When it comes to most celebrities, it is extraordinarily easy to predict what they are going to do in the future. For example, even though she tried to keep the world guessing, it always was predictable that Madonna would find new controversies and undergo yet another dramatic makeover. On the other hand, Kanye West truly has been unpredictable enough throughout his career to keep his fans constantly on their toes.
Most recently, Kanye West shocked many of his fans when he announced his candidacy for the President of the United States. While that was surprising, it wasn’t the first time that West announced plans to take his career in an entirely new direction out of the blue. For example, at one point West had plans to follow in Larry David’s footsteps. Unfortunately, West barely fell short of making his plans a reality.
An All-Time Great
Due to the prevalence of television channels and streaming services, more sitcoms have been produced over the last several years than at any other time in the past. As a result, it has become impossible for most shows to stand out from the crowd. Despite that, there have been a handful of modern shows that have managed to become all-time classics including Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Since the first episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm aired in the year 2000, the show has managed to be one of the most unique and popular shows on television. As fans of the show already know, Larry David is the person who is most responsible for Curb Your Enthusiasm’s success. After all, David not only headlines the show, Larry also is in charge of the show’s creative direction.
While it would be a mistake to underplay Larry David’s role in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s success, he certainly isn’t solely responsible. For example, a former Seinfeld writer and Borat director named Larry Charles produced Curb Your Enthusiasm from 2000 until 2017, and he directed 19 episodes of the show. With that in mind, it is fascinating to learn that Charles worked on a sitcom that was set to star Kanye West.
The Failed Show
During the mid-2000s, it took Kanye West’s fans by surprise when the famed rapper compared himself to Larry David. As it turns out, West thought that following in David’s footsteps could be the key to the next step in his career. As a result, West got a deal from HBO and began work on a Curb Your Enthusiasm style show that Kanye was set to star in.
In a genius move, Kanye West decided to recruit longtime Larry David collaborator Larry Charles to work on his planned sitcom. Despite that extremely wise move, West would ultimately be disappointed after he filmed a pilot for his proposed HBO sitcom. After all the often cutting-edge network passed on the show.
The Pilot
Since HBO didn’t pick up the pilot for Kanye West’s Curb Your Enthusiasm style show, the series never made it to air. For that reason, West’s fans weren’t allowed to judge the pilot for themselves so they were left to presume it was awful based on a review and the fact that HBO passed. However, anyone who would conclude West’s sitcom was terrible should think again as some evidence seems to paint a different picture.
In the aftermath of HBO passing on Kanye West’s sitcom, the show’s writer and producer Larry Charles talked to comingsoon.net about his take on the situation. According to Charles, HBO wimped out. "It was really good, but ... I think it was too hard-core for HBO. Also, HBO's management shifted. HBO doesn't have a good track record when it comes to black shows, and I felt like that may have had something to do with it also."
Of course, it is pretty easy to write off Larry Charles’ comments about Kanye West’s show since he obviously is extremely biased. However, in 2013 a writer for Vulture named Lindsey Weber got to see the pilot and based on her review, Kanye West’s show “wasn’t that bad at all”. While that may seem like faint praise, in Weber’s write up she went on to point out that the pilot used West’s lack of acting experience to its advantage.
“Strangely, Kanye was somehow able to use those insecurities to his advantage. For comic effect, he stares wide-eyed into the camera.” Weber then goes on to reveal that the pilot largely relies on the talents of West’s co-stars and her article points out that was the plan to give Kanye the chance to grow as a performer. “Kanye knew he wasn’t a good improviser. He’d read something that Seinfeld said about surrounding himself with better talent and that he would rise to the occasion. And so that was his hope.”
As a part of Lindsey Weber’s article about Kanye West’s Curb Your Enthusiasm style sitcom, the writer spoke to one of the show’s co-stars Wyatt Cenac. In an amusing twist, Cenac thinks HBO didn’t pick up the show since it focused on actors like him too much. “HBO was like, ‘We didn’t pay for a show with these no-name mother**kers. Find a way to put some Kanye in this.’”