Seinfeld
A Tale Of Two Larrys
by
American Way Staff align="left">
On Location
Even if most
television shows are filmed there,
not all are set in Los Angeles … or
New York or Las Vegas. Take these
three shows that premiere this
month, for example.
THE SHOW: Life Is Wild, the
CW
THE SETTING: A game reserve, South
Africa
THE PREMISE: A New York City
father decides his family needs to
find togetherness. But instead of
choosing to spend Sunday afternoons
in Central Park, he opts to move
everyone to South Africa, where he
can put his veterinary expertise
and Brady Bunch-style lecturing
skills to work.
THE ADVANTAGE: It is cheaper to
film in South Africa (where the
series is actually shot) than in
Los Angeles. Plus, lion cubs - so
cute!
THE SHOW: Women's Murder Club,
ABC
THE SETTING: San Francisco
THE PREMISE: A James Patterson
novel series comes to life. Angie
Harmon stars as a homicide
detective who pals around with a
group of women - including an
assistant DA, a medical examiner,
and a reporter - having brunch,
drinking wine, and solving
crimes.
THE ADVANTAGE: Set in San
Francisco, this show will remind
you of Charmed, except without the
sisters, the magic book, and the
trampy outfits.
THE SHOW: Viva Laughlin, CBS
THE SETTING: Laughlin, Nevada
THE PREMISE: Based on a British
show called Viva Blackpool, this
series follows one man's attempt to
run a casino in the Vegas-lite
world of Laughlin. Hugh Jackman
serves as executive producer and
makes regular appearances. And
there are song-and-dance numbers
interspersed throughout each
episode. Yes, really.
THE ADVANTAGE: Set in Laughlin,
this show will remind you of CSI,
except with Hugh Jackman instead of
Gil Grissom and without the magic
acts and the trampy
outfits.
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Maybe the rest of us feel the same way. David specializes in
cringe television, amazingly making us root for characters who are
self-absorbed and argumentative. Seinfeld
and Curb Your Enthusiasm share that
quality. And although Curb doesn't have the
same pop-culture omnipresence as Seinfeld did, it's just as good.
Fans of this acerbic series, as was the case with Seinfeld
devotees, exchange jokes and plotlines from weekly episodes the
same way some people would trade cards.
What appeals to fans but appalls others is how typical TV
sentimentality is stripped from the language and mood of David's
work. TV David would see no shame in that approach, of course, and
real David doesn't either. "I'm getting closer to him [TV David]
every day," David says.
Nowadays, the two Davids are most like each other in their contempt
for the workings of Hollywood. Curb
Before the two Davids merge into one, will we get a seventh season?
David isn't sure. Filming has wrapped, and the season finale, which
will air in November, was "written as a could-be-the-last-show
ending or might-not-be-the-last-show ending," David says. "We'll
just see when I get back to my desk if I want to do it again."
skewers the TV and film industries' hypocrisies, but it doesn't
name names - yet. "I can get away with that," David says, "because
there's a very fine line between TV Larry and me."
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