Curb Your Enthusiasm: Meet the Blacks (season premiere)

(S06E01) "He knowingly fed us penis!" - Larry

Well that was interesting. Disappointing? Sort of... but not really. Honestly, this episode was a perfect example of what makes Curb so good. However, I think that since it's been gone for two years I had built this premiere up in my head way too much. So it fell a little flat for me. Did I laugh hysterically? You bet. Did I feel uncomfortable more than once? Check. Did I inadvertantly compare it to every other great episode? Yeah... and there lies the problem with Curb Your Enthusiasm. You end up comparing apples with oranges and in reality you've got pineapples, watermelons, kiwi, and a few kumquats for good measure.

That's the problem. You can't compare them because each episode is a nugget of perfection in its own little universe. When it comes to Curb Your Enthusiasm, they're all good.

Are they predictable? Sure, sometimes. That doesn't mean it's any less funnier when the expected outcome occurs. The second that Larry beat the hell outta his fire alarm with that baseball bat, I knew there was going to be a fire.

What I could have never expected was that it was gonna take Larry expressing interest in Richard Lewis' girlfriend, which pissed Cheryl off so much that Larry had to adopt a displaced African American family left homeless by a hurricane, who then unknowingly got offended by Jeff's chocolate penis cake, causing the matriarch of said family to put a cigarette out in the cake (which didn't go out) and that eventually caused the fire by igniting the trash.

Is what I just wrote grammatically sound and correct? No... not at all. My point? Curb is not about what you expect. It's always been about getting there. This episode exemplified that to perfection and for me, that makes it a worthy premiere.

Could I have done without some parts? Sure. Repeating the whole, "I thought your party was tonight" bit at Ted Danson's house was too much. I thought it was funny the first time at Marty's place. Not so much at Ted's. The gag was used and it felt like a stretch seeing it again minutes later. I especially liked Jeff saying that he was going to dress up like a little Dutch girl. I found that hilarious for some reason... I dunno, picture Jeff in lederhosen and clogs.

I loved Larry's use of the word schmohog. Who knew its definition was "poor driver?" Looks like he might be using that phrase a lot though because as of right now, his car is the only living space he has. Something tells me neither Ted nor Marty will have any spare beds though. ("Oh, what's that? You're supposed to stay here tonight? Sorry, guess I forgot. All my guest beds are full.")