‘Life, Larry’ Director Jeff Schaffer on Obama’s Notes and Why Larry David Will Never Retire: ‘He’s Like a Prostitute Who Has Sex When He’s Not Working’ - Variety

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‘Life, Larry’ Director Jeff Schaffer on Obama’s Notes and Why Larry David Will Never Retire: ‘He’s Like a Prostitute Who Has Sex When He’s Not Working’

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When "Curb Your Enthusiasm" wrapped up its 24-year-run in 2024, fans were concerned it would be the last time they'd see Larry David on screen. He had been saying the HBO sitcom was ending for the better part of the series' run, and with Season 12 he finally called it quits. ("I said it before," he told Variety at the time. "But I wasn't 76 when I said it.")

But his longtime collaborator Jeff Schaffer — who, in his early 20s, joined "Seinfeld" as a writer before becoming a major force behind the scenes of "Curb" — always knew David would be back on TV.

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"I guess we're like a plague of locusts, but you don't have to wait 17 years," he says over Zoom ahead of the premiere of "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," a historical sketch comedy show that he describes as "'Curb' in costume." (Schaffer co-created the project with David and directed all seven episodes.)

The series, which premiered on HBO on June 26, is executive produced by Barack Obama, who also appears in a sketch. In typical David fashion, the "Curb" star plays selfish, petty and unfiltered men throughout history. For every Founding Father looking to free the colonies from British tyranny, there was a Larry (often called Lawrence here) who suggests that sharing desserts and umbrellas should be prohibited by the Declaration of Independence. And in this version of history, Larry takes a stand for Rosa Parks when a white bus driver demands she give up her seat — not because Larry cares about civil rights, but because he's sitting in the aisle and doesn't want to get up.

In other words, the show is a celebration of America's 250th birthday, but one that smears a little cake on the country's face.

"Curb" ended, and we were batting around some ideas. Then this sort of appeared. Larry will forego any opportunity to do things that are offered to him. He's the great foregoer. But he was interested in this one, and we just started writing.

Ethan Lewis at Higher Ground reached out on behalf of the Obamas. They wanted to do something for the 250th, and Larry, who is an American history buff, was interested in the idea of Larry going through history. To be honest, the seeds of this started a few years earlier when we did this commercial for FTX — lovely people, I don't know what happened to them. Basically, Larry went through world history, dumping on every great invention. He remembered how much he liked being in costume, and he forgot how much he hated being in wigs.

So, Larry took a shine to this idea very quickly, in a way that Larry rarely takes a shine to anything. It helps that he and President Obama have a really good rapport, as you see in the show. From the first meeting, it was like, "We've got to get these two on screen together."

Larry can't sit still. He's like a prostitute who has sex when he's not working. He's always writing and thinking about stuff. We were actually in the beginning stages of thinking about other things to do after "Curb." There was a movie we were thinking about, and there was a possible limited series we were thinking about, but this seemed appealing for a variety of reasons. One was working with the Obamas, and two was that the show had a deadline. It had to be done by now for the 250th.

The idea that it was eventized appealed to us. We said we'd do six episodes, and that'll be that. It didn't feel like it had the full weight of a series where you have to worry about Season 2 or Season 3. It was just a lark. But we ended up making so many sketches that we did seven episodes. Frankly, the thing that really appealed to Larry is that he loves American history. He studies it. This is a man who has the Gettysburg Address in his bathroom.

Yeah, his office bathroom has the Gettysburg Address. That's where we got that "Curb" bit from. He doesn't want to waste his urination time. Like his urination, those fallen soldiers of Gettysburg shall not be in vain.