Haven't written in awhile due to a ski trip and my return to LA, but alas, I am back and happy for the new year. Last night I watched a marathon of Curb Your Enthusiam - what fun! In the past I argued that Seinfeld was better citing the great cast and originality of voice, but after last night, I think Curb is equally enjoyable. Maybe it's not worth comparing, however, since Seinfeld was on network TV and Curb is on HBO.

What I wanted to point out, however, was the format. Curb is shot on DV. The production value looks as though I could have made the shows in my intro production class. The other good, new comedy show, of which I've only seen one episode, is Arrested Development on Fox. This too, appears to be shot in DV in documentary-style. One of my film school professors wrote an article about the end of film, citing the use of DV technology in film, specifically The Celebration, a Danish Dogma film shot all in DV. The Celebration was a great film, but not widely popular in the US. Shows like Arrested Development and Curb will do more for the DV revolution than The Celebration, simply because they reach a wide audience.

Whether Larry David knows it or not, he is preparing the audience to be ready and accepting of a more democratic means of telling stories visually. His show will open doors for filmmakers (or should I say, videomakers?) to tell funny stories without the need for enormous production costs. Cool.