Review summaries of the one-hour special on HBO

L.A. Times' Howard Rosenberg: Assisted by director Robert B. Weide, this funny display could not have been staged better by Gary Shandling and company. In addition, the hour seamlessly intercuts apparently straight (interview) comments about David. A classic.

Hollywood Reporter: Delicious nonsense. The mood and mode of it is camera-on-the-wall type fictional reality. Robert B. Weide is director (of) a cast that never gets caught acting.

Variety: A work of genius. The big question of what is real and what isn't should definitely add to repeat viewings, transforming this hour-long into the comedic equivalent of The Blair Witch Project. Camera angles are truly from fly-on-the-wall perspective (making) the telepic believable from start to finish.

N.Y. Daily News: Very funny and very clever. An effortlessly watchable, well-structured comedy special.

Houston Chronicle: If you loved Seinfeld, you'll love Curb Your Enthusiasm, a genuinely funny special. It has the rhythm and tone of a Seinfeld episode, as a documentary. It comes across as unrehearsed and spontaneous.

NY Newsday's Marvin Kitman: Done in the Spinal Tap mockumentary style and directed by the respected non-fiction auteur Robert B. Weide, (it's) hilarious. Weide's cinema vérite cameras follow the comic in his everyday life. What happens is fascinating.

Chicago Tribune: Forget all the talk about spinning off characters from Seinfeld. The worthy successor is Larry David: CYE, a hilarious HBO special (which) should serve as a pilot for what could be a very funny ongoing series.

New York Magazine's Ariel Levy (Fall Preview): If the series maintains half the quality of the special, it's worth getting premium cable for this show alone.

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