Summary

• Larry's obsession with history resurfaces in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, with a focused attempt to memorize the Gettysburg Address.
• The Gettysburg Address subplot highlights Larry's historical fascination ingrained in the show, reflecting real-life interest from the creator.
• Historical references are prevalent throughout Curb Your Enthusiasm, with standout storylines like the Revolutionary War reenactment in season 9.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 6.

Larry’s attempt to memorize the Gettysburg Address in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 brings back a classic Larry obsession from the show’s history, which peaked in season 9. In Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 6, “The Gettysburg Address,” Larry realizes how many hours he’s wasted doing the necessary but mundane task of urinating and decides to use that time to learn something. He could’ve used his bathroom time to learn anything, but the fact that he chose Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speech highlights an obsession Larry has had since the beginning of the series.

Within the episode, the Gettysburg Address is on Larry’s mind because Ted Danson told him he’s starring as Lincoln opposite guest star Lori Loughlin’s Mary Todd. But Ted isn’t actually playing Lincoln on stage in real life, so that storyline was reverse-engineered for a Lincoln-centric episode. This particular choice for the subject of the episode harks back to one of Larry’s main interests that goes back not only to the early seasons of Curb, but also to Seinfeld. This specific Larry obsession peaked in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 9 with one of the series’ most elaborately constructed episodes.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12's Gettysburg Address Subplot Brings Back Larry David's History Obsession

Larry’s bid to commit the Gettysburg Address to memory calls back to his fascination with history, which has frequently come up in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The real Larry David actually got his college degree in history, so it’s not surprising that he has integrated a lot of historical events and callbacks into the show. The Gettysburg Address storyline is just the latest in a long line of references to historical events like World War II and the American Civil War. In season 12, episode 3, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug,” Richard Lewis even told Larry, “I’m sick of your historical references!”

In season 5, episode 4, “Kamikaze Bingo,” Larry argues with the son of a WWII-era kamikaze pilot over whether or not his dad is really a kamikaze pilot if he just “grazed” the ship. In season 9, episode 10, “Fatwa!,” Larry and Lin-Manuel Miranda have their own version of the Burr-Hamilton duel with paintball guns. In season 11, episode 10, “The Mormon Advantage,” Larry steals a pair of shoes from a Holocaust museum. A season 10 subplot saw Ted Danson playing General Lee in a Civil War biopic. Curb is jam-packed with historical references.

In 1970, Larry David graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a Bachelor of Arts in history.

Larry David's Civil War & American History Interests Were Also Featured In Seinfeld

Larry’s interest in American history – and specifically the Civil War – was a big part of Seinfeld, too. In season 4, episode 3, “The Pitch,” George wonders what the soldiers in the Civil War did for toilet paper. In season 6, episode 11, “The Switch,” Jerry and George wonder if anyone had roommates in the Middle Ages. In season 3, episodes 17 and 18, “The Boyfriend,” Jerry recreated a spitting incident involving Kramer and Newman in the style of a reconstruction of the Kennedy assassination. Larry’s obsession with history can be seen all throughout his oeuvre.

Curb Your Enthusiasm's Best History Storyline Was In Season 9's "Thank You For Your Service" Episode

There have been a ton of great historical storylines in Curb Your Enthusiasm – like season 8, episode 3, “Palestinian Chicken,” which reduces the historic conflict between Israel and Palestine to a chicken restaurant in L.A. – but arguably the greatest is season 9, episode 5, “Thank You for Your Service.” The episode kicks off with a classic Larry faux pas when Sammi introduces her fiancé Victor, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan played by Chet Hanks, to Jeff and Susie’s friends. Every single person in the room says, “Thank you for your service,” except for Larry.

Victor is deeply offended by Larry’s failure to thank him for his service, so as a way of apology, Larry takes Victor to a war reenactment of the American Revolution. This is one of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s most visually impressive episodes, recreating a full-scale battlefield with a huge crowd of extras in full military regalia. It becomes even more spectacular when another person that Larry has offended – the gate attendant at the country club, who’s on the other side of the reenactment – starts firing live cannonballs at Larry and Victor, and they have to flee for their lives.

There have been many great historical references in Curb Your Enthusiasm, but the Revolutionary War reenactment in “Thank You for Your Service” is arguably the best. Usually, Larry just slips in a nod to a historical event or a parallel with a key moment in history. But “Thank You for Your Service” fully indulges in Larry’s love of history with a battle scene that wouldn’t be out of place in a real war movie.