Curb Your Enthusiasm fans are about to be prettay … prettay sad.
The longstanding comedy series will officially end with its 12th season, which is set to premiere on February 4, 2024, on HBO and Max. The final season, marking the end of HBO’s longest-running comedy series, will consist of 10 episodes on Sundays at 10 p.m., leading up to the series finale on April 7.
Larry David, who serves as the star, creator, writer and executive producer of the show, made the announcement on Thursday, December 14.
“As Curb comes to an end, I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be — the thoughtful, kind, caring, considerate human being I was until I got derailed by portraying this malignant character,” David, 76, said in a statement. “And so ‘Larry David,’ I bid you farewell. Your misanthropy will not be missed. And for those of you who would like to get in touch with me, you can reach me at Doctors Without Borders.”
The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning show premiered with an hour-long special on October 17, 1999. The first eight seasons of the series aired from 2000 to 2011. Curb then took a six-year hiatus, before returning for a ninth season in 2017, a tenth season in 2020, and an eleventh season in 2021.
The network describes the show as a “comedy series that continues to prove how seemingly trivial details of one’s day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.”
David served as the co-creator, writer and producer of Seinfeld. In Curb Your Enthusiasm, his character, a fictionalized version of himself, is well known as the co-creator and main co-writer of the iconic sitcom which starred Jerry Seinfeld. The series follows David’s life as he is semi-retired and enjoying the fortune he earned from the Seinfeld series.
“It’s hard to say farewell to such a ground-breaking, brilliantly funny and iconic series like Curb Your Enthusiasm, which has left its mark across television and the comedy genre,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO & Max Content, said in a statement Thursday. “Working alongside Larry David and [executive producer] Jeff Schaffer as well as all of the comedic masterminds that comprise our producers, cast and crew has been a joy that I will always treasure.”
After season 11 premiered in 2021, it was not known if the show would continue. When asked on The Rich Eisen Show in October 2021 whether Curb Your Enthusiasm would return for a twelfth season, David couldn’t give a definite answer.
“Oh god, Rich. Don’t do this to me now. It’s too soon,” he said. “It’s way too soon. I need to see how I feel, you know. It’s a huge mountain to climb to—first of all—to write it, to shoot it, to edit. It’s about 18 months from beginning to end. So it’s a big obligation.”
Executive producer Jeff Schaffer told The Hollywood Reporter in August 2022 that each season is always the last — until David decided whether he wanted to continue the show. He noted that an alternate ending to season 11 was even shot with a David death scene, however, it never made it to air.
“[Larry] said, ‘I’m not ready to die,’” Schaffer told THR.
For the final season, David will be joined once again by series regulars Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, J.B. Smoove, Richard Lewis and Ted Danson. Vince Vaughn and Tracey Ullman will also join the cast for season 12.
