Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12's 10 Best Callbacks To Classic Episodes

May 4, 2024, 1:40 p.m.

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Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12's 10 Best Callbacks To Classic Episodes

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The following article have spoilers for Curb Your Enthusiasm

Summary Larry David's final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm was full of hilarious callbacks to classic episodes and iconic running gags.

The Ted Lasso finale and the How I Met Your Mother finale brought back beloved moments, honoring long-time fans of the shows.

From the return of Auntie Rae to the memorable "Larry stare-down", Curb's season 12 was a fun-filled tribute to the show's history.

From Susie’s spaghetti western theme to Ted Danson’s anonymous donation, Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 was full of hilarious callbacks to classic episodes from the show’s history. Ending a TV show is like going on a farewell tour, and as with any farewell tour, the audience expects them to play the hits. The Ted Lasso finale brought back Ted’s victory dance. The How I Met Your Mother finale brought back the Blue French Horn. These callbacks are a fun way to honor the long-time fans who have tuned in all these years.

In Curb Your Enthusiasm’s final season, Larry David brought back iconic running gags, recognizable music cues, and fan-favorite guest stars. Larry got into one last classic Larry David stare-down with Willie Geist and he pretended to have Groat’s disease to get out of an unhappy relationship. The Curb Your Enthusiasm finale brought back a bunch of familiar faces to testify against Larry at his trial in Atlanta. Curb’s final season was full of great callbacks, from Richard Lewis’ quest to meet “the one” to Larry’s quest to “respect wood.”

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Related 20 Best Curb Your Enthusiasm Episodes Of All Time, Ranked From "The Doll" to "Palestinian Chicken," Curb Your Enthusiasm has delivered plenty of classic episodes throughout its two decades on the air.

10 The Larry David Stare-Down

Willie Geist's Encounter

The most hilarious thing about this running gag is that it never works

When Willie Geist came to L.A. for an on-air profile of Larry in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 4, “Disgruntled,” he ended up bringing back one of the show’s most beloved running gags. Geist asks Larry if he’s the anonymous revolutionary who posted the “Disgruntled” letter on the bulletin board at the country club. Larry denies that it was him, but Geist doesn’t believe him, so he instigates a classic Larry David stare-down – complete with the familiar music cue.

The most hilarious thing about this running gag is that it never works. Larry always stares right into people’s eyes to see if they’re telling the truth, but he never comes away from a stare-down with any more information than he had before it. It was great to see one last Larry stare-down before Curb ended.

9 Groat's Disease

The End of Irma's Reign

After getting into a relationship with ruthlessly unpleasant city councilwoman Irma Kostroski to get a local law repealed in season 11, Larry found himself stuck with her in season 12, because his misdeeds had caused her to relapse and her A.A. sponsor wouldn’t let Larry break up with her. In Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 5, “Fish Stuck,” Larry finally figured out a way to get her to break up with him. According to Richard Lewis, Irma left her husband because he was sick and she didn’t want to look after him.

So, Larry pretends to have been diagnosed with Groat’s disease and Irma promptly leaves him. Groat’s is a fictional terminal illness in the Curb universe. In season 2, episode 5, “The Thong,” Larry hosted a charity event for Groat’s. In season 7, episode 9, “The Table Read,” Michael Richards nervously awaited Groat’s test results.

8 Auntie Rae Returns

A Catalyst for Chaos

In Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 1, “Atlanta,” Larry and Leon head down to Georgia for a paid appearance at a birthday party. While they’re there, they visit Leon’s Auntie Rae, who hadn’t been seen since she stormed out of Larry’s house with Loretta and her kids in season 7. Auntie Rae kicks off the whole season 12 story arc. When Larry gives her a bottle of water at a polling station, he’s arrested by a couple of nearby cops for violating the Election Integrity Act of 2021.

Auntie Rae continued to pop up throughout the season. She hosted Larry at a church barbecue in episode 2, “The Lawn Jockey,” and returned to testify in his trial in episode 10, “No Lessons Learned.” She ended up sabotaging Larry’s defense because he stole her salad dressing recipe.

7 Ted Danson's Anonymous Donation

Larry's Quest for Redemption and Ted's Anonymous Brick

After Larry finds a defamatory message about him engraved on a brick at the temple – “Larry David is disrespectful to women” – he tries to convince his female friends to engrave a counterargument next to it in season 12, episode 5, “Fish Stuck.” When he first goes to Cheryl, she tells him that she and Ted Danson have already bought a brick at the temple. Ted tells Larry he left it blank and Larry wonders if he’s lying.

The final shot of the episode shows that Ted wasn’t lying; there is a brick marked, “Anonymous.” This is a reference to one of Ted’s funniest Curb storylines in season 6, episode 2, “The Anonymous Donor.” In that episode, Larry was incensed that Ted anonymously donated a wing at the NRDC building and then told everyone it was him.

