Larry David says his blunt ‘Curb’ character is no Trump

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Larry David says his irascible, mouthy character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is “about a quarter-inch” away from David himself.

But David said he bears no resemblance to another blunt talker, President Donald Trump.

“I don’t consider myself a (expletive),” he told a TV critics’ meeting Wednesday, brushing off a reporter’s question about whether Trump represented a rival as David’s HBO comedy returns after a long absence.

Jeff Garlin, who co-stars on the comedy, chimed in.

“Our president is not funny, and Larry’s funny. So I don’t see the competition,” Garlin said. “I think one is completely sad, and one you escape from the horribleness of the sad one.”

“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which last aired six years ago, is back for a 10-episode ninth season starting Oct. 1. Besides Garlin, cast members include Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman and J.B. Smoove, with Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston and Lauren Graham among the guest stars.

David was asked why he decided to bring the show back now.

“Why not?” he answered. “I’m not a miss-er, so to speak. I don’t really miss things, people, that much. But I was missing it and I was missing these idiots,” he said of the cast members who joined him to promote the show. “So I thought, what the hell.”

He also tired of people asking him if the show was coming back - but he wouldn’t put to rest questions about whether this would be its last season.

David spent a fair amount of time playing with reporters as he, sometimes, answered their questions.

Asked if the TV version of Larry David might eventually become lovable someday, David replied, sarcastically, “No, no he’s not. But fascinating question.”

Would his character eventually have to face everyone he had wronged? That apparent nod to the series ender of “Seinfeld,” which David created with Jerry Seinfeld, induced real or feigned irritation.

“I guess that’s a ’Seinfeld’ reference? A ’Seinfeld’ finale reference? What are doing? I braved traffic to get here,” David said. “Shame on you.”

David also will be seen on the upcoming season of PBS’ genealogy series “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” In it, he finds out he has a family connection to Bernie Sanders, the senator and former presidential hopeful that David played on “Saturday Night Live.”

There’s a connection as well to Judith Sheindlin, TV’s “Judge Judy,” who makes an appearance on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The reason he picked her and not another TV judge, David said, is he knew Sheindlin because she’s part of his ex-wife’s family.