‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Star Ted Danson Thought It “Sucked” When He Saw It - N SPORTS 2025

Earlier this year, fans said farewell to HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm after 12 epic seasons that never failed to make us laugh. Beginning in 1999, the series starred the outrageous Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself (or was it?) who got into all sorts of trouble thanks to his lack of filter and social manners. Along the way, we were treated to wonderful performances from the likes of J.B. Smoove, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, and, of course, Ted Danson, who – in all honesty – thought the show “sucked” when he first saw it.

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Speaking with Smoove on his podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name (seen below), Danson revealed that when he first watched the pilot episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with his wife, Mary Steenburgen, he didn’t get it. “I thought it sucked,” he said. “I felt sorry for my new friend, Larry David.” As such, the Cheers star approached David out of pity about him and his bride appearing in the show as themselves, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“In trying to be an encouraging kind of thing, I said, ‘If you ever need us to play ourselves, we’d be happy to.’ And in that sort of idiocy, I ended up being part of something that changed my life.”

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Like David, Danson also played a more brash version of himself who came across as a pretentious ass that thought he was too good for everyone. At the time, he wasn’t doing much in the years that followed the conclusion of Cheers, save for some appearances in TV movies and feature films, but nothing on the level of the NBC sitcom that was beloved by so many. To say that Curb came along at just the right time would be an understatement, to say the least.

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Breathed New Life Into Ted Danson’s Career

“It reinvigorated my desire to be funny,” Danson also said of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It also helped reinvigorate his career. His part on the show led to him having starring roles in the legal thriller Damages, as well as in the procedural drama CSI. Things came full circle with The Good Place, which became yet another successful sitcom for NBC that featured Danson as Michael.

These days, Danson is sticking close to television, where he recently starred as Neil Bremer in the sitcom Mr. Mayor, which was unfortunately canceled in 2022 after just two seasons. You can’t keep a good actor down, though, as shortly after the conclusion of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Danson took his talents to Netflix to star in the comedy series A Man on the Inside.

With a 95% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that Danson’s desire to keep being funny has paid off, with his role of Charles – a retired professor-turned amateur sleuth – also being warmly received by fans, who have given it a 91% rating. Though the series has yet to be renewed for a second season, we expect it will be based on its positive reception alone, which is good news for Danson lovers, who are still getting to see the star perform at the highest level after five decades in the business.