After a pretty, pretty good run, comedian Larry David is ending “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” his celebrated HBO sitcom, with its 12th and final season premiering Feb. 4, the network announced Thursday.
In a statement, the creator joked that as the show “comes to an end, I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be – the thoughtful, kind, caring, considerate human being I was until I got derailed by portraying this malignant character.”
He added: “And so ‘Larry David,’ I bid you farewell. Your misanthropy will not be missed. And for those of you who would like to get in touch with me, you can reach me at Doctors Without Borders.”
HBO head Casey Bloys praised the show, which follows the foibles of a satirical and heightened version of David himself, for breaking new ground for TV comedies.
“It’s hard to say farewell to such a ground-breaking, brilliantly funny and iconic series like CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, which has left its mark across television and the comedy genre,” Bloys said in a statement.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” first premiered in 2000, after David co-created and served as head writer on “Seinfeld.” With sometimes long hiatuses between each season, there have been perennial rumblings that David was considering ending the show — and at various points, has changed his mind.
In November, at a New York event previewing HBO’s 2024 programming, Bloys told reporters any decision to end the show would be up to David himself.
“We generally leave that up to Larry, and I think he’s thinking about what he wants to do. He knows it’s kind of been an open invitation. So I think he’s going to decide whether he wants to keep doing more or make this the final season,” Bloys said. “So I would guess before it airs, he’ll decide what he wants to do.”
The Emmy-winning sitcom chronicles a fictional version of David and his family and friends, as he deals with everyday annoyances, anxieties, grievances and social awkwardness. Each season has also featured frequent celebrity guest stars playing exaggerated versions of themselves.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” is known for its documentary-like cameras and improvisational filming style. David starts each episode with a rough outline of the plot, and then allows the actors to improvise dialogue as they go along. The show regularly provides fodder for memes, especially its memorably bumbling theme music, often used to punctuate ridiculous moments in real life.
The show’s final season will contain 10 episodes, with the series finale airing on April 7.