Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David is making a new comedy-history series... with Barack Obama

David on US history could get... pretty... pretty interesting

Larry David and Barack Obama
(Image credit: HBO)

Curb Your Enthusiasm star and all-round comedy legend Larry David is making a sketch show about the history of America.

One of the most eye-catching and unlikely things you’ll learn about this upcoming comedy series is it sees David team up with Barack and Michelle Obama.

“I’ve sat across the table from some of the world’s most difficult leaders and wrestled with some of our most intractable problems. Nothing has prepared me for working with Larry David,” said former US president Obama.

But let’s get real, this is most likely just a funny way to announce the show is being made in association with the Obama’s Higher Ground production company. We doubt Barack is going to be pitching gag ideas all day in a writer’s room.

Instead, that job is going to be done in part by Jeff Schaffer. David and Schaffer will write the series, effectively a return of the duo that worked on not just Curb Your Enthusiasm but Seinfeld too.

David won’t only write the show, he’ll star in it. The as-yet unnamed series will be a six-episode run, with each episode lasting 30 minutes.

A Sky TV transfer?

The show will air on HBO’s Max, suggesting it’s likely to eventually land on Sky’s NOW service in the UK.

“We’re thrilled that Larry is coming back to HBO, this time with Higher Ground, to give us a glimpse at our shared history as we celebrate our semiquincentennial,” says Amy Gravitt, HBO’s head of comedy programming.

What’s a semiquincentennial? It means America is due to turn 250. In 2026 it will have been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And while no release date has been inked for this Obama-David history comedy, that timing would suggest the plan is to get it on screens some time next year.

Larry David’s last major writing job was on Curb Your Enthusiasm, but then again the last episodes of that were only broadcast in 2024. The show ran for 12 seasons over 24 years.

David recently turned 78 years old, and made clear as Curb wound up that he had no intention of retiring just yet.

Andrew Williams has written about tech for a decade. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff.

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