Larry David is celebrating America’s upcoming 250th birthday in the most patriotic way he knows how – by spoofing many of the biggest moments in the country’s history.
With the new HBO series Larry’s Life and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An American History AlmostThe comedian provides his signature commentary on historical events including the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party, the Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane, and World War I.
It comes two years after his long-term wrap Curb your enthusiasmDavid said Hollywood Reporter At the show’s premiere in Los Angeles, the new series is “curb-Live somehow. We shoot it like curbin that it’s improvised, and so are my characters curb“Like, ‘So it’s not that far away,’” alongside several celebrity guest stars.
It came about when Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, was looking to put on a show to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States this year, and came to David looking for a collaboration. He and curb Show director Jeff Schiffer quickly decided it should be a sketch show, and David — who was a history major in college — explained, “We didn’t do any research, just stuff we already knew.”
This included convincing Barack Obama himself to star in a sketch, which David said he pitched directly to the former president over the phone with the idea for a sketch and he “liked it.” “The first meeting Larry and I had with the president, they were very funny together; my main task was to get them on screen together as much as possible,” Schiffer added.
Higher Ground executive Ethan Lewis, who serves as an EP on the series, also noted that Obama’s casting moment was “something that came organically, like the right timing, the right idea, and it came together pretty seamlessly thank God” after “two decades of meetings.”
The series’ comic scenes span from the 18th century to the modern era, and as David asserts, “If there’s a good idea, we’ll use it, no matter when it happens.” This did not include David’s paraphrase of it Saturday Night Live Performing as Bernie Sanders, with Schiffer explaining that it was “too”. SNLTo do on their show.
In the premiere of the new show Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, Larry David recalls how his mother asked him as a child why he was never excited about anything – before admitting “tonight, I’m a little excited” pic.twitter.com/MtFJIZJaRr
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 24, 2026
Inside the first show — held at the Hollywood Legion Theater, an event venue owned and operated by veterans — David told the audience a story about how when he was 12, his family drove from Brooklyn to Miami for Christmas. He told his mother he wasn’t excited about the trip, and she said, “You never get excited about anything!” What are you most excited about? Why can’t you be excited? However, he admitted, “I have to say, tonight I’m a little excited. Dare I say, excited.”
David also joked that everyone told him he’d never do anything with a history major, and they were right — even now 55 years later, while also teasing Schiffer that he didn’t know “things about history;” [I] I had to carry him throughout the shoot.
In conclusion, he declared: “If you don’t like this, you don’t have to come and tell me. It won’t do any good – I’ll hate you for the rest of your life. Do what I do, just throw it behind my back. This is what I’ll do. This is the way to do it.”
Life, Larry and the pursuit of unhappiness Premieres Friday on HBO.
