Larry David’s first significant project since the legendary Curb Your Enthusiasm ended its 12-season run in 2022 is a curious proposition. Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness: An Almost History Of America sees David playing with the sketch-show format but it’s an approach that doesn’t always land.
Co-created by David and longtime Curb collaborator Jeff Schaffer with Barack and Michelle Obama onboard as producers, Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness is a limited series purportedly celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial (AKA the 250th anniversary of its Declaration Of Independence). To do so, it presents a series of sketches based around key moments in the nation’s history – the Boston Tea Party, World War Two, presidential scandals – in which David is parachuted in as a central player causing some kind of chaos that’s been lost to history.
While he takes on different characters in each skit – some real people – it’s no surprise that Larry David plays Larry David almost every time. It’s a funny idea; a little bit Curb, a little bit Drunk History. For a silly show, the production values are top tier with high-end costumes, sets, and fake beards. But perhaps because of this investment, the sketches – four per episode, running at roughly eight minutes each – feel a bit too long. Too frequently, they end with characters screeching at each other. That might do the trick if you’re desperate for more Curb-esque antics, but it feels like wasted potential for this ambitious series.
There are flashes of genius though. Most of the sequences involve a riff on a modern problem – queueing, dinner party etiquette – in period dress, and the parallels are amusing, if sometimes overworked. The very best moments come from David’s gift for saying so much with a groan or a wheeze, like his reaction to the photo of a fellow soldier’s girlfriend in the WW1 trenches, or volleying back “whoas” with a scene partner. But too often you feel like you’re “laughing on the inside”, as one character says of a play.
Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness isn’t really a show you can spoil, but perhaps HBO are wary of the discourse that a couple of scenes – especially one in the second episode – will stir, so certain guest stars and sketches have to be kept under wraps for now. That particular sequence also includes a rather poignant cameo (alongside another more charged one), but on the whole, the show doesn’t make as many contemporary political jabs as you might expect. Some of the guest stars that can be named include Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jerry Seinfeld, but their roles are redacted for now.
There’s an overriding sense of missed opportunity throughout Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness. Sketch shows are inherently random, but this doesn’t attempt to make a coherent or overarching statement about the US, nor does it do anything particularly illuminating with its scattered (and generally well known) historical moments.
One of the better sketches is saved right for the end. Set in more recent times, it leaves you with the feeling that they could’ve just let Larry be Larry and not gone to the trouble of the historical settings. Ultimately, you should probably temper your enthusiasm for this middling series.
‘Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness: An Almost History Of America’ premieres June 26 on HBO, with new episodes released weekly.