Larry David’s History-Sketch Series “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” Lands on HBO Max

Larry David returns to HBO Max with *Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness*, an American-history-centered sketch comedy that premiered in early 2024. Each half-hour episode presents a different era—colonial America, the Lewis-Clark expedition, the Great Depression, McCarthyism, and Watergate—while David plays a hapless “everyman” caught in pivotal moments. The show airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on HBO and streams on HBO Max.

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The series relies on a rotating roster of more than a dozen celebrity guests per episode. Notable participants include Samuel L. Jackson (narrator), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Tea-Party ringleader), Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Hamm (Lewis and Clark), Kaley Cuoco (a grieving widow in a Depression-era sketch), and Rob Reiner (George Washington in a term-limits gag). Recurring collaborators from *Curb Your Enthusiasm*—Mike Castle, Jake Reiner, and Colton Dunn—appear alongside veterans such as Michael Chiklis, J.B. Smoove, and Michael McKean. Historical figures portrayed range from Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson to President James Buchanan and Senator Joseph McCarthy.

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Higher Ground Productions, the company founded by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, serves as an executive producer. In the series’ opening, Barack Obama appears as himself, praising the nation’s progress toward its semiquincentennial and offering a light-hearted jab at David’s curmudgeonly persona.

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David’s sketches use historical settings to lampoon contemporary politics. The “McCarthy” episode culminates with David as Senator Joseph McCarthy, while the “Deepthroat” episode has him playing President James Buchanan flirting at a party, segueing into a parody of modern vaccine skepticism through a character who warns, “That vaccine’s gonna kill people. It’s gonna give them heart attacks!” The series also references former President Donald Trump through veiled jokes, and Jimmy Kimmel appears in a meta-commentary on his feud with Trump.

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• “Larry David has returned to HBO Max with the American history-centered sketch comedy show Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, following the conclusion of his long-running series Curb Your Enthusiasm — and it’s not just executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama who are along for the ride.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “Dozens of celebrity guests have joined the comedian to fill out the cast of historical figures.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “The episode’s closing and most talked-about segment features David himself playing Senator Joseph McCarthy.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “It also features Kids in the Hall alum Michael McKean as attorney Joseph Welch, delivering the famous “Have you no decency, sir?” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “That vaccine’s gonna kill people. It’s gonna give them heart attacks!” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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