‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman & Jeff Schaffer On That Finale: “We Steered The Titanic Back At The Iceberg”
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details from the series finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is over, for now, at least.
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The fact that the final scene was on an airplane, with Susie Greene, played by Susie Essman, shouting at Larry, as always, felt symbolic, given that landing the plane for a series finale can be somewhat turbulent.
But Sunday’s finale came full circle from another major finale that Larry David was involved in. “This is how we should have ended the [Seinfeld] finale,” David tells Jerry Seinfeld after he got him out of jail.
Executive producer Jeff Schaffer and Essman spoke with Deadline the morning after the night before, discussing how they wrapped it up, how they feel about wrapping it up, being finally able to talk about it, how regularly JB Smoove is pitching his own Leon spinoff and whether it really is the last episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
“Endings are really hard,” admits Essman. “I love that we steered the Titanic back at the iceberg,” jokes Schaffer. “It was the most Curb way to end Curb.”
DEADLINE: It’s the morning after the series finale aired. How are you both feeling now?
SUSIE ESSMAN: I’m feeling great. The first time I saw it was last night. I see all the episodes ahead of time except this one. I did not. A couple of weeks ago, Larry said, “Do you want to see it?” I was like, “I want to see when everybody else sees it.” I want that experience. I knew what it was, I was there where we were shooting it. I knew the story. But I couldn’t have been happier with how it all came together. I just thought it was just absolutely perfect.
JEFF SCHAFFER: It’s not a sad occasion. Susie, do you feel like it’s a sad occasion?
ESSMAN: No, it feels joyous to me. It doesn’t feel sad to me at all. What felt sad was the last day of shooting. That was when it felt sad. But that was over a year ago. Just seeing the culmination of all these years, I just loved it, I couldn’t have been happier.
SCHAFFER: I feel relieved to not have to dissemble how the show is ending. We’ve been carrying this deep dark family secret for a year and a half. That’s all anyone wants to know. It’s like, how’s it gonna end? Don’t worry about how it’s going to end, watch the first nine shows, they’re pretty good. What I’m proud of is that it’s a funny episode of Curb, which is the most important part.
I love that we steered the Titanic back at the iceberg. And like, and, and just the idea that we’re you know what I like about it. What I like about it is that it’s a great Curb episode with funny Curb stuff, but it also speaks to something bigger. It really speaks to Larry’s contrary DNA. This finale was about more than just the show, and that made it a fitting end to the series, to tie in sort of all of Larry’s work in one fell swoop and then still get to say goodbye to all of our cast, doing what they do best, which is screaming at each other. I feel like we balanced the legacy part and the comedy part in equal measure.
ESSMAN: That’s not easy to do. Endings are really hard. Really, really hard. I think these guys just nailed it.
DEADLINE: The reviews are quite positive. Jeff, is there a little part of you that hates the fact that people enjoyed the finale?
SCHAFFER: [Laughs]. No, we were taking a big swing when we were going to do this, but it felt like it was the right swing. I was never nervous about it. Larry was getting was a little apprehensive. I watched it with him last night and he got all this positive feedback and he felt really content. I felt great too that he felt good about it.
It was the most Curb way to end Curb. There’s so many scenes where you’re watching through covered eyes, like ‘Oh, my God is Larry going to actually do that. He’s not going to go back in there. He’s not going to ask that gay couple whose semen it is. He’s not going to ask Allison Janney how she committed suicide. Oh my God, he’s doing it.’ We want to take that, which is the essence of a Curb scene, and stretch it out across a season and we actually did that. People were saying they’re not really going to do that and then we did that.
ESSMAN: Could you imagine if it ended with Cheryl going back to Larry and leaving Ted, they walk out into the sunset happily ever. No, no.
DEADLINE: When we spoke before this season premiered, you said it would be “funniest if this is the final one.” Was that in reference to the line “This is how we should have ended the finale.”
SCHAFFER: Yes. When we realized that we were going to redo the Seinfeld finale as part of a meta joke and tell everybody Larry’s never learned his lesson. You didn’t like it before? Here’s a big middle finger, we’re doing it again. It only works if it’s the finale. Redoing the Seinfeld finale only works if it’s the Curb finale. If this was just a middle episode, or the end of Season 9 or something, it would feel like a gimmick. That’s why that story ended the series.
DEADLINE: Susie says earlier in the season she’s all about loving and warmth. Despite that, how much are you going to miss shouting at Larry?
