TV Watch: Curb Your Enthusiasm

One of the most amazing things about “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (and “Seinfeld,” for that matter) has been the ability of Team Larry David to make numerous, seemingly unrelated (and insignificant) developments coalesce into a terrifically funny ending.

Oh, that Davidian-Seinfeldian joy, when all the little details would rise into one enormous fugue of laughtrack-driven ecstasy as George collapsed to the floor in his undies or Kramer made a final exit. Not only were all of these developments funny on their own, but when they came together for a magnificent denouement, you appreciated them tenfold.

After a very solid episode to begin the fifth season, I felt confident that Larry David’s brilliance had not yet eroded. But the second episode, entitled “The Bowtie,” was very weak--over-populated with incidents in which David is just a little too obnoxious, and a bit under-populated with the aforementioned coalescing plot developments. Then again, the last three episodes have been among the series’ best, so perhaps all hope is not lost. The ending to Episode 4, “Kamikaze Bingo,” left me laughing for longer than the duration of the show itself.

This week’s show, “Lewis Needs a Kidney,” was David at his finest: Richard Lewis needs a kidney transplant, and Larry and Jeff decide to take the test for compatibility. When both pass, we witness what is, to my knowledge, the most contentious game of eenie-meenie-minie-moe yet played in human history.

Have no fear, “Curb” is still the funniest show on television.