‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ is an expression coined by Larry David, the other man behind Jerry Seinfeld‘s eponymous show. It’s a request that fans, expecting David’s show to be as good as (or better than Seinfeld), should limit their fervor for the new show. And since Limit your Fervor doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, David wisely titled his show Curb your Enthusiasm.

Season 7 finds Larry David in a relationship with Loretta (Vivica A. Fox), a hurricane refugee from the gulf coast. Her entire family has moved into Larry’s house, and are making themselves at home, more so than Larry would like. Among the refugees is Leon (J.B. Smoove), a fast-talking comic force who steals any scene he winds up in. Smoove might be the Chris Tucker of the current generation, only I can’t remember ever laughing this hard at a Chris Tucker movie.

The Larry David character has remained the same, as big of a curmudgeon as ever. He’s argumentative, impulsive, brash, insensitive, manipulative, self-destructive, opinionated, and bald, but he’s as fun to watch as ever. And with every new episode, I found myself laughing more and more as good old L.D. worked his way into impossibly absurd social situations that never failed to deliver exactly what he had coming.

Being unfamiliar with the show, I found myself put off by the first episode, asking how anyone could possibly be endeared by the fast-tempered and socially inept protagonist that is Larry David. Having never watched Seinfeld, his brand of humor was a little unfamiliar. But as someone who has been converted to a Curb fan, I’d like to take the opportunity to explain some of the shows many merits, from the perspective of someone who has only recently become a convert to them.

The Larry David character is, like Seinfeld‘s George Costanza, a caricature of David himself. L.D. plays up all of his negative personality traits, character flaws that all of us have to varying degrees, allowing him to be a jerk – but an all-too-relatable one. The humor therefore comes from a real place because it’s character driven, or rather caricature driven.

David also doubles as the show’s Executive Producer and Story Writer. And in addition to pulling these off seamlessly, David is able to create very compelling, very funny interwoven storylines for each episode. But instead of a centering around a kindhearted protagonist, these storylines usually revolve around L.D.’s immoral scheming and his penchant for serves-you-right endings. It’s like Arrested Development starring Archie Bunker.

Curb is very subtly aware of itself and it’s characters. At one point, as L.D. tries to reunite the cast of Seinfeld for a reunion episode, Michael Richards finds his way into a shouting match with Leon that escalates quickly, culminating in the ex-standup comedian yelling, “If only there was a name I could call you that would make you as angry as

I am!” Those missing the reference might benefit from learning exactly what such a name might be. And speaking or Seinfeld, Season 7 of Curb revolves around David bringing back the cast of the sitcom for a reunion show after 11 years. While I won’t ruin any of the details, I will contend that the reunion show is handled masterfully, as it brings back everything that was good about the show without actually stooping to the level of showing a full length reunion episode. It’s a must see for any Seinfeld fan!

My biggest complaint about Curb is it’s length. Each episode is about 30 minutes (no commercials — it’s HBO) which is a nice upgrade from the standard 22-25 minute “half-hour” tv show. But each season is a measly 10 episodes. That means you can watch a season of Curb your Enthusiasm in five hours! It’s tiny! Luckily, as it prepares for it’s 8th season, Curb shows no signs of letting up. In fact, it will soon become the longest scripted show in HBO history (non-script-based shows like news or sports coverage have run for longer).

Season 7 includes a few behind the scenes looks at the show, including one that focuses in on the Seinfeld reunion episode. It’s clear, more through this featurette than through watching Curb exactly how much work went into re-creating a sitcom over a decade old. Very impressive, but the special features pertaining to Curb are a bit lacking.

The one thing I have left to do now is watch seasons 1-6. For those of you in the opposite situation, I wish you happy viewing… Curb your Enthusiasm Season 7 is prettay, pretty good!