The Massage

Julia Louis-Dreyfus lets Larry (Larry David) know that after the disasters he's caused at HBO and ABC, she's no longer interested in pitching their idea for a new series. "At the next meeting," Larry reassures her, "you don't even have to say a word. I'll pitch the whole show." So they decide to try one more time, at CBS. On the way out of the building, Larry and Jeff (Jeff Garlin) pass a sad man with a sandwich board that reads "I am a shoplifter," and Jeff explains that this is a new form of punishment that is now in vogue. Then they pass the manager (Steve Sheridan) of the restaurant at Jeff's hotel. Larry says hello, but keeps walking. "He wanted to stop and chat," he explains to Jeff, "I don't know him well enough for a stop-and-chat." Playing golf later, Jeff points out how tense Larry is, and offers to treat Larry to a massage. Larry takes him up on it. Jeff's masseuse (Kathleen York) appears to be doing a good job. Then she asks Larry, "Would you like me to finish you off?" and Larry, uncertain about what she means, says yes. A moment later, her hand is on his genitals, and he tries to tell her to stop, but with her pumping away, he has a lot of trouble forming the actual word with his mouth. He immediately goes to Jeff to complain. Mike Binder (of HBO's Mind of the Married Man) is in Jeff's office when Larry barges in. They're both very impressed that Larry was able to stop the masseuse after "12 pumps." But Larry gets worried and rushes home when he remembers that Cheryl is meeting with a psychic that afternoon. Nora Dunn guest stars as an ABC executive.