Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! My coverage of The Middle will begin in August. In the meantime, I’m excited to set the figurative table by resurrecting a post from this blog’s thirteen-year run — another entry from the year in which The Middle premiered, the final TV season of the 2000s decade. You know how this works — I provide a link to a piece that I first published several seasons ago, and then I offer some updated commentary, relevant to today…

This week, let’s revisit… The Four Best CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM Episodes of Season Seven: https://jacksonupperco.com/2024/06/25/the-four-best-curb-your-enthusiasm-episodes-of-season-seven/

I mentioned this season a few weeks ago in a Q&A entry where I responded to a query about episodes on which I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing in Curb about which I’ve had a radical change of heart — especially not since 2024 — but I often do think about some of the episodic selections I made, for this is a series where, frankly, the good years are rich in possibilities. And one of those good years is the series’ seventh — the Seinfeld reunion — for although I don’t think it’s quite peak-era Curb (that would be Seasons Three and Four), Seven is indeed one of its most gem-filled. I knew going in that I was going to highlight the final two segments of the year, which include the Seinfeld reunion, along with a hilarious offering called “Denise Handicap.” But for that fourth slot, I was really torn between “The Black Swan,” which I ultimately picked because it’s a fine display of the ensemble that Larry David cultivated around his character; an earlier outing in the Seinfeld reunion arc (literally called “The Reunion”); and the season premiere, a memorably bombastic outing called “Funkhouser’s Crazy Sister.” That last episode famously guest starred the very funny Catherine O’Hara as Bam Bam Funkhouser. She turns in a performance that’s so audacious that the whole half hour becomes unforgettable. And, now with reflection, it does stick with me more than, in particular, the otherwise solid “The Black Swan,” so I think, if that list was made in 2026, it would have been tougher not to include. And that speaks to a general principle that I’m coming to believe as I see more and more sitcom episodes (I’m almost up to 25,000 since this blog began): memorability is an asset. There’s so much drivel out there that leaves no impression. Being striking enough to make a mark in my brain — and a favorable one, especially — is a major feat. Accordingly, I have to celebrate this entry here today — along with the entire seventh year of Curb, a terrific season from one of the best sitcoms on TV during the sitcom-rich 2009-2010 season.

Come back next week for more sitcom fun! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!