The great Richard Lewis, stand-up comedian and one-time Boku pitchman, will not be around to antagonize (or be antagonized by) Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s upcoming 11th season. The actor confirmed as much in a tweet on Monday, noting that he’s “endured a back and two shoulder surgeries” over the last 18 months.
He elaborated in a statement to Variety: “For 20 years, I had the greatest comedy gig I could have ever imagined with my oldest and dearest friend LD. Honestly, I’m crushed that I won’t be part of this season. For sure, I will be screaming with all the other Curb fans when the new season starts. Hope to be there for Season 12!”
We do, too. Nobody can break David (or Larry) quite like Lewis. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how the show addresses his absence, especially in the post-COVID world in which it’s going to be set. “COVID definitely happened and we definitely talk about it...And Larry [the character] has opinions on all of it,” producer and writer Jeff Schaffer recently said of the new episodes. “I can’t tell you which characters got COVID, but I can definitely tell you that we do examine peoples’ behavior during the COVID era.” We will mourn the loss of Lewis’ particular brand of cynicism in an era when it is more than warranted.
A premiere date for the new season has yet to be announced.