Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Bare Midriff

An unforgettable episode not only for every A+ second that Jerry Seinfeld was onscreen but also for a hilarious 1962 flashback scene where LD sings, asks "Are you looking forward to the sex later?", then gets beaten to death and has his blood splattered on a car windshield. It will also be remembered for LD's powerful urine stream causing splash-back of toilet water onto a picture of Jesus, which a couple of troubled Christians mistake for a miraculous tear . . .

The Seinfeld - David interactions (the banter, glances, exchanges) were absolutely perfect. An entire episode of them walking around with be worth watching. It's too bad Seinfeld has been keeping his enormous comedic talent mostly to himself all these years. But, like Johnny Carson, he went out on top and has stayed there in the collective consciousness. Some of Jerry's best lines this episodes include:

"What do you got Seabiscuit in there with you?" (upon hearing LD's medication induced forceful urine output)

"What's "real" got to do with what we do?" (an insightful aside that sums up their writing process)

"He lives in his own mind." (about Larry to Julia Louis-Dreyfus admitting they both don't understand LA)

"Trust your gut." (to an employee with a penchant for showing her flabby bare midriff)

But unfortunately, Seinfeld was not in every scene and the show took too many leaps of logic (the police pulling LD over for stealing deli napkins, for starters) that let him down. I love seeing Richard Lewis get mentally, physically, and emotionally abused though. And the police lineup pretty much nailed the hypocrisy of people who proclaim to be 100% color blind.

After some deliberation, I've decided to not be offended by the splash-back on Jesus. Most Christians are confident enough in their faith that showing a picture of him, or having him do outrageous things on South Park, or even dumping a crucifix in a jar filled with actual urine will not affect them at all. Nor will they riot in the streets. Nor will their faith crumble like a house of cards just by showing his likeness on a cartoon. I didn't like how the Christians were portrayed, but these were deeply disturbed individuals (either as a witness to violence or being completely unaware of their own image).

Jerry's scenes: A+
Flashback scene: A
Everything else: C+
Episode: B+

4 comments:

Lawyer said...

I've been anxiously awaiting this post so I could gush about the Jerry/Larry scenes. I watched the episode a second time last night and it makes me miss lots of my friends because of their rapport. The delivery and looks associated with "Trust your gut" sent me into hysterics. You forgot the "luxury suite" line, which was also a classic. The bits about the luxury suite and the dropped call etiquette were perfect. I can deal with the rest of it - this is among my top 5 episodes of all time. Rewatch 'trust your gut' - its amazing.

Lawyer said...

I wasn't offended by the Jesus bit because we hear about something this ridiculous once a month - Jesus in toast! Jesus in my yard!

Lawyer said...

Priest - please go watch this whole thing - I've now watched the 'trust your gut' sequence about 20 times. Jerry's delivery, then look, then Larry's look, then Jerry's look back are all priceless. TYG is at 2:40. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWsQyoCMIUk

Doctor said...

"I think every erection is a miracle."

Larry finally has an equal on the show and the chemistry there is unbeatable. The over-reactions of the 2 ladies are still too much for me. But the Larry-Jerry scenes are the best thing TV has given us in all of 2009. Just edging out Jemaine singing about his sugar lumps.

"Happy, baby?"