
of it, but none of them were really the circle
of how much worse can it get?
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Yeah, you know which we see the.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Wire, Yes, how much worse can it get? But very
spread out longer scenes in this that one, this.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
One, well, this is a very self contained storyline. There
wasn't a lot of different storylines here hold on the
whole season.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
For the most part, except for a referenceer to are
all individual storylines?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's got more complicated.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
But don't remember offhand what year season three we went
in two Season three is when we went into the story.
What was season three arcs?
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Arcs Season three was the restaurant opening.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Oh, rest that's the one from then on every season,
So there's only one episode from then on that and
I'll save this one only one self contained episode after
season three started one.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I think there's more than one.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
All the others were on point and on story.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
There's a couple each season. There seems to be one. Really,
we'll get to it, we will, we will, okay, and
we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
And yeah, I'll be just as annoying next time. So
I apologize to anyone who hates me. Bye, Susie, I
Love You by Jeffy.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
The history of Curb Your Enthusiasm was the production of
Ieart Radio. For more podcasts from i Art Radio, visit
the iHeart Radio Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.