What I’m Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season Premiere)

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 10, Episode 1 “Happy New Year” (B+)

It’s been over two years since this show last aired, and it’s just as relevant and hilarious as ever. The timeliest reference was the MAGA hat, and of course Larry would use it as a repellant so that he could avoid annoying lunches, having people sit next to him at the sushi bar, and the possibility of getting hurt by far scarier people when he was the one at fault. A far more innocuous realization was that people do tend to say “Happy New Year” far beyond the first of the year, just one of many typical things that bugged Larry and ended up getting him into trouble over the course of the hour. Ogling the pigs in a blanket and then accidentally grabbing the waitress’ breast got him into trouble, especially when Alice got on the phone with the waitress and compared stories of her own experiences. Jeff being mistaken for Harvey Weinstein is humorous and understandable, and I thought he’d be in bigger trouble for laughing too much at Cheryl and Larry making fun of what Susie was wearing. It’s nice to see a new plot development sure to have lasting implications: Larry sleeping with Cheryl, something she inexplicably still wants to do but might be more complicated now that he put her in the hospital because he put on talcum powder before they had sex. I can’t wait to see how badly Larry fails at opening up a rival coffee shop to get revenge on Mocha Joe. This show is always great fun.