....many “Seinfeld” fans will come to see Larry David as a kind of comfort food--something that is familiarly enjoyable and easily digestible.
"The Thong"
When can a thong bathing suit be a turn-off? When it is on you male therapist, that´s when! After witnessing his shrink wearing one while on a trip to the beach, Larry plots with his friend Richard Lewis--who is also a patient of the same shrink--on ways to end their relationship with this doctor. At the same time, Rob Reiner manages to persuade Larry to participate in a celebrity auction that benefits Groat´s Syndrome with a "Lunch With Larry" prize. As usual, Larry makes all the wrong comments and insults his lunch guest.
Disc 2:
"The Acupuncturist"
In this episode, the amount of $5,000 gets passed around like a game of musical chairs. First, Larry offers an acupuncturist (Keone Young) $5,000 if he can cure his nagging neck problems. But if the treatment doesn´t work, Larry won´t have to pay for his sessions. Later, Larry meets a former Saturday Night Live writer, Barry (Jeremy Kramer) who is struggling to make ends meet. Barry proceeds to ask Larry for a $5,000 loan on the promise that his wealthy father, played by Ed Asner, who is on the verge of death, will leave Barry everything in his will and he will be able to pay Larry back. One wacky situation leads to another and Larry is accused of murder just so he can get his $5,000 back!
"The Doll"
This is perhaps the funniest episode of the season. After the rejection at HBO, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Larry successfully get ABC to sign off on their project. At a party held at ABC exec Lane Michaelson´s (Zach Grenier) home, Larry inadvertently cuts off the hair of a valuable doll belonging to Lane´s daughter. Jeff and Larry then try to smooth things over with the Michaelsons by stealing the exact same doll´s head from Jeff´s daughter´s collection. In this episode, Rita Wilson guest stars as Lane´s wife Ann.
"Shaq"
Larry and Richard Lewis get to go to the L.A. Laker´s opening game using Jeff´s courtside seat. As you know, Larry is a magnet for misfortune and pretty soon he becomes the entire city´s public enemy number one when he accidentally trips Shaquille O´Neal while stretching his legs. But soon things actually start to go well for Larry. However, this being a Larry David show, good things do not last very long.
"The Baptism"
Cheryl´s sister is getting married to a Jew, who has agreed to convert to Christianity. On the morning that they were supposed to fly to Monterey for the baptism ceremony that would be followed by the wedding, Larry misplaces their flight tickets. After a long journey and arriving just in time for the baptism, Larry proceeds to spark off a religious confrontation between the groom´s Jewish family and the bride´s Christian relatives!
"The Massage"
Jeff recommends his masseuse to Larry who apparently does a little more than the conventional stuff. Horrified, Larry decides against telling Cheryl about it. However, Cheryl has an appointment with a psychic who has proven to be very accurate in the past. Will Larry´s secret come out? Also, Julia and Larry try one more time to pitch their idea, this time to CBS. A night of celebration for Cheryl and Larry turn out to be more than they bargained for.
Video:
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is presented in its original broadcast full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Quality-wise, the video transfer is quite good and is similar to the previous release. Images offer fine detail, sharp colors and natural skin tones throughout all the ten episodes. Upon very close inspection, jagged lines can be seen on the video images but they are not bad enough to cause any distraction. Overall there is very little to complain about the video. Three subtitle options in English, French and Spanish are included.
Audio:
Audio options on this DVD set include both English and French Dolby Surround 2.0. As the show is mainly dialogue-driven, nothing in the non-discrete audio options preclude the show from reaching its potential. Dialogue is very clear and the wacky music score is pleasing to the ears. As for the surround channels, they stay mostly silent.
Extras:
Surprisingly, unlike the previous season, no special features are included on this Season Two 2-DVD set.
Packaging:
The packaging is similar to the previous release and is quite innovative. On the outside, it looks like any normal 2-disc DVD box until you open up the single flap and find that there is no way to get to the discs! Examining it closely, I found the two disc trays holding the DVDs on top of each other slotted tightly into the box. So what do I do now? Push them both out in the same direction? No, you certainly do not want to do that. I finally located a tab at the bottom inside of the outer box with the word, "Pull". Eureka! As I pull one tray out, I was surprised to see the other tray sliding out in opposite direction at the same time! Whether this simple contraption will last the continuous sliding as time goes by remains to be seen. One thing I can say though, is that it´s a nifty little gadget that is as out there as the show itself!
The Bottom Line:
Although still very funny, Season Two of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" features more of the same type of stories from Season One. It´s not really a bad thing at all but how long can the show keep this up before monotony sets in and it starts to repeat itself? Well, hopefully that time will not be anytime soon as Larry David´s twisted sense of humor is a welcome change from the regular network sitcom fares we see on television today. With various shades of George Costanza in him, many "Seinfeld" fans will come to see Larry David as a kind of comfort food--something that is familiarly enjoyable and easily digestible.
