Thanks to Larry's miscommunication on his new cell phone, Richard Lewis' girlfriend succumbs to peanut allergies a week before they're supposed to go to the Emmy Awards. A practicing Christian Scientist, she doesn't take any medicine, so Richard and Larry devise a scheme to cook up some brownies laced with medicine. Like all things Larry does, the plan backfires.
WAR
64.9
Wins Above Replacement
“The Benadryl Brownie” ranks #15 of 120 Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 86.9 — Elite. The episode packs 49 scored jokes at 1.4 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.3 on impact, with Larry landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Mike · Larry: You gotta turn the damn satellite on for the TV to work. See the little green light? Just gotta turn it on. / Or you can fire the black man. Whatever works for you.
Mike Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Mike · Larry: Look, be man enough. If you gonna be a racist, be a man, man. / I was a man. What good did it do me? / You're blaming it on your race. What's worse? / I'd rather blame it on my wife than blame it on my race.
Larry: It's a testament to the brownie. That's what you're not seeing. Because they're incredible brownies. If they were mediocre brownies, he wouldn't have taken them.
Larry Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Joan Rivers: I've seen better faces on a hemorrhoid. / When E.T. called home, did you pick up the phone? / Excuse me. / How are things in Loch Ness?
Larry: Jesus would be very happy for you to look better than you do now.
Larry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 49 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Larry · Richard: What do you think of this color? / I don't like... it's too flashy. / She's a Christian Scientist and... / She's a what? She's a Christian Scientist?
Larry · Richard: Did you just say, 'Oh, dear'? / Yeah. / I don't think you've ever said that in your entire life.
Larry · Richard: No one's ever told me they were dating a Christian Scientist. / I've been saving it. / If anything called for an 'Oh, dear'...
Larry · Richard: You can't hear a radio when you go in a tunnel. / Yes, you can, FM. You're an idiot. / I never listen to FM.
Larry: That's right, my friends for a change.
Larry Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Richard · Larry · Deborah: I can't eat this steak without some ketchup. / You don't ask a chef for ketchup. / Why is it insulting? It's ketchup.
Richard: This is good food. It's like a truck-stop thing.
Richard Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Larry · Richard: You know what? I am never having you guys over for dinner again. / Why? What did I do wrong? / It's exhausting, it's just exhausting.
Larry · Jeff: I'm not gonna fire him. / Why not? / I don't know, he's black, I don't want to fire him.
Larry Jeff Cringe/Discomfort Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jeff · Larry: You don't want to fire a black guy? / No, I don't want to fire him. / That's crazy! / It's ridiculous! / Who cares what he is? / If he sucks, he sucks.
Jeff Larry Escalation Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Larry · Jeff: Well, maybe we should play Scrabble. / That's a bad joke, right? / Yeah, it is a joke, I mean, I don't... / Scrabble?
Larry Jeff Absurdist Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Callback Larry: You want to sit Shiva? / Why don't we play Twister, would you be happy? / Let's go upstairs and all get under the covers and sob.
Larry Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Richard: You feel perfectly... you're almost cold like a corpse.
Richard Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Richard · Larry · Jeff: I told you when I spoke to you on the phone that... / No, you didn't. / What, are you kidding? / What are you talking about? / He did, I was standing right next to him when he called you.
Jeff: A praying mantis can use that goddamn phone!
Jeff Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jeff · Larry: You're such a fucking idiot, how can you do this? / She's not looking well... / Cell phone, you fucked up.
Larry · Cheryl: Scrabble? / I said it and kind of got in the mood. / Let's get it. / Really? You want to play? / I'm all over it. Let's go.
Larry · Mike: I'm sorry, but I got five remotes, nothing's working. Just be honest, man. 'Cause I'm black, right? Right?
Larry · Mike: It's my wife. She wants... / Oh, dude. / No, seriously. / Please don't go there, man. No, be man enough.
Larry Mike Cringe/Discomfort Escalation ★ Rewatch Mike · Larry: Look, be man enough. If you gonna be a racist, be a man, man. / I was a man. What good did it do me? / You're blaming it on your race. What's worse? / I'd rather blame it on my wife than blame it on my race.
Deborah's mother · Larry: Oh, no, no, don't. We're all responsible for our own lives. / I think there's some truth to that, isn't there?
