Larry David almost went out on top. Then he made the mistake of getting mixed up with Barry and Michelle Obama.
No one has to watch HBO’s Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness to know it stinks. We’ve all seen the trailers and promos, which reek of desperation, of the legendary Larry David counting on his legacy as he becomes a self-parody, yelling at famous figures throughout American history.
It reminds me of Lucille Ball’s final sitcom, 1986’s Life With Lucy, with the 75-year-old embarrassing herself, hoping to recreate the magic that made her a superstar 30 years earlier. It was all so forced, so tired, so contrived, so undignified, sort of like this:
Life with Lucy was mercifully put out of its misery after 13 episodes.
HBO’s Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness is scheduled for seven episodes and is mercifully advertised as a limited series, which means there should not be a second season. Which is good because no one likes it.
Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Larry sits at a 53 percent rotten score with critics. Among Normal People, it sits at an even worse 51 percent score.
That 53 percent critic rating is especially terrible when you look at the full context. Critics hate it even though…
- Larry David has always been a critical darling.
- Larry David is a Trump hater.
- This Larry David show makes a mockery of America.
- Barry and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions is behind the show.
That is exactly the kind of show or movie critics grade on a generous curve, and even with that generous curve, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness sits at a humiliating 53 percent rotten.
Larry David is 79-years-old, he has two classic, long-running sitcoms to his name (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), but just like Lucille Ball (who also had two classic, long-running sitcoms prior to Life with Lucy), he doesn’t know when he’s lost touch and when it’s time to let go.
Wanna know who knew when to let go and walk out on top? Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld knows there will never be another Seinfeld and that any attempt to try will only sully his legacy. Larry probably knew that, but I’m guessing he got suckered into this disaster by Barry Obama.
Obama has no sense of humor. He can deliver a joke, but he has never had a sense of humor. He takes everything way too seriously, especially himself. So, it is not hard to imagine a guy with no sense of humor sitting around with Michelle and thinking (like he did with Obamacare) that he had a brilliant idea: Larry David’s Curb character running around yelling at famous people throughout history will be high-larious.
And Larry David, who’s staring age 80 in the face, gets that phone call from his hero Obama and can’t turn down one last hurrah.