6 The Mocha Joe Lookalike Lawyer

Mocha Joe's Doppelgänger

The character was played by the same actor, Saverio Guerra

After being arrested at the end of the premiere episode, Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 2, “The Lawn Jockey,” opens with Larry being released from his holding cell when his new lawyer arrives. However, he’s shocked to find that his lawyer, Joe D’Angelo, looks exactly like his arch-nemesis, Mocha Joe. The character was played by the same actor, Saverio Guerra. Eventually, Larry fired the lawyer, because he couldn’t stand to look at Mocha Joe’s face (even if it technically wasn’t him).

Mocha Joe has been Larry’s mortal enemy since season 7, episode 10, “Seinfeld.” Their greatest clash came in season 10 when Larry vowed to open up a “spite store” named Latte Larry’s right next door to Mocha Joe’s coffee shop, with the aim of putting him out of business. The lookalike lawyer was a fun reference to this long-standing rivalry.

5 Susie's Spaghetti Western Theme

The Return of the Western Music

In the early seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, whenever Larry and/or Jeff had infuriated Susie (which was a lot), spaghetti western music would play as they pulled into the driveway and saw her waiting for them. This music cue has always been used to announce a Susie screaming match in hilarious fashion. The track – Gianni Ferrio’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” – made a long-awaited comeback in Curb’s final season.

In season 12, episode 2, “The Lawn Jockey,” Susie catches Larry and Jeff returning one of her birthday gifts. When they arrive back at the house, she’s waiting for them on the front lawn. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” plays on the soundtrack as Larry and Jeff get ready to get yelled at. It wouldn’t feel like a fitting farewell if Curb’s final season didn’t have one last Susie blow-up.

4 Larry "Respects Wood" In Court

Larry's Coaster Conundrum

This is a callback to one of Curb’s most iconic quotes: “Do you respect wood?”

When he arrives in the courtroom for his trial in the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale, Larry is appalled to find that there are no coasters for the glasses of water on his table. Larry finds it ironic that the courts want people to respect the law, but the law “doesn’t respect wood.” This is a callback to one of Curb’s most iconic quotes: “Do you respect wood?” In Larry’s eyes, anyone who doesn’t use a coaster doesn’t respect wood.

In season 7, episode 10, “Seinfeld,” Larry was blamed for a ring stain on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ coffee table. He spent the rest of the episode trying to determine who the real culprit was. Jerry Seinfeld dubbed him “Larry David, wood detective.” Larry even ruined his chances at reconciliation with Cheryl when he accused her of leaving the ring stain.

3 Richard Lewis' Quest To Meet "The One"

The Enduring Quest for Love

Richard’s date is played by Lapinsky, his real-life “the one.”

Since the beginning of the series, Richard Lewis has been determined to meet “the one.” Every single woman he’s dated on the show has been a candidate for “the one.” In real life, Lewis married Joyce Lapinsky in 2005, but in Curb Your Enthusiasm, he was still searching for love well into his 70s. Larry mocked Richard for continuing to throw around terms like “the one” at his “advanced age,” but he remained a hopeless romantic to the end of the series.

In season 12, episode 8, “The Colostomy Bag,” Richard called Larry on his way to pick up a woman for a date and once again proclaimed her to be “the one.” This scene had a surprisingly sweet payoff for the running gag of Richard trying to find love. Richard’s date is played by Lapinsky, his real-life “the one.”

Related Richard Lewis' 10 Best Curb Your Enthusiasm Episodes The late, great Richard Lewis is a huge part of the unique hilarity of Curb Your Enthusiasm. These are Lewis' best episodes in the iconic HBO sitcom.

2 All The Witnesses At Larry's Trial

A Recap of Enemies and Guests

Much like in the Seinfeld finale, in the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale, Larry is put on trial and all his enemies from throughout the series come out of the woodwork to testify against him as character witnesses. Both finales play like a clip show rehashing all the funniest storylines from the show’s history. The testimony begins with recurring Curb villains like Mocha Joe and Mr. Takahashi before moving onto one-off characters in a sort of greatest-hits montage.

The witnesses in the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale include fan-favorite guest stars like Alexander Vindman and Bruce Springsteen. The trial also sees the return of Irma, Auntie Rae, and Rachel Heineman, the Orthodox Jewish woman who jumped off a ski lift to avoid being with Larry. Perhaps the most surprising guest-star return is Bailey Thompson as Tara Michaelson, the little girl from season 2, episode 7, “The Doll,” now an adult.

1 The Pants Tent

A Layered Reflection

The final callback in Curb Your Enthusiasm is actually a callback within a callback. As Larry sits in his jail cell and waits to be taken to prison, he notices a “pants tent” (a build-up of material in the crotch of his pants that might look like an erection to the untrained eye). This is a reference to Curb’s very first episode – season 1, episode 1, “The Pants Tent” – but the reference in itself is a reference to the Seinfeld finale.

The Seinfeld finale included a similar callback to the first ever gag from the show. As the gang sits in jail, Jerry and George have the same shirt button discussion they had in the pilot. The “pants tent” reference hammers home Curb Your Enthusiasm’s redo of the Seinfeld finale right before an unexpected twist subverts the audience’s expectations.