Larry · Richard · Deborah: You should take Benadryl. You'd knock that out in five minutes. / I can't believe I didn't think of that. / I don't take medication. / Pop it in. / 'Pop it in'? / Who's gonna know? / Pop it in? That's a betrayal of my faith.
Larry: Jesus would be very happy for you to look better than you do now.
Larry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Well, why not just pray for the TV? Why even have somebody come in and fix the television? Why not just pray?
Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Deborah's Mother · Larry: Just in time. We're about to begin the prayer circle. / You've gotta be kidding. Believe me, you don't want me in this. She'll wind up with tuberculosis. / I really got bad karma, I'm not kidding.
Larry: Oh, no, no. Not this arrangement. Let's do boy/girl here. / Join hands. Join hands. / Put her over here. / No, she needs to be over there with her husband.
Larry Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Oh, cell phone. / I'm sorry. I just got this cell phone. / Hello? Oh, hey. / Maybe. Who are they playing?
Larry Cringe/Discomfort Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Richard: You know why this is a nightmare? You, my friend. Yes, yes, you. Because of this fucking highfalutin... you gotta go, join a restaurant, have an interest, have them come over and cook peanut sauce...
Richard: If it wasn't for the peanuts, she wouldn't look like a goddamn fucking Venetian!
Richard Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Richard · Larry: Would you show up at an event... with a person that looks like she has a macaroni salad... about the soul, you love her soul and all that.
Larry: Yeah, know what would match her head? A dress made of turnips and blood, you know?
Larry Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Richard · Larry: You gotta get a shot and stick it in her ass... / She's not a racehorse. / You gotta get a shot of Benadryl while she's sleeping, or shove it down her throat. / Like a hit man? A Benadryl hit man?
Larry · Richard: Put it in the brownie that she ate. / Wait a minute, why not put it in? / Put it in the brownie? / That's a fucking brilliant idea.
Larry · Richard: First of all, she will never know. I've got news for you. Even if she got better, they would think it was because of the prayer. / That's fantastic. / It was their religion. / Prayer worked. / And you know what? It happened in our house.
Susie · Larry: Jeff brought brownies that I made to a dinner party? / Yeah, at my house. / Larry, I baked those brownies specifically for Sammy to take to school the next day, and they were gone.
Susie · Larry: Jeff stole... he stole his child's brownies, Larry. / You see what we're dealing with here? / He stole brownies out of the mouth of his baby.
Larry: It's a testament to the brownie. That's what you're not seeing. Because they're incredible brownies. If they were mediocre brownies, he wouldn't have taken them.
Larry Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Larry · Susie: I'll tell you a secret, how about that? Nobody knows, not even Cheryl. / Well, if you'd like to tell me. / I might be losing a testicle. / You're kidding me.
Larry · Susie: It's not The Manhattan Project, you know?! It's just a little... a recipe. / Go get a mix or something! You're asking too much.
Larry: I just told you I'm gonna lose a ball!
Larry Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Cheryl: You can't do that because the brownie will fall apart. It's gotta be in the mix when you make the brownie.
Cheryl Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Richard: My heart is breaking for her big head. It's grotesque. It's like she should be in a carnival on Coney Island, I'm telling you.
Richard Escalation Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Deborah · Larry · Richard: You know, they're not quite the same. / No, they're the same. / Um-umm. / Yeah, yeah. / Um-umm. / Yeah, yeah. / Honey, just try another one.
Deborah: I can't believe that she doesn't know the difference between sugar and salt.
Deborah Irony/Sarcasm Misdirection ★ Rewatch Larry · Deborah: How dare you insult my wife's baking! / There's something different... / All right. / Fine, fine, you know what? Fine. / What do you want me to say, Larry? They're horrible!
Larry · Jeff: What am I supposed to do? / You trying to get a NAACP Image Award or something?
Larry Jeff Callback Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Larry: I fired the black man because he's the guy who set up the whole system here and it doesn't work... but I know, you know, 'Black man, he can never do anything wrong, and he shouldn't get fired from a job. Black people always do everything right.'
Larry Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Mike · Larry: You gotta turn the damn satellite on for the TV to work. See the little green light? Just gotta turn it on. / Or you can fire the black man. Whatever works for you.
Mike Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Joan Rivers: I've seen better faces on a hemorrhoid. / When E.T. called home, did you pick up the phone? / Excuse me. / How are things in Loch Ness?
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