Larry David Returns to HBO With Obama-Produced Show
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- "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" premieres on HBO on June 26, with Jeff Schaffer directing all seven episodes and co-creating the show with Larry David; Schaffer describes it as "'Curb' in costume."
- Barack Obama executive produces through Higher Ground and appears in a sketch; the project was pitched as a 250th-birthday celebration, with seeds planted by an FTX commercial in which David "went through world history, dumping on every great invention."
- The show borrows Curb's outline-based writing process — no full scripts, with every scene rewritten live on set — but is shot more cinematically, with the crew building a World War I trench and a Wright Flyer for period-specific sketches.
- Guest cast includes Kathryn Hahn as Mary Todd Lincoln (the only actor on set for two days), Bill Hader as Lincoln, and Jerry Seinfeld in a Lewis and Clark sketch done in a '50s sitcom tone; an attempted Yalta sketch and a Gold Rush piece were cut for lacking a strong angle.
- Larry David's office bathroom displays the Gettysburg Address, which inspired a Curb bit and shaped the show's treatment of historical oratory; Schaffer says David "doesn't want to waste his urination time."
- When Obama offered notes on the show, David pushed back: "I'm the president of this," prompting Obama to joke, "When I was in the Oval Office, I took advice and listened to my advisors, and I was the president of the United States."
- Schaffer confirmed he and David are not done collaborating, citing "a lot more history left on the table," even though the series was originally planned as a six-episode limited event.
Why it matters: The project puts Larry David back on HBO barely a year after Curb ended its 24-year run, pairs him with a former U.S. president as executive producer, and grew from a planned six-episode limited event to seven — evidence that Schaffer and David's creative partnership is far from retired, even as David publicly treats every project like his last.
