25 Best Curb Your Enthusiasm Episodes Ranked

Of all the social circles and organizations to endure annoying lengths from their association with Larry, Larry's golf club perhaps has it the worst. Over the course of the Season 7 episode "The Black Swan," Larry breaks virtually every club rule, all the to immense chagrin of the club staff. Larry's growing list of infractions range from accidentally goading a fellow club member into a fatal heart attack to killing a black swan on the course with his golf club, with no slight gone unnoticed by the staff.

In the span of a single episode, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" demonstrates just how inadvertently disruptive Larry can truly be to those around him over something as innocuous as a day at a golf course. And, of course, the hilarity doesn't end with Larry's day on the links, as he stumbles into other hijinks while innocently going about his business — from reacting a misspelled gravestone an offer to pay for a friend's tuition gone wrong.

There are a lot of juggling plotlines in virtually every episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," both paying off from longstanding elements introduced throughout a given season and those contained within a single episode. This particular storytelling strategy works to great effect in Season 8's penultimate episode "Mister Softee," mixing Larry's past and present. In the episode, Larry confronts unresolved issues from his childhood while simultaneously facing new complications as he resumes his dating life, with his car inadvertently making things worse.

"Mister Softee" capitalizes on Larry's lifelong of baseball while showing just how funny something as his ill-timed sexual and romantic issues can be. A traumatic memory affects Larry's love life before he discovers that his shaky car possesses greater romantic prowess than himself. This is true not just with his current girlfriend, but any woman riding in his front passenger seat. The episode closes out on a fittingly awkward note.

At the beginning of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Season 10, local coffee shop owner Mocha Joe finally reaches his breaking point with Larry's behavior, banning him from his establishment. Incensed, Larry spends much of the season opening and operating his own coffee shop next door — not because he wants a fine cup of coffee, but out of sheer spite to steal away Mocha Joe's business. By the Season 10 finale episode "The Spite Store," Larry learns his efforts have not gone unnoticed across the greater Los Angeles area.

As Larry's coffee shop feud kicks into high gear, a whole host of celebrities decide to get into a variety of side businesses motivated entirely by spite after being wronged by various restaurants and retail outlets around town. As Larry faces the shock of what he has inspired amidst all the celebrity cameos, he is quickly (and expensively) reminded that he is not quite the entrepreneur he thinks he is, when his shop hits a fiery snag to close out Season 10 on a strong note.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" Season 11 sees Larry plan a new series intended to chronicle his childhood, "Young Larry," with all the behind-the-scenes production drama that comes with the project. As casting for the fictional show-within-show begins, guest star Woody Harrelson, portraying himself, is approached but finds himself sparring with Larry. With Woody as a critic of the dairy industry, Larry attempts to appease his would-be colleague by falsely claiming to locally source his own milk, leading to a series of deceptions.

"The Watermelon" is a prime example of how strong "Curb Your Enthusiasm" remains so many seasons into its life while Woody significantly elevates the proceedings, fitting seamlessly in with Larry's typical antics. In addition to the disgruntled Woody, Larry has to contend with a Klansman in need of a dry cleaner and learns Leon actively avoids leaning into certain racial stereotypes, making for exceptionally awkward week in his life. 

One of the most hilarious early episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is Season 2's "Trick or Treat," with Larry falling prey to the former rather than simply handing out candy. After Larry refuses to give two teenage girls candy on Halloween, as he feels both are too old and neither are wearing costumes, they mercilessly prank his house. The gravest injustice committed of all is a rather rude message left on the David household's front door, striking particularly close to home for him and his insecurities.

"Trick or Treat" underscores that no matter how rude some of the people Larry encounters are, he has an innate ability to make every situation that much worse. This inevitably robs any sense of sympathy that Larry may have earned to hilarious effect. A prime example of this is "Trick or Treat" revealing just how insecure Larry is about his baldness, underscored by the lengths he goes to obtain justice on the merry pranksters.

In the wake of Larry's divorce with Cheryl being finalized, he and much of the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" main cast relocated back to New York City for the latter half of Season 8. As Larry attempts to enjoy life as a single man once again, he discovers he is now neighbors with actor Michael J. Fox. The two new neighbors quickly found themselves butting heads in the aptly titled "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox," as the fan-favorite actor reminded audiences just how funny he truly is.

Enduring a series of slights from Fox, which the actor attributes to his Parkinson's Disease, Larry forms an escalating feud with his neighbor. This, however, puts Larry on the defensive, with many of their friends and the general public siding with Fox over his condition and Larry's usual abrasive nature. Season 8 closes on a funny note, with Larry gaining a new celebrity rival.

Among the actors and celebrities playing fictionalized versions of themselves, comedian Wanda Sykes also plays herself throughout "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and is given an especially large role in the Season 3 episode "Krazee-Eyez Killa." After meeting Wanda's eponymous rapper boyfriend, Larry learns Krazee-Eyez Killa has affairs behind his girlfriend's back — a fact that is poised to impact Larry and Wanda's friendship.

