First off,
(1) Have always been a Seinfeld nut
(2) Don’t have HBO (moody and cheap bastard, I suppose)
(3) Local retail store has the first season of Curb on DVD for 30 bucks
Q: Can I buy this thing blind with an assured heart?
I loved Seinfeld, but i could take or leave Curb your enthusiasm. If i understood correctly you’ve never actually seen the show and you want to know if you will definitely enjoy it? Well, thats really impossible to know, chances are yes you will enjoy it if you liked Seinfeld, but then again you might hate it. Personally i wouldn’t buy an entire season of a series without having watched a single episode.
Oooh. Don’t know if I’d buy it blind, but I’m definitely a fan. The pacing and method of dialogue take a little while to get used to, especially if you’re used to the standard sitcom way of doing things. Much of the dialogue in CYE is unscripted, and it can be a little unsettling at first, but believe me, it grows on you.
I think it’s one of the best shows on TV these days, but I have trouble recommending it to people because it’s so different from what people are used to. Does that make sense?
Not to mention that, in Seinfeld, bizarre circumstances almost seemed to invent themselves DESPITE the leads’ best intentions. In CYE, Larry tends to bring the bizarre circumstances upon himself because he’s such a neurotic, opinionated jackass.
Although, it does help to remember that Larry David = George Costanza.
It depends, really. If you’re a Seinfeld nut but really didn’t like George, you probably won’t like Curb Your Enthusiasm.
I’m love Seinfeld and can pretty much answer any trivia question related to the show. The first time I watched CYE, however, I hated it. Now, I can’t get enough of it.
Just bear in mind that much (most?) of the show’s dialogue is ad-libbed and Larry David is an asshole with waaay too much time on his hands.
Great minds, eh, Juanita? 
Moody,
I’ll disagree with Tremmie and say, baseed on your point 1, point 2, and your username: Get it, you’ll love it.
Unless you don’t like mean, mendacious humor. If you loved Seinfeld EXCEPT for George Costanza, then skip it. But if you thought George was pretty often the best part of an episode, then CYE will be right up your alley. Larry David is 10x the jerk George Costanza was, with 10,000x the money. (Of course, in real life Larry was largely the basis for the Costanza character).
What the truck? Temmie’s was the last comment shown to me on preview.
And I really like how *all 3 of us independently * decided to use the CYE acronym.
CYE is one of the best shows ever. It’s so anti-PC that it definitely isn’t everyone’s cup o’ tea, but to me, it’s a refreshing breath of rude, cynical, obnoxious air. I just love it. I especially love his friend’s foul-mouthed wife. She’s to CYE what Cramer was to Seinfeld.
Thanks for the input, friends. I guess what I was really looking for was more of the unabashed raves I’ve been hearing about the show, to steel me in my (at least somewhat) foolhardy purchase of the entire season of a program I’ve yet to see… but the foolhardy purchases are the most fun, aren’t they?
I just have a feeling I’ll love it. George C. is my god (on the days that Kenny Bania isn’t), so I’m not worried about being off-put by the Larry David sensibility. As for the unscripted dialogue, that can be very cool.
Anyway, Spurious George came closest to scratching my impulse-buyin’ itch.
Well, I must be the only American who ignored Seinfeld completely, seeing one episode in a laundromat and the last ten minutes of the final one, and I still love CYE. I always loved snarky anti-hero shows, like Action and Arrested Development and It’s Your Move and Homicide. I think mostly it’s Larry but sometimes people react like total jerks to anything he says and he’s stuck with it. I remember the adoptive-mother-to-be two weeks ago–what an a-hole!
CYE and Arrested Development (the best comedy on television right now) have great camera angles. The placement of the cameras and the way the camerman zooms in as if even he wasn’t expecting that particular character to say/do what she just said/did is great.
Action was a great show. I caught some sort of marathon on Comedy Central one morning and wondered why I’d never heard of that show! Thanks that show, I now like Jay Mohr. I wasn’t exactly his biggest fan before.
Buy or Rent the movie Sour Grapes…it is Larry David’s writer/director debut. The actors/performances aren’t great but if you enjoy the comic style and the general delivery of the plot you will CERTAINLY love Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb is my favorite show on TV and the ONLY reason I subscribe to HBO, sad I know.
Being a Seinfeld fan really doesn’t help but it doesn’t hurt.