Ted Danson Thought ‘Curb’ ‘Sucked’ Before It Changed His Life

Ted Danson was not convinced that Curb Your Enthusiasm was going to be a hit when he first saw it, he revealed on Wednesday. And in fact, he thought it “sucked.”

During Wednesday’s episode of his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Danson, who played himself on Larry David’s hit series from 2000 to 2024, said he watched the pilot episode of the show with his wife and Curb co-star Mary Steenburgen. “Mary thought it was great,” he said, but “I thought it sucked. I thought it absolutely sucked and I felt sorry for my new friend Larry David.”

Trying to be polite and “encouraging,” Danson said, he told David, “If you ever need us to play ourselves, we’d be happy to.” Of course, Danson would ultimately make good on the offer and end up an integral part of the fan-favorite series for two decades.

“It ended up being part of something that changed my life,” Danson told his guest, fellow Curb star JB Smoove, calling his initial apprehension about the series “idiocy.” He explained, “Curb really did change my life because it reinvigorated my desire to be funny.” Curb Your Enthusiasm aired its series finale earlier this year.