Despite authoring two of television’s best comedies (Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld), Larry David just isn’t a very excitable guy. Sure, he managed to improve his otherwise unlikable-but-funny persona with his Bernie Sanders impression on Saturday Night Live, but the line between the real Larry and TV’s Larry is very thin. Hence the short teaser for CNN’s The History of Comedy documentary series above, in which David rails against documentaries before getting over himself and asking his interviewers for their questions.
“How did they talk me into this?” he exclaims. “I hate documentaries. I hate being on documentaries. I hate answering questions. Anyway, all right. What do you got? Let’s begin the unpleasantness.”
Executive produced by Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) and Todd Milliner (Grimm), History of Comedy premieres Thursday, February 9 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN following its Sundance premiere. Along with David’s typically-Larry David interview, the eight-part series features in-depth conversations with comic actors, producers and comedians like Samantha Bee, Conan O’Brien, Betty White, Al Franken, Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, George Lopez, Keegan-Michael Key, Dick Cavett, Ali Wong, W. Kamau Bell, Norman Lear, Carol Burnett, Patton Oswalt, Larry David, Judd Apatow, Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel.
In the first episode, titled “Going Blue,” History of Comedy will tackle the ins and outs of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Dick Gregory’s controversial stand-up. Whether or not snippets of David’s interview will appear remains to be seen, though considering Curb‘s penchant for alarming wake-up calls, CNN may sneak in a few choice clips. It’s basic cable, after all.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)