My dream for the future is to become a writer for television shows and movies. Since this is my first article for the Odyssey Online. I would like to talk about someone who inspired me to pursue this carrer. That person is Larry David.
Larry David is a comedic writer who created Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The premise of both those shows are about nothing. He knew how to stress the little things in life that we all have known to love and joy.
When Larry David pitched the idea for Seinfeld, they weren’t satisfied with the idea. At the time, it was a unique concept that nobody was confident with. The NBC executives were willing to negotiate a deal with him, which involved many changes to the show. Larry David declined the offer. He had a vision for what he wanted for his show and he didn’t want anyone to ruin it for him. Eventually, the executives called to agree to put his show on the air with his demands.
During the 1990s, it became one of the most popular sitcoms on television. The night Seinfeld aired their series finale, TV Land network honored their show by not airing anything during their time slot so others could watch it. Unfortunately, a lot of viewers found the finale disappointing because all the characters ended up in jail (sorry if I spoiled it for anyone who didn’t see it.). The viewers had their own visions of how they wanted the show to end, but Larry David had something different in mind. Throughout the course of the show, he managed to make his vision come to life.
When I watched the finale for the first time I didn’t like it either. Then I watched a few more times and I appreciated it more. From a writer’s perspective, I understood why it was good. The characters on the show were never meant to grow or change. Larry David had a rule that he wanted the writers to obey, “No lessons, no hugging.” This show wasn’t meant to have a heartwarming ending. Once you settle that in your minds, you will understand why the last episode was as funny as it was.
During the course of the show, he didn’t let anyone get in the way of his creative vision. He had a certain way doing things to make his writing work with the story. He knew if things didn’t go his way, it wasn’t going to be good. After he ended Seinfeld, he wrote Curb Your Enthusiasm (which is one of my favorite shows). This show was very similar to Seinfeld, but it was based on his own life. When I watched that show, I didn’t think “how was he going to fix the situation?” I thought, “How was he going to make this situation funnier?” That was the way he thought when he wrote episodes.
Larry David didn’t become successful until he was in his forties. It may have taken him awhile to become successful, but he didn’t change who he was nor his vision in order to get where he is now. If I ever achieve my goal as a writer, I hope to have the same mindset Larry had when he put himself out there.
