It's just like Larry David to weasel his way out of a proper "Seinfeld" reunion. Instead, he slipped them into season seven of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for a five-episode stint about a faux "Seinfeld" reunion that we may never actually get to see.
It's perfectly fitting that Larry, simultaneously self-loathing and narcissistic, would give Jerry Seinfeld the chance to call the reunion "desperate" and "pathetic," and that Jason Alexander would take an on-camera cheap shot at the lame "Seinfeld" finale.
Of course a show about nothing would have a reunion that's no big whoop.
But in real life, it was a slightly bigger whoop than that, remembers Alexander. There was even some George-worthy anxiety. "We anticipated some less-than-stellar things," he said. "But none of them occurred. The concerns were that we wouldn't have it anymore. It's been a decade and change. We wondered, was the chemistry a thing of its time? Do I even know how to do this anymore?"
Judging by the ratings, the gang still has it. The first episode of the anti-reunion earned "Curb Your Enthusiasm" its best ratings in five years, with 1.6 million viewers. In Sunday night's episode, Larry and Jerry debate how best to incorporate a bare-midriff assistant and a crying Jesus into the reunion show.
Surreal, yes, but so familiar, says Alexander. There's a little more to it than putting on the thicker accents and glasses," he says. "But all those fears were completely unfounded. We clicked back with each other in seconds. It was 'Curb'! It was all improvisation, and it didn't carry any of the burden of trying to be another 'Seinfeld.'"
So far, the only topic that's been off limits has been Michael Richards' 2006 racist rant, but maybe Larry's saving the best for last. "Michael would work very differently from the rest of us," says Alexander. "But it was great for the show, because Kramer was the odd man out. He would find so much of his performance on his own. The other three of us would find our performances in rehearsal. He'd come in on the third day of rehearsals, having found everything overnight. He was a little off. But exactly right for the character."
Since "Seinfeld" went off the air in 1998, Jerry settled down and had kids, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has found success with "The New Adventures of Old Christine," and Richards wisely decided to retire from stand-up. Alexander has been touring with "The Donny Clay Experience," an evening with a mystifying motivational speaker that Alexander wrote, directs and produces. But they are all as unassuming as they were during "Seinfeld's" first season, when it looked like it would be a flop.
"There are no divas," says Alexander. "Well, Julia takes the longest in hair and makeup, but that doesn't count. That's because when the show was popular, we didn't always really realize it. The show was so floundering when we began, that when it kicked over, we were just still doing the same thing."
Nothing, really.
I have been a Seinfeld fan ever since it started and since it's finale over 10 years ago, faithfully watch it from 10 pm to 11 pm Sun.-Fri. Those four individuals have more than just chemistry together and I think that this non-reunion, reunion is too long overdue. My thanks goes out to Larry, Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer, Newman and all the rest of the gang for giving your fans (and we are great in number) more of what we Love and Enjoy, and that is Watching you guys together. I never tire watching "The Soup Nazi" or any of the episodes. It is such genius to make a half hour show (not including the commercials) where they run 2 or 3 stories and come full circle at the end of the show like they do. Brilliant I tell ya, simply brilliant.