ESSMAN: I will definitely miss shouting at Larry. Absolutely. But I can always call him up. I’ll definitely miss it. I think that I have done every possible configuration, finding every alliteration I could do and I feel satisfied that I’ve done it for long enough.
SCHAFFER: You ended episode nine calling him a Covid-carrying c*cksucker.
ESSMAN: Now one of my favorites.
SCHAFFER: I’m so glad you brought up that line from therapy because I’ve referenced that before as one of the greatest examples of lack of self-awareness in the history of the planet. But the truth is, it’s fun for Susie, it’s certainly fun for us. You know who it’s just catnip for? One Larry David. He giggles like a schoolgirl. He breaks every time. Susie yelling at Larry is Larry David’s kryptonite.
ESSMAN: I’m thinking ‘Isn’t he used to this by now?’ He can’t get enough of it.
DEADLINE: There’s a scene in the hotel when Larry says to the little boy that he’s never learned a lesson in his life. That feels like it sums up Larry David the TV character more than anything.
SCHAFFER: We were talking about that scene, not as a scene that would be in the finale, just as a funny little story. That was literally the lightbulb moment for this series end. Hold on. We’ve been talking about going to trial. Let’s just own this. Let’s just tell everyone you’ve never learned a lesson and let’s re-create the Seinfeld finale and just go for it.
DEADLINE: The trip down memory lane with all of the old characters was great to see. I was at the Greek Theater when Bailey Thompson (who played a child that had a run-in with Larry in Season 2) introduced herself over 20 years later.
SCHAFFER: Larry was talking about that Greek Theater event and we were like, ‘We have to bring her back.’ Let’s get someone who was a child and is now an adult and has gone through 22 years of therapy. It was so fortuitous that she was at that Greek event. It really helped; we knew that was one of our linchpins for trial witnesses.
DEADLINE: Was there anybody who you wanted to bring back for that but you weren’t able to?
ESSMAN: I can’t think of anybody, besides obviously, you know, Bob Einstein and Shelley Berman and those who are no longer capable of being with us.
SCHAFFER: Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Ullman, we got way earlier in the season. We pretty much were able to get and gather who we wanted to gather. It was just about making sure that we had the right amount. You can’t do too many because you don’t want Larry to be to inactive.
ESSMAN: There are plenty to go around, the list must have been long.
DEADLINE: Larry is still respecting wood, right there at the end.
SCHAFFER: Larry’s a rule follower. They’re his own rules, and they seem arbitrary and sometimes insane. But he follows them.
DEADLINE: Using JB Smoove as the way into Seinfeld was lovely. His quote “You didn’t tell me Seinfeld was a show about weekly ass” was quite a line.
SCHAFFER: That was me. When we were talking about what were going to do with Leon, we realized, he’s going to think it was just a show about f*cking. The rest of it was all JB, but that was in the script. It was the perfect way to talk about Seinfeld. A guy who’s never seen it. Him commenting on how he doesn’t really care for Kramer. There’s a really fun scene of Leon and Jerry together.
DEADLINE: How often is JB pitching you his Leon spinoff?
SCHAFFER: Leon has a healthy life when he’s not with Larry. He leads a very adventurous life.
DEADLINE: I saw clip after the final scene was shot. Those were some very sweet words from Richard Lewis.
ESSMAN: That was March 24, 2023, the day we wrapped and we all knew it was the last day, we all knew it was the last scene of the last season. It was emotional. Larry was very quiet. He’s not Mr. Sentimental, he was very quiet that day. I was gonna say something. Then I knew that I would start crying and I didn’t want to do that, because that doesn’t feel right. But Richard got up first and said something. Richard was always sappy. Richard was always a very sentimental guy. What he basically said was thanking Larry, his best friend for all these years of what he’s done. Then Cheryl said how much Larry changed her life and then Jeff wept.
DEADLINE: When we last spoke, Jeff, you said, “There’s nothing more Larry David than saying it’s the final season, having all this hoopla and then slinking back.” When do you think he’ll change his mind?
ESSMAN: I don’t. Jeff, do you?
SCHAFFER: I will say this for context. Susie has always been the most optimistic after every season, we’re sort of done. Then Susie would talk to me and say he’s coming back. Susie has always been the optimistic canary in the coal mine.
ESSMAN: I was always right.
SCHAFFER: I think she’s right this time, too. I will just say, Larry hasn’t stopped having spirited discussions with the populace of the west side of Los Angeles. He didn’t all of a sudden forget how to be annoyed. Something’s gonna happen. That stuff’s gotta go somewhere.
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