The third season of the American television comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm premiered on September 15, 2002, and concluded on November 17, 2002. The ten-episode season was broadcast in the United States on HBO, where its ratings had doubled from the previous season's.

The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself, following his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles. The season's narrative mainly revolves around Larry's investment in a restaurant, which is slowly built up throughout the episodes before giving all plots in the season revolving around the restaurant a proper conclusion in the finale. Several short story arcs also take place concurrently, including Larry's work with director Martin Scorsese on a new film, Cheryl and Larry getting into an argument with their friends Susan and Stu, and Larry getting a pubic hair stuck in his throat.

David wrote every episode of the season, which, like the rest of the series, was done by creating an outline, where the majority of dialogue is not scripted, relying on improvisation. The season included many guest stars and introduced Andy and Nat, played by Richard Kind and Shelley Berman, respectively. David wanted Nat to be portrayed by an old comedian, asking people like Shecky Greene to be brought in for auditions. Season three was the first of the series where the cast were given separate trailers when they weren't filming.

Season three of Curb Your Enthusiasm received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for multiple awards, including nine at the 55th Primetime Emmy Awards. Since its release, critics and scholars have analyzed the themes of the season, including how it approaches writing its restaurant storyline.

Plot and themes

The season mainly revolves around the opening of Larry's restaurant, but this is rarely the center of an episode narrative. Instead, the restaurant is seldom mentioned throughout each episode—sometimes not mentioned at all in an episode—building up certain aspects that are given thorough conclusions in the season finale. This allows season three to introduce conflicts to the restaurant, like the hirings and subsequent firings of multiple chefs, and make a more climactic and satisfying finale.Head (2021): p. 148. Many episodes of the season parody elements of the real world, including Roger Ebert being spoofed through Andy Portico in "The Grand Opening", the September 11 attacks—and subsequent effect on the American subconscious—and race-related issues.Rocha (2012): p. 114.

With episodes like "The Special Section", season three was considered much more "tasteless" than its predecessors in its humor.Hofstede (2011): p. 68. Death remained a constant all throughout, from the death of Chet in the premiere to Larry losing his mother in "The Special Section". Another topic season three covered was religion, particularly in "Mary, Joseph and Larry" and "The Benadryl Brownie".Levine (2025): p. 199. A key theme of the season is Larry's ability to be more enthusiastic towards his life, with IGN writer Peer Schneider feeling that the scenes of him "[keeping his] head held high" even in the most difficult of situations prove his character growth when compared with the previous two seasons, where his cynical attitude often took him over.

Cast Main Larry David as Larry David, a fictionalized version of himself Cheryl Hines as Cheryl David, Larry's wife Jeff Garlin as Jeff Greene, Larry's manager

Guest stars As characters Susie Essman as Susie Greene, Jeff's wife Shelley Berman as Nat David, Larry's father Cheri Oteri as Martine Tim Kazurinsky as Hugh Melon Richard Kind as Andy, Larry's cousin Chris Williams as Krazee-Eyez Killa Paul Dooley as Cheryl's father David Koechner as Joseph Alexandra Wilson as Mary Kaitlin Olson as Becky, Cheryl's sister Paul Sand as Guy Bernier Paul Willson as Andy Portico

As themselves Ted Danson as himself Richard Lewis as himself Lou DiMaggio as himself (uncredited) Wanda Sykes as herself Joan Rivers as herself Alanis Morissette as herself Paul Reiser as himself Michael York as himself Martin Scorsese as himself Martin Short as himself

Episodes

Production Every episode of season three was written by David.Dolan (2006): p. 120-138. Like every other season of the series, season three's episodes were written as outlines, with the majority of dialogue being unscripted and improvised by the cast. However, not every actor was given an outline for the first three seasons, according to Hines. The series was produced with a low budget in mind, and it wasn't until season three that the cast were given separate trailers between filming. During the shooting of the finale's car wash scene, David ran over Hines's foot with his car, which delayed filming of the episode by a bit.Dolan (2006): p. 139.

Casting

Season three was notable for including multiple guest stars in each episode,Levine (2025): p. 200-201. such as Chris Williams as Krazee-Eyez Killa, Martin Scorsese as himself in "The Special Section", and Shelley Berman as Larry's father, Nat. When casting Nat, David wanted to use an old comedian, with Shecky Greene being brought in to audition for the role. After Berman finished, David chased him down the hall, asking if he would remove his toupee for filming; Berman agreed and was immediately given the part. Larry's cousin Andy was also added to the main cast, with David creating the character with a stereotypical Jewish man in mind. Richard Kind came in and was chosen for being able to challenge David's energetic style when on camera.

Release During season three, the series aired on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. EST. The season originally aired from September through November 2002. "The Terrorist Attack" was intended to air in September 2002, a few days after the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. To pay their respect, HBO decided to air it a month later in October. David called HBO's executive, furious that they played the episodes out of order. He told them not to do it again, which the network obliged to.Mesce (2015): p. 256-257.

Home media The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on January 18, 2005; bonus features include a two-part interview between Larry David and other cast members, along with a "Season Index" that includes teasers for every episode.

Reception Ratings Ratings for Curb Your Enthusiasm had doubled during season three, reaching an average of 4.5 million viewers. The New York Times attributed this better performance to the series airing immediately after the immensely successful Sopranos, which averaged 10.8 million viewers, and due to public awareness of the series growing during season three's airing. The highest rated broadcast of the season was the premiere, "Chet's Shirt", which acquired 5.53 million viewers and a 3.5% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 3.5% of all households in that demographic. Meanwhile, the seventh episode, "The Corpse-Sniffing Dog", acquired the lowest viewership, drawing in an audience of only 3.82 million.

Reviews On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "To borrow a phrase, Curb Your Enthusiasms third season is 'pretty, pretty, pretty good.'" On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the season holds a score of 93 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Will Hersey of Esquire called season three his favorite of Curb Your Enthusiasm, finding it to be before the series became contrived in its writing and when it hit the perfect balance between the early seasons' "lo-fi tone" and creating sympathy for Larry's character. Hersey highlights "Krazee-Eyez Killa" as the standout episode, praising Chris Williams' performance as its titular character. The series became a "cultural touchstone" during season three, according to The New York Times writer Alessandra Stanley, who gave it a positive review. She praised its impious handling of taboo subjects, such as politics, religion, immigrants, and terrorists, applauding its provocative writing. Entertainment Weeklys Bruce Fretts felt Curb Your Enthusiasm was one of the best shows of HBO's 2002 season, preferring it to the "uninspired" fourth season of The Sopranos.

"Krazee-Eyez Killa" received considerable praise from critics for its humor, narrative, and the titular character, and is considered one of the series' best installments. Another episode considered to be a highlight is "The Grand Opening", with Collider writer Amy Elizabeth Marceaux praising it for wrapping up the central storyline of the season in a satisfying way, and for its humor.

Awards At the 55th Directors Guild of America Awards, the series received three nominations for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series; Larry Charles for "The Nanny from Hell", Bryan Gordon for "The Special Section", and David Steinberg for "Mary, Joseph and Larry". Ultimately, the award went to Gordon. The same episodes, along with Robert B. Weide for "Krazee-Eyez Killa", received nominations at the 55th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, with Weide winning. At the same event, the series received nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series, with the latter nominations being for Jon Corn and Steven Rasch for "Krazee-Eyez Killa" and "The Corpse-Sniffing Dog", respectively.

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