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Larry David Rewrites American History in HBO's 'Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness'

Larry David’s new HBO sketch comedy series offers a Curb-esque take on American history, bringing the past to life from a unique perspective.

Consequence·Jun 24, 2026·via Consequence

Larry David Rewrites American History in HBO's 'Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness'

Liz Shannon Miller Jun 24, 2026 | 11:00 AM

One of America’s founding principles is that we should always be free to speak truth to power. By that logic, setting Larry David loose on 250 years of American history is a patriotic act. The new HBO comedy series Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness establishes its formula quickly: A random historical event or time period is established by a narrator. Then, a sketch reimagines what would have happened during said historical event — if Larry had been involved.

Part of the fun of the series is finding out where in history David and collaborator Jeff Schaffer ( Curb Your Enthusiasm , The League ) will be taking us next, so there will be no details about any specific bits in this review. This review, accordingly, is not very long, though I am about to pad it a bit with a list of all the guest stars revealed so far by HBO:

President Barack Obama, Essence Atkins, Mike Castle, Colton Dunn, Susie Essman, Wayne Federman, Isla Fisher, Rich Fulcher, Jeff Garlin, Bill Hader, Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes, Rob Huebel, Matthew Jones, Greg Kinnear, Jane Krakowski, Joe Manganiello, Emily McEnroe, Fred Melamed, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anna Osceola, Chris Parnell, Jerry Seinfeld, J.B. Smoove, Alan Tudyk, Vince Vaughn, and Rita Wilson.

Who are they all playing? That’s also part of the fun! Many of the names above will be familiar to Curb Your Enthusiasm fans; though the series is very much just a collection of stand-alone sketches, it is in some ways a spiritual sequel to the long-running HBO comedy. It’s certainly a show best appreciated by those who watched Curb , and thus understand the idea of “Larry David” as a character.

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David spent the 24-year run of Curb Your Enthusiasm (with a few years off in between seasons) honing that persona, a generally well-meaning man who happens to be fussy about manners and incapable of letting things go. It’s thus not hard to imagine the pitch meeting for this show: “Imagine how Larry would have fucked up history.” If you know Larry… you get it. Add in Barack and Michelle Obama as executive producers, and you’ve got a sale in the room.

There are only two notable issues with Pursuit of Unhappiness : The first is that tonally, the series can get a little repetitive — this one’s better to savor from week to week, versus stacking up as a binge.

The other is the feeling of familiarity, as the idea of doing sketch comedy riffs on history is hardly a new one. Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1 didn’t tackle American events, but the Hulu sequel series did , and this show feels pretty close to that one (and not just because there was a Curb parody in Episode 2). There’s also Drunk History and no shortage of Saturday Night Live moments, including Nate Bargatze’s now-way-overplayed George Washington bit.

Still, the basic setup remains reliably fun, and the money spent on the top-notch production design, costumes, hair, and make-up was very much worth it, essential elements of the comedy in play. Plus, it’s rarely easy to predict what random direction David and Schaffer will take a scene, giving each new sequence the thrill of anticipation. This is true even if the scene in question is largely an excuse for David to improv on a topic with one of his old Curb pals. (Not a cause for complaint, especially for die-hard Curb fans.)

As for other sketches… As a comedian, David has always been pretty openly liberal, to the surprise of some fans . However, politics has never been an overriding focus of his comedy, something reflected in the number of sketches in Pursuit of Unhappiness that dwell on social norms or Larry trying to impress a lady.

Every once in a while, though, it goes hard with its messaging, building to some hysterical comedy that’s also on some level a primal scream about today. It appears that even Larry David has had enough of what’s been going on in America in 2026. And when David has something to say, he says it at full volume.

The first episode of Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness premieres June 26th on HBO and HBO Max. New episodes debut weekly.