Roush Review: History Is Hysterical in Larry David’s Romp Through America’s Past

Happy 250^th birthday, America! Now get lost.

As we prepare to celebrate, there’s one person you probably don’t want to invite to your 4^th of July party: Larry David — or, rather, the eternally crabby Larry David persona that he perfected over 12 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. This misanthropic spirit is alive and unwell in his latest HBO amusement, a rollicking romp through American history cheekily titled Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.

This “almost history of America,” whose executive producers include Barack and Michelle Obama (who’ve obviously lost none of their sense of humor), is introduced as a reflection of the nation as an ongoing “work in progress,” a social experiment that has somehow so far survived its naysayers and malcontents. “Let’s face it, some of us will always find something to complain about,” we’re told. And that someone is invariably portrayed by David in a seven-week series of sketches and vignettes that also reveals the influence of jokemeister Mel Brooks in its brash tone of broad parody and cheerfully vulgar caricature.

David’s craven characters have a way of bringing sour strife to our sweetest achievements, from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to the first moon landing of 1969. We can’t be too much more specific, because of HBO’s restrictions, but the jokes when they land are too good to spoil, anyway. Suffice it to say that the A-list roster of comedic guest stars all appears to be having a grand time poking holes in our noblest and most iconic tableaux. The repertory company includes such longtime collaborators as Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Garlin, J.B. Smoove, and Susie Essman, plus ringers like Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes, Bill Hader, and Jane Krakowski among many special surprises. Discovering who’s playing who, and how they choose to mangle our collective memory, is part of the joy.

By their nature, though, sketch comedies are uneven, and Unhappiness especially suffers from this trait, because the more you watch, the more repetitive the situations become. (In other words, this is much better consumed as a once-weekly treat than as a wait-to-binge-it-later wallow.) Though often hilarious and inspired, the novelty can quickly fade when David launches into his umpteenth rant of petty and anachronistic grievances, and even as you laugh, you begin to feel like you’ve heard it before, if not in this specific context. While it’s fun to see David appear, Zelig-like, in the most inappropriate of settings, whether it’s on a bus where Rosa Parks is making her civil-rights stand or among the doomed heroes of the Alamo, we get it already that he’s always going to be the most aggravating, obnoxious, venal, or cowardly person in any room, vehicle, or social setting.

Even though such familiarity has been known to breed contempt, David’s cringe-inducing brand of confrontational contempt more often than not provides a refreshing bite of irreverence that in its own take-no-prisoners way is as patriotic if not as uplifting as the latest Ken Burns dissertation. He takes special glee at needling controversial figures like the notoriously antisemitic industrialist Henry Ford and the indecently red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Typically, Larry David suffers fools most gladly when he’s playing the fool — though not when there’s a juicier target at hand.

Good thing, then, that the tapestry of American history gives him so many supposedly sacred cows to slaughter and grill with savage irony and deranged wit. Even when his aim is less than perfect — an extended segment on Lincoln’s assassination and aftermath has its moments but pales next to Cole Escola‘s berserk Broadway hit Oh, Mary! — his fans know that Larry David’s Unhappiness will always be their happy place.

Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, Series Premiere, Friday, June 26, 9/8c, HBO