Enthusiasm Curbed for "Curb"

Larry David left Seinfeld after six years. Five years into David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, it's viewers who are walking.

Sunday's latest look at Hollywood mis-manners was watched by 1.2 million HBO subscribers, per Nielsen Media Research, up a notch from the previous week's season low of 1.1 million.

Minus its Sex and the City lead in, which Curb enjoyed as recently as 2004, the show has struggled to put up numbers substantially bigger than that of Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback. Make that, Lisa Kudrow's recently canceled The Comeback.

HBO did not return a call Tuesday on the future of Curb Your Enthusiasm, now in its fifth season. The network has already renewed Rome, which brings in more viewers than Curb, and Extras, which doesn't. To date, it has been David, Curb's creative force and lead malcontent, who has made the call as to whether or not the show returns.

Even in its healthiest days, Curb was the weakest ratings link in a powerhouse lineup that included Sex and the City and The Sopranos. Now, it's more a symptom than a leading cause of HBO's overall sagging Sunday fortunes. Last month, Daily Variety reported that the pay cable network's viewership levels were down 58 percent on that night from 2004.

The devoted cult of Curb, meanwhile, seems less concerned with ratings, and more concerned with the show's creative direction. Consensus carping has it that something is not quite right in Larry David's neighborhood.

"Has anyone else been noticing how lousy the new episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm are?" Adam Buckman asked in the New York Post on Oct. 10.

Last week, Variety's Brian Lowry noted the show "has lurched out of the starting gate, sinking to its nadir with an episode in which the son of a Japanese kamikaze pilot (he survived; get it?) attempts suicide in response to Larry's insensitivity."

Even on the sports zone of CNNSI.com, columnist Pete McEntegart wondered aloud Tuesday if "Larry David is running out of ideas" and cited a few instances of old Seinfeld gags being recycled on the green-friendly Curb. (David cocreated Seinfeld.)

On JumptheShark.com, the definitive site on the subject of when and how TV shows stop being good, the majority opinion is that Curb actually jumped the shark during season four when David was cast in The Producers. Emmy voters didn't agree with that assessment. They nominated the show that year for eight awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

For now, Larry David is undeterred by the bad buzz--or, at least the TV version of Larry David is. Come Sunday, he'll lace up his sneakers, and head off to Seder. With a sex offender in tow.

Elsewhere in the TV week ended Sunday:

Overall, CBS was the big winner of the week, which included the first four nights of the November sweeps. It claimed victories in total viewers (averaging 13.4 million) and the 18-49 demo.

ABC (10.6 million) took second in both categories, trailed by NBC (9.5 million) and Fox (7.2 million). The WB (3.3 million) outdueled UPN (3.2 million).

Here's a look of the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. CSI, CBS, 28.7 million viewers
2. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 23.9 million viewers
3. Without a Trace, CBS, 20.4 million viewers
4. Survivor: Guatemala, CBS, 18.3 million viewers
5. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 18.13 million viewers
6. NCIS, CBS, 18.1 million viewers
7. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC, 17.7 million viewers
8. Cold Case, CBS, 16.6 million viewers
9. Monday Night Football, ABC, 16.5 million viewers
10. Criminal Minds, CBS, 16.2 million viewers