Opening Night
- Episode aired Mar 14, 2004
- TV-MA
- 59m
In the fourth-season finale, Larry David flies to New York with fellow performers David Schwimmer and Cady Huffman to star on Broadway in "The Producers". Along the way, he argues with Schwi... Read allIn the fourth-season finale, Larry David flies to New York with fellow performers David Schwimmer and Cady Huffman to star on Broadway in "The Producers". Along the way, he argues with Schwimmer, develops a strange relationship with Huffman, finds he's tipping way too often and a... Read allIn the fourth-season finale, Larry David flies to New York with fellow performers David Schwimmer and Cady Huffman to star on Broadway in "The Producers". Along the way, he argues with Schwimmer, develops a strange relationship with Huffman, finds he's tipping way too often and attempts to use his 10th anniversary gift from Cheryl. On stage, Larry and David put aside ... Read all
Photos
- Stewardess
- (as Yvette Brown)
- Mugger
- (as Herman Chaves)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis marks Jerry Seinfeld's long-awaited first appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
- GoofsWhen Larry takes his leave of Cheryl at the start of the show he has a bag over each shoulder when they kiss, but only one when he pulls away.
- Quotes
Bellman: This is your key, access to your room. It's a card. This is a card slot. Simply insert the card into the slot, there's a beeping, wait a second, firmly apply pressure, and in you go.
Larry David: That's fascinating.
Bellman: Some of the amenities quickly. You have a telephone; dial 9 to get out. Uh, a television here. And you have a remote control for power on and off, channel up and down, volume up and down. A minibar also underneath.
Larry David: Got it, got it.
Bellman: Thermostat for air temperature control.
Larry David: Yeah, I've seen those.
Bellman: Uhh, bathroom with a shower.
Larry David: To turn on the water you go like that with your wrist and the water comes out?
[makes twist motion]
Bellman: Y-yes. Uh, the cold is on the right.
Larry David: Uh-huh, okay. And that's a window?
Bellman: Yes.
Larry David: You walk over to it and you can look out. Is that what it's for?
Bellman: Yes.
Larry David: All right, excellent. I think I got everything. The floor is for standing. I think I got it. It's kinda complicated. I'll go over it again.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2004)
The Producers provides a solid frame for the season, OK perhaps not as good as the restaurant of season 3 but still good enough to allow the show to do what it does best. This is the delivery of laughs via these painful situations and how they come about. Larry takes the worse of Seinfeld's George and exaggerates it into a mess of over thinking and confusion. Yet again here the show gets good mileage over the conflicting sides of Larry. On one hand he is just a normal guy trying to do the best he can in the world of social rules and niceties – a world in which he cannot do anything right, often without it being his own fault. So the uncertainty over what to do with a buffet stick leads to injury or similarly his judgement over whether to buy a surrogate mother a present at the baby shower. However this side of it is nicely balanced with the side of Larry who, while concerned with following the rules of society, also sees nothing wrong with continually breaking them for this own (often petty) benefit – leading to situations that spiral out of control but are his fault. This is seen in his dealings with Funkhauser generally but also in others ways – specifically the entirety of my favourite episode of the season, the Car Pool Lane.
While contrived the situations are not as predictable as they were in the early seasons and indeed some of them are quite inspired. Where you can see where it is heading it still works because it is like the best "awkward comedy" in how naturally it is delivered because it is like watching a social car crash – you want to look away but are equally transfixed by what is happening. David sends himself up well, while Hines continues to be good support with her deadpan looks combined with inward pain. Garlin and Essman both continue to be good characters with simple but effective laughs. The guest stars are good this season but don't feel in there for the sake of it. Brooks, Stiller and Schwimmer all work well and are used well as "real" people.
Overall season 4 generally maintains the high standard set in season 3. It is often very funny indeed and, at its worst it is still comically awkward and engaging, with the Car Pool Lane being the perfect storm of an episode that effectively sums up what I am enjoying about it and why I am looking forward to season 5.
- bob the moo
- Jan 17, 2010
Details
- Runtime59 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1