Make that a funeral forFatwa!
How did this season come to involve a fatwa and a doomed musical?
What was the toughest scene to pull off?
Credit: John P. Johnson
Is there moreCurbcoming your way?
For these answers and more, we (outfit-)tracked downCurb Your Enthusiasmexecutive producer Jeff Schaffer.
So that scene was built to be the last scene ever… unless its not.
I guess well all just have to wait and see.
I do want to comment on Larrys running form, which is excellent.
More on that in a minute.
But before that: What appealed to you and Larry about building the season around a fatwa?
What were the challenges and concerns?
For eight seasons, Larrys had a contentious relationship with the world.
Lets try a season where the world doesnt just annoy Larry it actively wants him dead.
We are still working on that part.
The Musical, and to end the show with a Hamilton-style duel.
And thats what we wrote.
One small problem… we hadnt ever bought any of this to Lins attention.
We wrote the whole thing without talking to him.
And there really was no Plan B other than having only eight episodes.
So we just kept telling ourselves, Hes going to say yes, hes going to say yes.
the way the high school nerd psyches himself up before asking the head cheerleader to prom.
I guarantee hes a lot less busy than Lin.
(I am still trying to get Larry that fatwa!)
Larry called him up, and luckily Lin was a fan of the show.
But it wassoworth it.
And I love that duel.
Larry David is the Burr of our times!
You do have Justin Hurwitz, who wrote the music forLa La Land, as one of your writers.
But we knew Lins versions of these songs would have to be professional-grade.
Justin is a great comedy writer who happens to moonlight as an Oscar-winning composer.
Justin would bring in his keyboard and we would spitball lyrics.
That one might have been my favorite.
Lin had a great note about making I Do Not Like This Man!
feel less likeHamiltonand more dramatic, which was completely the right way to go.
And every take was different, and every take was brilliant.
It was like watching someone dunk.
You just say, Well, I cant do that.
He verbally dunked on us.
What was the joke that you guys were most nervous about pulling off this season?
We had a pretty good idea of what we thought they would look like.
People would think that those are the trickiest scenes to shoot, but they are actually like a vacation.
What we wrestled with was, Why was Larry surprised?
Larry doesnt care if a guy is black or white.
He will insult anyone no matter your race, ethnicity, color, anything.
The surprise was that Jeff didnt mention it.
Curbhad done a season involvingThe Producers, so you had ventured into the realm of the theater before.
This was Larry, creator, butting heads and losing with Lin.
I told our prop people to load up her bag.
Larry had no idea just how much stuff she had in there.
He laughed his way through every take, I am amazed we had any usable footage.
And what scene or story didnt work as well?
Salman scolds him and says, Rule No.
1, dont f your butler.
It never fit in the show, but it was supremely funny.
Was there something bigger planned for that couple?
If we ever do another season, well see…
These episodes brought back many familiar faces fromCurb.
At the beginning of the season, Larry sounded optimistic about making moreCurbbeyond this year.
What percent chance is there that another season ofCurbwill be coming?
There can only be a new season if Larry feels creatively like hes got the ideas.
Personally, I wouldnt bet on him never getting in another awkward situation, would you?
We are talking about talking about it.
I promise if we do it again, it wont be as long of a wait.
By the way, what really did happen in Tahoe?
So we never had to settle on what actually happened.
But trust me, neither of them are flattering to poor Larry.
