Larry David returns to HBO with new historical sketch comedy

Larry David returned to HBO with Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, a seven-episode sketch-comedy series that took aim at American history and debuted Friday at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO while streaming on HBO Max. The project, also referred to in some coverage as An Almost History of America, marked his first HBO outing since Curb Your Enthusiasm ended in 2024 after 12 seasons and a 24-year run.

Jeff Schaffer directs the series and co-wrote and executive-produced it with David, reuniting the longtime collaborators on a show HBO framed as a historical comedy in which “Those who don’t know history… are doomed to watch Larry David repeat it.” The series was introduced at SXSW in Austin, Texas, during a panel moderated by Los Angeles Times critic Lorraine Ali, where new footage was shown.

The cast list signals the scale HBO attached to the project. First-look materials and the teaser campaign paired Curb regulars with Barack Obama, Bill Hader, Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Jerry Seinfeld, Sean Hayes and Chris Parnell, making the series both a reunion and a broad cultural crossover. Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground is among the producers, linking the show to a production company that has tried to combine mainstream reach with social and political resonance.

Obama’s role drew unusual attention because coverage said Barack Obama gave creative notes on the series. That detail added another layer to a project already built around one of television’s most recognizable comic voices and one of the country’s most recognizable political figures. Schaffer has said ending Curb Your Enthusiasm made sense, describing the finale as giving viewers the “Seinfeld finale on steroids” and as a way of owning Larry’s refusal to learn.

The timing gives the series added weight. HBO and critics have framed it against America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, placing David’s return in a year already loaded with patriotic symbolism and public argument over national identity. After Curb turned irritation, humiliation and social misreading into a signature HBO brand, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness put that same comic machinery into the language of American history.