Larry David Told Bill Hader ‘Barry’ Should Have Ended After Season 3

Season 4 of “Barry” has been a massive success, with critics raving over the shocking time jump and Bill Hader’s continued flexing of his directorial muscles. But if Larry David had gotten his way, the fourth and final season might have never happened.

In a new appearance on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Hader recalled a recent encounter with his former “Curb Your Enthusiasm” collaborator. As Hader tells it, David thought that the Season 3 finale — which sees Barry Berkman arrested as part of a sting operation — was the end of the show.

More from IndieWire

• The Latest 'Barry' Is as Funny as Hopeless Desperation Can Get

• Bill Hader Breaks Down What He's Learned from Directing 'Barry'

“‘That’s it, right?’” Hader recalled David telling him after the end of Season 3. “I said, ‘No, we have a whole new season. And he went, ‘Why?’ I go, ‘Well, I think there’s more story to tell.’ And he’s like, ‘But it’s done.’”

While David’s proposed ending spot would likely have disappointed a lot of “Barry” fans, it would have been thematically similar to the way he chose to end “Seinfeld.” The iconic sitcom’s love-it-or-hate-it finale, which saw Jerry and his friends sent to prison for their lifelong refusal to be Good Samaritans, continues to polarize fans to this day.

But while David might have disagreed with Hader’s decision to make a fourth season, he certainly knows how hard it can be to decide when you want to conclude an HBO show. His long-running sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm” flirts with ending after nearly every season, to the point where he even filmed a scene of his character dying at the end of last season that was ultimately scrapped.

Many have assumed that the upcoming Season 12, which recently wrapped production and is expected to premiere later this year, would be the final bow for David’s fictionalized version of himself. But longtime producer Jeff Schaffer recently cast doubt on those rumors and said that no final decisions have been made.

“Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he said. “Every season is the last season. It’s been this way forever… Larry’s put all the ideas he likes into the season. He’s the only one who thinks he’s never gonna have another good idea. So, of course, he’s done for a while. But you know, usually he goes out and has spirited encounters with the westside of Los Angeles and then ideas come.

Best of IndieWire

• 9 Greatest Human-Alien Sex Scenes

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.