Mister Softee
Curb Your Enthusiasm | Season 8 | Episode 9

Mister Softee

TV-MA | 33 MIN

Directed by Larry Charles

Written by Larry David, Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer

Dining al fresco in New York City, Susie asks Larry to get Jeff a ball signed by Mookie Wilson for his birthday. Larry is distracted by a nearby Mr. Softee ice cream truck. He unloads to his therapist about a childhood incident playing strip poker inside a Mr. Softee truck, which ended up with him naked in front of the whole neighborhood.

Before the championship softball game, the team sponsor Yari the mechanic gives a profanity-laced pep talk in the spirit of George Steinbrenner. With the game on the line, Larry gets distracted by the sound of a Mr. Softee truck, and the ball goes right through his legs.

The next day, Larry goes to Yari to pick up his car, but it's not ready yet. A disgusted Yari says he "made an error" and "dropped the ball." He sends Larry off in an unrepaired car with a broken front seat.

Larry sees Leon standing outside the apartment building-the doorman won't let him in. After apologizing on behalf of all Caucasians, Larry tells Leon to wear glasses if he wants respect. When they arrive at the trade show to get Mookie Wilson's autograph, Larry gets turned away, but a bespectacled Leon is able to get them both in. There, Larry sees former Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner at a table and shares that he made a devastating error of his own. They leave together, and Buckner is constantly heckled by people on the street.

That night, Larry brings Jennifer home, and she rides in the broken front seat. When they get to the apartment, she decides not to come up. The next day, Leon rides shotgun, and he realizes that the vibrations in the front seat were the reason Jennifer didn't want to go up. She didn't come upstairs, Leon says, "because she was coming downstairs."

Susie spots Larry driving alone, and asks for a ride uptown-her cousin's building is on fire. Larry, now aware of what his front seat can do, does whatever he can to keep Susie out of it. When she insists, he has no other choice and lets her ride. As Susie gets increasingly excited, Larry gets more and more disgusted, and he crashes into a parked Mr. Softee truck.

At the fire, a woman has to throw her baby to the firefighters. The baby bounces away from them, and Buckner makes a diving catch. He's a hero.

That night, Larry sleeps with Jennifer. He's satisfied with his performance, but Jennifer isn't. She wants to go for a drive.

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