Larry David Fails To Break A Disappointing 31-Year Comedy Show Streak After Seinfeld Season 4

Larry David has been the king of acclaimed comedy shows since 1989 with Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasmbut he sadly has gone without proper recognition from the Emmys for his work since 1993. When looking at the best TV shows of all time, Larry David’s 1989–1998 sitcom Seinfeld and 2000–2024 comedy Curb Your Enthusiasmmore often than not, are ranked high on those lists. While Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm remain two of the most influential and groundbreaking comedy shows in history, their history at the Emmys doesn’t reflect their revered reputations.

Both Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm consistently received Emmy nominations during their respective years on the air, but the problem is that they have hardly ever come up with the category wins they deserve. Out of Seinfeld‘s nine seasons, it only won the top award for Outstanding Comedy Series on one occasion before coming to an end in 1998. It was hoped that Curb Your Enthusiasm would reverse these oversights and give Larry David the best comedy show award he’s been without since 1993, but his snub at the September 2024 Emmys kept this from ever becoming a reality.

Larry David Hasn’t Won The Best Comedy Show Emmy Since Seinfeld Season 4 In 1993

Seinfeld Lost For Its Last 5 Seasons & Curb Your Enthusiasm Lost For The Last 11 Seasons

Despite being the comedic mind behind two of the best comedy shows of all time, Larry David hasn’t brought home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys since 1993. This happens to be Seinfeld‘s only win for that category across the entire series, which was fitting for Seinfeld Season 4 – the outing that is frequently considered the show’s best season. That year, the top-ranking Seinfeld season 4 beat hit shows like Cheers season 11 Home improvement season 2 The Larry Sanders Show season 1, and Murphy Brown season 5 to finally win the coveted comedy award.

however, Seinfeld lost in the category for its following five seasons, and Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s 12 seasons never recouped those snubs. Now, with Curb Your Enthusiasm once again losing in the Outstanding Comedy Series section in 2024Larry David has shockingly gone 31 years without a win in the Emmys’ top comedy category. In fact, Curb Your Enthusiasm only won two Emmys out of the show’s 24 years on HBO: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 2003 and Outstanding Single-Picture Editing for a Comedy Series in 2012.

Curb Your Enthusiasm was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys for every outing starting with season 2. However, the hit HBO show sadly never won. There was plenty of hope that Larry David would finally take home this award at the September 2024 Emmys considering Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 was the show’s last, but Max’s comedy series Hacks ended up with the statuette this year. This final loss left Curb Your Enthusiasm with an unfortunate record at the Emmys, making it the most-nominated TV show in the Outstanding Comedy Series category without any wins.

Why Curb Your Enthusiasm Was Nominated For Almost Every Season But Never Won The Best Comedy Show Emmy

Curb Has Always Been One Of The Best Shows On TV

It’s well deserved Curb Your Enthusiasm was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for all seasons except for its first. Curb remained one of the smartest, most adaptable, and celebrated shows on television, with plenty of industry comedy legends and big stars becoming involved in the series. During any given year, Curb Your Enthusiasm was among the best shows on television, and a TV legend like Larry David isn’t likely to be snubbed of a nomination in the category by the Emmys.

The problem was that Curb Your Enthusiasm continued to go up against TV shows with more widespread and mainstream popularity, greater buzz upon their releases, or revolutionary themes or subject matter that warranted celebration with the top award. Perhaps voters believed that Curb Your Enthusiasm was too interlinked with Seinfeld to win the award over other new and revolutionary shows, especially once Curb had already been on the air for over a decade. More people are talking about these other shows that Curb loses to ahead of each Emmys award season, which shifts the frontrunner’s attention away from David’s series.

It can be argued that Curb is more deserving of the award than many shows it has lost to over the years, but it’s difficult when the industry’s focus may be on awarding series with new, distinctive stories and influences on pop culture. Larry David has been informing the cultural lexicon and landscape since 1989, and the Emmys may be more inclined to award the shows that are more informative of the respective year, like Ted Lasso in 2022 or Hacks in 2024, rather than Curb – regardless of how high quality the show continued to be.

While the politics of the awards have been made Curb Your Enthusiasm an underdog against shows like Friends, The Bear, The Office, 30 Rock, Hacksand Schitt’s Creekit’s still important that Larry David gets that nomination for each season to recognize how influential his comedy is to the genre on TV. A long-running boundary-pushing sitcom like Curb Your Enthusiasm is still a welcome surprise to be nominated by the Emmys, especially when considering 17-season comedies like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have never received a single main Primetime nomination.

Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Ending Reveals A Harsh Reality About Larry David’s Emmys Comeback

Will Larry David Have Another Chance To Take Home The Top Award?

Unfortunately, the September 2024 Emmys was the last chance for Curb Your Enthusiasm to give Larry David another Outstanding Comedy Series win. It also, sadly, could very well be the last chance that a Larry David show has to take home that Emmys award. David hasn’t revealed any new TV show plans that he’ll be starring in or creating after Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s ending, so it’s regrettably very possible that Curb is the last Larry David show to get a nomination in that category.

There’s always the optimistic hope that David comes back with another unexpected hit comedy after Curb Your Enthusiasmbut the harsh reality is that he may not get another chance to win that Outstanding Comedy Series award again. Larry David has been snubbed by the Emmys countless times for the acting categories and top comedy award over the past few decades, and it’s hard to believe that the television academy would give him his long-awaited win for a different show when hits like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm were consistently overlooked.