‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Plotlines About Larry in the Workplace That Could Have Been Repurposed for George or Elaine
Many Seinfeld episodes were famously based on real-life incidents from the life of Larry David (and apparently anyone who would sell their awkward anecdotes to Larry David), so it makes sense that David’s fictional exploits in Curb Your Enthusiasm would feel tonally similar to the classic sitcom. Moreover, some of Larry’s business dealings in Curb could easily have worked as storylines for both George and Elaine, the two Seinfeld characters who actually had day jobs. Such as...
Larry Invents A Dying Stepfather to Get Out of Work (George)
Curb began with a one-hour HBO special supposedly documenting David’s triumphant return to stand-up. But Larry being Larry, freaks out and bails on his big theatrical show, citing the declining health of his nonexistent stepfather as an excuse. Even though the special wasn’t technically part of the series, this incident comes up again in the second season when Larry is pitching a new show to HBO.
HBO
HBO
This kind of elaborate, long-running lie is pure George, who once abandoned his car at Yankee Stadium to make it seem like he was burning the midnight oil and also lied about being disabled purely to retain a private bathroom and a multitude of other office perks.
Larry recommends Richard Lewis’ girlfriend, Cha Cha, for a job in his office but soon comes to regret the decision when she’s given a desk right next to the washroom, entrapping him in a routine of endless chit-chat and unnecessary commentary about the brevity of his poops.
This easily could work as an Elaine storyline. She was constantly irked by her co-workers, such as the overly cheerful Bob, who she suspects is faking a hearing impairment. Although Bob would probably be annoying regardless, considering Rob Schneider played him.
And Elaine was not immune from awkward, bathroom-set social encounters either, like when Jerry’s girlfriend Jane wouldn’t “spare a square.”
Larry Can’t Fire His Assistant (George)
At one point in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry wants to fire his personal assistant but can’t because she knows all about his “web of lies and bulls**t and deceit.”
George, too, has had issues with keeping his elaborate falsehoods under wraps. He also had a complicated relationship with the highly efficient assistant he hires, Ada, who he promptly sleeps with — and who eventually does leak his private information to George Steinbrenner.
Larry Accuses An Executive of Stealing Shrimp (Elaine)
The head of HBO accidentally claims Larry’s takeout order, but when he returns it, several shrimp are suspiciously missing. Larry’s obsession with the potentially purloined seafood then derails his meeting with the network to pitch a new series.
While this feels like a possible George story at first glance, it’s actually right up Elaine’s alley. In retrospect, Elaine had a surprisingly staggering number of beefs involving takeout, whether it was the Chinese restaurant that refused to deliver to her building, the babka-hocking bakery, or perhaps most memorably, the Soup Nazi.
Nor was Elaine above letting food get in the way of her workday, lest we forget the time she ate a priceless piece of antique cake from J. Peterman’s office:
Note, that incident ends with Peterman telling Elaine that eating cake with “a butter-based frosting after six decades in a poorly ventilated English basement” would be “punishment enough,” which would lead perfectly to the Elaine bathroom plot we mentioned earlier. See? Everything fits.
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