Larry's interactions with Wanda often carry a notable awkwardness in how he handles their differences. This is hilariously evident here, as she is someone who can always see right through him. Backed by a standout performance from guest star Chris Williams as Krazee-Eyez Killa, Larry tries to keep a secret, only for Wanda to prove once again that she is not so easily deceived. "Krazee-Eyez Killa" is a gem of an episode from Season 3 and the series itself would do well to bring back the eponymous character and Wanda to double down on this hilarity.

One of the greatest secret weapons on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was Bob Einstein's Marty Funkhouser, and few episodes better utilize the actor's comedic talents than the Season 4 episode "The Car Pool Lane." The episode follows Larry trying to obtain tickets to a baseball game, only for the underhanded strategies he uses throughout his daily life finally catching up to him in grand display.

"The Car Pool Lane" is a masterclass showcase for how "Curb Your Enthusiasm" introduces seemingly disparate subplots in a single episode only for them to organically and hilariously converge by the episode's end. Initially unrelated tales of Larry using a sex worker to gain access to carpool lanes and get out of jury duty seamlessly tie into the greater story. Marty getting roped into Larry's antics are just icing on the cake, as Larry's plans inevitably begin to collapse upon themselves around him.

Of all the awkward places and situations Larry could find himself trapped in, there is something about him left dangling on a ski lift while on a trip to a ski resort that is just so ripe for comedic effect. This is heightened by him being stuck on the lift with an Orthodox Jewish woman who traditionally cannot be with a single man after sunset, giving the already awkward situation now has a steady ticking clock.

What makes the Season 5 episode "The Ski Lift" even more hilarious is that Larry presents himself as an Orthodox Jew in order to get out of donating a kidney. However, as Larry is not a particularly religious person, this ruse is tested by the incident on the lift, with each passing moment set to unravel this elaborate deception for good. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" leaves no selfish deed unpunished, and a wintry getaway provides the season with a welcome change in scenery.

One of the most buzzed about elements in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Season 7 was its reunion of the "Seinfeld" cast for a faux reunion special within the story of the HBO series. By the season's penultimate episode, "The Table Read," the pieces behind this unique twist on an eagerly anticipated television reunion finally began to come together on-screen. As the first table read for the planned special begins, Larry finds himself trapped in another disastrous misunderstanding, which includes mounting tension between himself and Jason Alexander.

One source of limitless comedy for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is Larry's interactions with children and "The Table Read" is a prime showcase for this. Larry finds himself in an awkward text exchange with a little girl regarding his true feelings about the show "The Wizards of Waverly Place," exposing his inability to speak appropriately with children. This mishap exacerbates Jerry Seinfeld's concerns that the reunion special is destined to fail like the "Seinfeld" series finale, as the long-awaited reunion looms.

Larry has always been something of a social outlier for the way he addresses common situations that most people handle more rationally. These tendencies are explored and emulated in the Season 10 episode "Elizabeth, Margaret and Larry." The episode has Jon Hamm, portraying a version of himself, shadowing Larry to study him and learn his mannerisms and motivations in researching for a role with a similar personality. Hamm eventually nails his mimicry of Larry with unerring accuracy. 

With "Elizabeth, Margaret and Larry," the audience is really getting two Larrys for the price of one, and the entire supporting cast thrown off by this impromptu double vision. Making the situation all the more awkward is that Jeff is forced to move in with Larry and Leon after Susie kicks him out of the house. Larry also embarks on a tentative romance with Cheryl's sister Becky, much to Cheryl's obvious chagrin.

No show can tap into the contemporary zeitgeist quite like "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and this is readily apparent in the Season 10 premiere episode "Happy New Year." The season begins with Larry inadvertently finds himself accused of sexual harassment by his personal assistant, an accusation that is poised to ruin him. To make matters worse, he also strikes up a feud with small business owner Mocha Joe that sets the entire season's core conflict into motion.

From commenting on the #MeToo movement to Larry deciding to wear a "Make America Great Again" hat to convince people to leave him alone, the Season 10 premiere provides a perfect showcase for just how "Curb Your Enthusiasm" reacts to and pokes fun at current events. Logistically, "Happy New Year" lays the groundwork on some of the big payoffs across Season 10, deftly balancing its growing number of subplots as it sets its fractious stakes with aplomb.

It was probably only a matter of time before "Curb Your Enthusiasm" would try its hand at addressing something as sensitive as Israeli-Palestinian relations. Season 8 episode "Palestinian Chicken" delivers an ideal "Curb" episode. As Marty reconnects with his Jewish roots, a Palestinian restaurant opens next to a Jewish deli, causing tension between the two businesses, with Larry caught smack dab in the middle of competing interests.

"Palestinian Chicken" offers a glimpse at how Larry, Marty, and Jeff all address their own Jewish heritage, along with an additional subplot that has Larry drawn into keeping secrets for an estranged couple. This goes poorly, as Larry is perhaps the worst person in the world to safeguard with sensitive information, while he stumbles into his own romantic woes. And, really, the opportunity to see Larry quote "The Scarlet Pimpernel" after having sex in front of a disgusted Marty is worth the price of admission alone.