Larry David’s New Show Is Just Curb In Costume, Here’s The Trailer

By TeeJay Small
| Published 26 seconds ago

The 2026 South by Southwest Film and TV Festival kicked off over the weekend, with a variety of new projects announced. Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David was in attendance with a first look at his next project as well, which has been given the extremely wordy title Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America. According to a report in Variety, the series is shaping up to be quite a star-studded event, with guest stars including Bill Hader, Jerry Seinfeld, Kathryn Hahn, and even former President Barack Obama.

The first look trailer for the series reveals that Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness will have a lot in common with Curb Your Enthusiasm. The series appears to share the same comedic sensibilities, improvisational style, and even the same director, Jeff Schaffer. Most of the key Curb actors are set to return in some capacity as well, including Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, and the inimitable J.B. Smoove. Schaffer reportedly joked that the new show could be retitled “Curb in costume.”

Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness will present a variety of period piece sketches, which will unfold over the course of seven episodes. These sketches will serve as a retelling of significant events in American history, with a Seinfeldian sardonic twist. Bill Hader is credited as portraying Abraham Lincoln in one sketch, while TV legends Jon Hamm and Sean Hayes will appear as the Wright brothers in another. For now, there’s no word on who Barack Obama will portray, though it is confirmed that he will be a performer in front of the camera.

Obama has made numerous headlines in the television and film world since retiring from politics, though he rarely appears in his own productions. He and First Lady Michelle Obama have formed a production company called Higher Ground, which seeks to elevate important stories with themes of resilience and freedom. According to Variety, the former Oval Office occupant even tried to give Larry David a few notes on his Pursuit of Unhappiness scripts, prompting a humorous back-and-forth.

David recalls Barack Obama expressing, “When I was in the White House, I used to take notes from my advisers, and I was the President of the United States,” while critiquing a script. The Curb creator then indignantly replied, “I’m President here.” If you’re a major fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm and you’ve been having withdrawals since the series concluded in 2024, it sounds like Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America will be the exact series to scratch your itch. The series will debut on HBO on June 26.