Ted Danson has revealed that he offered to appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm series finale.

On his podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name (via The Hollywood Reporter), Danson discusses ing the show after watching the pilot episode. Even though Steenburgen liked the episode, Danson reveals that he was not a fan and felt sorry for David, who was a new friend to him at the time. He later told David that he and Mary would be "happy" to appear on the show as themselves if he ever needed them. When looking back at the series, Danson says that appearing on the show "changed my life." Danson's full comments about ing the series can be found below:

Curb really did change my life, because it reinvigorated my desire to be funny. But, I did it, I've told this story before, but we watched the pilot of Curb, Mary and I. Mary thought it was great. I thought it sucked. I thought it absolutely sucked. And I felt sorry for my new friend, Larry David. So in trying to be encouraging kind of thing, I said, 'You know, if you ever need us to play ourselves, we'd be happy to.' And in that sort of idiocy, you know, I ended up being part of something that changed my life.

What Danson Appearing In Curb Your Enthusiasm Meant For The Show

Danson Became David's Archenemey

Danson's role in the series gave the fictional version of Larry David an archenemy. In Danson's first episode, "Ted and Mary," Larry tells Cheryl that he would rather be friends with Mary instead of Ted, showing that the two already have a strained relationship. Throughout the series, Larry and Ted would often have misunderstandings and become confrontational with each other. While Larry would make enemies in almost every episode, Ted would be the one that he would have to regularly see because he was friends with Cheryl. After Ted started dating Cheryl, it added another layer to their antagonistic relationship.

Since Danson is an actor, the show was able to use the fictional version of him in ways that it wouldn't have been able to with the other characters. This included Ted having a role in Larry's fictional TV show Young Larry, as well as Larry attacking a standee for a movie starring Danson as Robert E. Lee.

Our Take On Ted Danson's Comments On Curb Your Enthusiasm

The Fictional Danson Brought Out The Worst In Larry

Danson's difficult relationship with Larry led to some of the most confrontational and awkward moments in the series, especially once he started dating Cheryl. Even though Larry also had a difficult relationship with Jeff Greene's (Jeff Garlin) wife Susie (Susie Essman), Ted's relationship with Cheryl put him in another category on Larry's enemy list.

Danson's comments about the pilot of Curb Your Enthusiasm also puts in perspective that the show's early episodes were not as strong as the show would later become. Many other beloved TV comedies, like Seinfeld and The Office, also had early episodes that didn't reflect the heights that the shows would later achieve in their runs. While Danson's original offer may have been because he felt sorry for David, he was able to play an important role in a show that would evolve to become one of the best TV comedies.

Source: Where Everybody Knows Your Name (via THR)