Why Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 9 Is The First To Release Its Deleted Scenes
Because of its largely unscripted nature, every single scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm starts off as a potential treasure trove of to-be-deleted material. But for the first eight seasons of the beloved HBO comedy, fans didn't even get to witness any of the unused hilarity that got filmed on the set. (Minus a few extended scenes on one release.) That all changed with Season 9's release, which finally gives fans a peek at the ridiculousness that was meant for the cutting room floor. CinemaBlend recently spoke with showrunner Jeff Schaffer, who told me it was actually Larry David himself who always vetoed the deleted scenes.
Far be it for me to question anything Larry David thinks -- and we're clearly talking about Real Larry here, since I question 92% of the things that TV Larry does -- but why wouldn't he see the inherent value in watching more of this spectacular cast's improvised glory? I like to think he just assumes that every TV studio that puts deleted scenes on its TV DVDs are doing it to spite the customers, as well as the employees who have to edit and add the footage to the DVDs themselves. TV Larry would likely think that some more nefarious motivations were at play.
Not even to speak of the consistent comedic brilliance that Larry David has displayed over Curb Your Enthusiasm's extended run, but I cannot in good conscience believe that a single second of JB Smoove-centered footage exists, deleted or not, that isn't worth every bit of viewer attention. And the same goes for Bob Einstein, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Ted Danson, and just about every other person that has crossed TV paths with Larry over the years. One shudders to think about how much cringe-friendly merriment got trashed in those first eight seasons.
After all, deleted scenes aren't always cut because they're no good, and time is very often a deciding factor. During our talk, Jeff Schaffer brought up one such moment (from the episode "The Nanny from Hell'), in which Larry and Leon's conversation about short pants flies went well beyond what was originally intended.
If Jeff Schaffer hadn't convinced Larry David that deleted scenes are awesome, then we might never have known if Leon's dong could touch toilet water or not. You are a saint among men, Mr. Schaffer.
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 9 is currently available on DVD, so be sure to pick it up from a retailer near you. Or on online, from a retailer far away from you. And don't forget that Season 10 is coming to HBO soon, hopefully before the end of 2018! In the meantime, head to our midseason premiere schedule to see everything that's coming before then.
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Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper. Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.