Larry David on Ending ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: “People Think I’m Lying — I’m Not a Liar”

When the stars of Curb Your Enthusiasm gathered to celebrate the show’s 12th and final season in Los Angeles on Tuesday, a question remained in the air: Is this really the end?

The HBO comedy has been on the air for 24 years — including a six-year hiatus between 2011 and 2017 — and it’s been unclear if the show would return several times throughout its history. As co-star and executive producer Jeff Garlin pointed out at the premiere event, “every year there was a chance we were not going to come back, every year.” However, he added that, in the past, creator and star Larry David “has never said the words ‘This is the last season;’ he said that this year, and when you watch the season, it’ll all make sense.”

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David and HBO announced the show was ending in December, with a statement from David saying he “will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be — the thoughtful, kind, caring, considerate human being I was until I got derailed by portraying this malignant character.”

When asked at the premiere why now was the time to come to a close, David had a simple reply. “Because I said so,” he said, insisting that it’s really the end this time.

“I’m not lying. People think I’m lying — I’m not a liar,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “OK yeah, 15 years ago I said it was the last season — that’s what I say when I don’t think I’m going to come up with another one. But, this is it.”

He added that deciding how to end it was not a longterm idea but something that “came about early on this season.” And, as for what’s next, he said, “I don’t know, I’ll go into my office, I’ll patchke around.”

Though David is insistent, his cast is a little more mixed on if they believe the show is truly done; Susie Essman and Cheryl Hines both admitted they didn’t initially believe David when he said this season would be the last (“I felt like I had heard that before, because since season one that’s what Larry has told me,” Hines joked) but they now trust the show is ending.

J.B. Smoove however, declared, “I don’t believe that man.”

“He’s going to sit there and get bored at the house, say ‘I’ve got to do something,'” Smoove continued. “He did take off six years one time, he did a play, did a movie, but it’s therapeutic — how do you take a therapeutic show away from people?”

Assuming this is, in fact, the finale, Essman teased, “the ending is pretty incredible,” promising, “I think it’s a masterpiece.” Hines also added, “I’m happy with the ending, I think people will be happy and they’ll really love this season. It’s going to take you on some twists and turns.”

And as for if the stars would have any interest in pursuing Curb spinoffs, Smoove, Hines and Essman were all on board, as Essman joked, “I would love to pursue that. Let’s discuss it with Larry!”

Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 premieres Feb. 4 on HBO. Check out the final season trailer here.

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