Larry David is still on the fence about another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
On hand at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Thursday to peddle his upcoming HBO telepic, Clear History, the comedian garnered big laughs as he was asked to address everything from the future of his long-running comedy to his decision to make the film, about a man who walks away from a start-up and looses out on making billions.
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“I really don’t know. I couldn’t say,” he said of Curbs’ future, suggesting that that reporter who asked what he deemed “not such a good question” ask him again in six months. Pressed again minutes later on why he has such trouble committing to additional seasons of his critically adored HBO series, he laughed: “I’m just an indecisive fella. You should see me at a restaurant,” he quipped, adding: “I’m lazy.”
David acknowledged that his decision to make a movie rather than another season of the comedy series was born out of a desire to try something different. That the two projects are similar in tone and sensibility, however, is by design, though director Greg Mottola noted that it was important to both men that they strike the right balance. “The thing that kept me up at night was that the movie would be either too much like Curb or not enough like Curb,” the helmer told reporters. (He and David made a strategic decision not to populate the film with Curb actors, with the exception for JB Smoove. “It’s hard to say no to JB. Larry and JB together is pure gold,” said Motolla.)
Much like Curb, Clear History is heavily reliant on improv. In fact, the film's actors, who include Jon Hamm, Eva Mendes and Danny McBride, among others, were given a 35-page treatment with story arcs but no dialogue. David insists that while the who’s who of talent that he enlisted didn’t all have improv backgrounds, everybody rose to the occasion and impressed. As for the omission of Liev Shreiber, star of rival Showtime’s Ray Donovan, from the movie's marketing materials, David suggested it was “a Showtime issue.” He deadpanned: “There’s a kind of Showtime/HBO thing.”
The remainder of the panel was filled out by other David one-liners, including one in which he revealed his rationale for naming a painting of a shopping cart in the movie 'a Plepler.' Without making any mention of HBO's CEO, Richard Plepler, David shrugged his shoulders and said:" Plepler, I think is a funny name... Why the two Ls there?" When a reporter asked whether there were any troubles getting the name passed legal, David joked: "no trouble at all."