When can a thong bathing suit be a turn-off? When it is on you male therapist, that´s when! After witnessing his shrink wearing one while on a trip to the beach, Larry plots with his friend Richard Lewis--who is also a patient of the same shrink--on ways to end their relationship with this doctor. At the same time, Rob Reiner manages to persuade Larry to participate in a celebrity auction that benefits Groat´s Syndrome with a "Lunch With Larry" prize. As usual, Larry makes all the wrong comments and insults his lunch guest.
Disc 2:
"The Acupuncturist"
In this episode, the amount of $5,000 gets passed around like a game of musical chairs. First, Larry offers an acupuncturist (Keone Young) $5,000 if he can cure his nagging neck problems. But if the treatment doesn´t work, Larry won´t have to pay for his sessions. Later, Larry meets a former Saturday Night Live writer, Barry (Jeremy Kramer) who is struggling to make ends meet. Barry proceeds to ask Larry for a $5,000 loan on the promise that his wealthy father, played by Ed Asner, who is on the verge of death, will leave Barry everything in his will and he will be able to pay Larry back. One wacky situation leads to another and Larry is accused of murder just so he can get his $5,000 back!
"The Doll"
This is perhaps the funniest episode of the season. After the rejection at HBO, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Larry successfully get ABC to sign off on their project. At a party held at ABC exec Lane Michaelson´s (Zach Grenier) home, Larry inadvertently cuts off the hair of a valuable doll belonging to Lane´s daughter. Jeff and Larry then try to smooth things over with the Michaelsons by stealing the exact same doll´s head from Jeff´s daughter´s collection. In this episode, Rita Wilson guest stars as Lane´s wife Ann.
"Shaq"
Larry and Richard Lewis get to go to the L.A. Laker´s opening game using Jeff´s courtside seat. As you know, Larry is a magnet for misfortune and pretty soon he becomes the entire city´s public enemy number one when he accidentally trips Shaquille O´Neal while stretching his legs. But soon things actually start to go well for Larry. However, this being a Larry David show, good things do not last very long.
"The Baptism"
Cheryl´s sister is getting married to a Jew, who has agreed to convert to Christianity. On the morning that they were supposed to fly to Monterey for the baptism ceremony that would be followed by the wedding, Larry misplaces their flight tickets. After a long journey and arriving just in time for the baptism, Larry proceeds to spark off a religious confrontation between the groom´s Jewish family and the bride´s Christian relatives!
"The Massage"
Jeff recommends his masseuse to Larry who apparently does a little more than the conventional stuff. Horrified, Larry decides against telling Cheryl about it. However, Cheryl has an appointment with a psychic who has proven to be very accurate in the past. Will Larry´s secret come out? Also, Julia and Larry try one more time to pitch their idea, this time to CBS. A night of celebration for Cheryl and Larry turn out to be more than they bargained for.
Video:
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is presented in its original broadcast full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Quality-wise, the video transfer is quite good and is similar to the previous release. Images offer fine detail, sharp colors and natural skin tones throughout all the ten episodes. Upon very close inspection, jagged lines can be seen on the video images but they are not bad enough to cause any distraction. Overall there is very little to complain about the video. Three subtitle options in English, French and Spanish are included.
Audio:
Audio options on this DVD set include both English and French Dolby Surround 2.0. As the show is mainly dialogue-driven, nothing in the non-discrete audio options preclude the show from reaching its potential. Dialogue is very clear and the wacky music score is pleasing to the ears. As for the surround channels, they stay mostly silent.
Extras:
Surprisingly, unlike the previous season, no special features are included on this Season Two 2-DVD set.
Packaging:
The packaging is similar to the previous release and is quite innovative. On the outside, it looks like any normal 2-disc DVD box until you open up the single flap and find that there is no way to get to the discs! Examining it closely, I found the two disc trays holding the DVDs on top of each other slotted tightly into the box. So what do I do now? Push them both out in the same direction? No, you certainly do not want to do that. I finally located a tab at the bottom inside of the outer box with the word, "Pull". Eureka! As I pull one tray out, I was surprised to see the other tray sliding out in opposite direction at the same time! Whether this simple contraption will last the continuous sliding as time goes by remains to be seen. One thing I can say though, is that it´s a nifty little gadget that is as out there as the show itself!
The Bottom Line:
Although still very funny, Season Two of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" features more of the same type of stories from Season One. It´s not really a bad thing at all but how long can the show keep this up before monotony sets in and it starts to repeat itself? Well, hopefully that time will not be anytime soon as Larry David´s twisted sense of humor is a welcome change from the regular network sitcom fares we see on television today. With various shades of George Costanza in him, many "Seinfeld" fans will come to see Larry David as a kind of comfort food--something that is familiarly enjoyable and easily digestible.
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[release]12332[/release]