History was my favorite subject in school, but let’s be honest…history, like Karma, is best served with a side dish of humor.
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
I am a Seinfeld fan, and I totally love President Barack Obama, so when I heard that Obama was involved with Larry David’s new series on HBO MAX…I had to watch! This series, which was created by Larry David and Jeff Schaffer was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness takes an improvised and comedic approach to major events that took place in American history. If we are going to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of these United States…this is the best way to do it.
There are seven episodes. and Larry David plays his characters close to what we see on Curb Your Enthusiasm. In the first episode, Barack Obama gives a cold open introduction followed by a skit on Robert R Livingston, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Alexander Bell and his telephone, World War 1, and Rosa Parks.
The skits are laugh-out-loud reimagining’s of true events. The Rosa Parks reinvention was the best. I don’t know how actress Jurnee Smollett kept her composure in the retelling of that historical bus incident, but let’s just say that Larry David’s character was such a “Nudge” that you could almost imagine Rosa climbing over other passengers to get away from him.
In Episode 2, I was surprised to see Rob Reiner play the character of George Washington. It was a stark reality of his unexpected loss. There are many guest appearances: Henry Winkler, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Hamn, Timothy Olyphant and Paul Rudd…but I’ve only listed the tip of the iceberg. And the subject matter covers almost all the major events.
Conclusion
I hadn’t intended to write a review of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, not at first, because our country is broken…badly broken, and I wasn’t sure how this review would be accepted. But then, I never expected a project with Larry David and Barack Obama.
Larry does what he is famous for in his other shows. Larry plays the whining, neurotic, pain in the butt like a 1715 Baron Knoop Stradivarius. He has perfected the role of “Nudge” (and Italian grandmother’s description), and he played his role perfectly in the very last episode with former President Obama.
The Tan Suit
We don’t laugh anymore in this country. There is way too much anger. But, while Barack Obama was president, I slept better. I felt safe, and I felt proud of my country. The very last episode is about the infamous tan suit that President Barack Obama wore to a press conference. How Obama was forced into wearing the suit is portrayed so comically, that I had to watch the episode, twice.
The whole idea of a country going freaking insane over a suit was so ridiculous at the time, and still is, that Larry David, Jeff Schaffer, and executive producer Ethan Lewis decided to finally close the book on the tan suit debacle…
…And Barack Obama did the skit with impeccable comedic timing. Trump could never do a skit like this because he does not possess the ability to laugh at himself. And that is the trouble with this country and why it is so very important to look back on our history and have a good belly laugh.
Larry David had us laughing with the Seinfeld Series, a show about nothing, and yet we became obsessed with the mundane day-to-day gripes and petty neuroses of four friends Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer.
Hopefully Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness will remind us not to take ourselves too seriously…and that a tan suit is just a suit. Happy 250th Birthday, America
