Ted Danson Thought ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ ‘Sucked’ and Offered to Play Himself Because He ‘Felt Sorry’ for Larry David — Then It ‘Changed My Life’

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld Ted Danson appeared in almost all 12 seasons of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as one of Larry David‘s nemeses. Playing a pretentious and smug version of himself, the “Cheers” star became a fan-favorite on the show, most recently appearing in the series finale.

But Danson was initially quite skeptical of the unscripted HBO sitcom — and only offered to play himself out of pity for David. “‘Curb’ really did change my life, because it reinvigorated my desire to be funny,” Danson said on his podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” while talking to “Curb” star J.B.

Smoove. But when he first watched the pilot with his wife, Mary Steenburgen, Danson “thought it sucked.” “I thought it absolutely sucked, and I felt sorry for my new friend, Larry David,” Danson said. “So, in trying to be an encouraging kind of thing, I said, ‘If you ever need us to play ourselves, we’d be happy to.’ And in that sort of idiocy, I ended up being part of something that changed my life.” David, of course, took Danson up on his offer, as he and Steenburgen starred as heightened versions of themselves in the second episode of “Curb,” titled “Ted and Mary.” Danson also made headlines recently while recalling a story from the set of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” when he realized mid-shoot that his character was despised by David’s character.

When he arrived on his mark too early, Danson overheard the dialogue between David and another actor on “Curb,” which went something like: “Danson, he’s a real asshole.” “I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ Because I never read the scripts,” Danson said on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” in November. “I went to Jeff Garlin and he said, ‘You don’t know?