Larry David's new HBO series, 'Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America', reimagines 250 years of US history as a series of escalating, socially awkward celebrations of epic pettiness. It is essentially 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in britches and bonnets, and its audacity will leave viewers stunned.
A Truth Teller for America
Walt Whitman wrote 'I hear America singing' in 'Leaves of Grass', but David's show suggests the song is more like 'USA! USA!' backed by a klaxon and foam finger. For a country evangelical about its superiority, there is a dark underbelly—and overbelly—they prefer to ignore. David, now 78, plays about 25 characters, including Deep Throat from Watergate, a World War I soldier, Alexander Graham Bell, and a Great Depression-era destitute. These setups allow for anachronistic observations about phone etiquette and queue behavior, but the sharpest sketches target the hottest parts of American history.
Heresy and Taboo Conversations
David has always been drawn to heresy and taboo. The show zooms into moments involving Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, and the Underground Railroad. Sympathetic abolitionists hiding enslaved people in safe houses is noble, but the series suggests both parties would face domestic friction. These scenes unfold unexpectedly, ending with a puce-faced David calling someone out or being humiliated in an explosion of sarcastic theatrics. The more unhinged his rants, the more audiences warm to him, because his persona is shrewd, pernickety, and committed to fairness. Modern life relies on swallowing indignities, but David cannot do it—he escalates arguments and suffers consequences, losing friends and sexual opportunities.
A Sketch Show with Historical Scaffolding
The series is a simple sketch show draped over the scaffold of a history lesson. Voiceover provides context for events like the Boston Tea Party or the writing of the Constitution before David and his cast appear in funny wigs. The show likely owes a debt to 'Hamilton', and Lin-Manuel Miranda appears alongside stars like Bill Hader, Jon Hamm, Kathryn Hahn, and Jane Krakowski. David's genius lifts the series above didacticism, capturing absurdities of language down to the sonic level. Leaping haphazardly between historical scenarios from the 1700s to 2018 gives him a postmodern sandpit to play in. 'This gets up my dander,' he says, mostly to amuse himself. Playing Senator Joseph McCarthy, he warns 'no one sniffs out chicanery like tail gunner Joe.'
Audacity and Anti-Bullying
American history and politics are no playground, but David is equipped with titanium balls to wade in. He pokes holes in American lore, the marching band fanfare of the credits as sarcastic as anything he says. A sketch in the second episode is so audacious it makes the jaw drop. Barack Obama appears, like everyone's cool dad who is not angry, just disappointed. More than old-timey fun, the show holds an antique mirror to the USA of today and finds what it sees: pretty, pretty, pretty bad.
