Curb Your Enthusiasm fans have been universally failing to curb their enthusiasm about the return of Larry David after a six-year hiatus, and now there’s even more reason to ramp up the Larrymania. Just a few days ago at the Roots Picnic festival in Philadelphia, JB Smoove – who plays Leon in the series – let slip that season 9 may well be premiering on HBO on October 1. HBO has yet to confirm the date, but as one of the first people to let on last summer that the show was coming back at all, many fans are taking his word as Curb law.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 9 cast

As we wrote in our sum-up Curb Your Enthusiasm blog, season 9 sees our belligerent hero embarrassing himself repeatedly in front of a cast of familiar (and a few not-so-familiar) faces. Richard Lewis and Ted Danson return as themselves, JB Smoove is back as the confrontational Leon and Jeff Garlin and Susie Essman return as Jeff and Susie Green. Cheryl Hines is back as Larry’s long-suffering ex-wife and Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham is a new addition, playing a role which, she insists, is in no way based on herself. “This character is completely not me at all,” she said. “I speak in a way that I don’t speak ever.”

Graham also spoke about the show’s improvisational style and risqué edge. “All you get is an outline and then you improvise around it,” she said, telling of a scene when Danson encouraged her to sail as close to the comedy edge as she liked. “This is cable,” he told her. “You can really [go wild]. Think of the craziest thing possible. [But] my brain so doesn’t work that way.”

Which are the funniest Curb Your Enthusiasm scenes ever? Check out our run-down.