Bill Hader Says Larry David Told Him That ‘Barry’ Should Have Ended With Season 3’s Pivotal Moment

Bill Hader’s Emmy-winning HBO series Barry is airing its fourth and final season, but it sounds like Larry David felt that last year would have been a pretty good time to end the show.

During a preview clip from Hader’s appearance on a new episode of the Conan Needs a Friend podcast that is released Monday and includes Barry spoilers (as does this story), the series’ star and co-creator recalls to host Conan O’Brien that David told him season three felt like the right moment to end its run, given that the titular assassin is arrested in the closing moments of the finale.

“I saw Larry, and he goes, ‘I watched Barry — that’s it, right?’” says Hader, doing his best David impression. “And I said, ‘No, we have a whole new season.’ And he went, ‘Why?’”

Hader continues, “I go, ‘Well, I think there’s more story to tell.’ And he’s like, ‘But it’s done!’”

This leads Matt Gourley, who co-hosts the podcast with O’Brien, to point out that the Seinfeld finale, which aired in 1998 and has a script from David, ends with the sitcom’s four core characters landing in jail. Hader replies, “Exactly — I didn’t think about that! That’s true.”

Barry’s fourth season opens with Hader’s character in prison. The show’s cast includes Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan and Henry Winkler, with the series finale set to air May 28.

In addition to Hader earning awards for Barry, he also received an Emmy nomination for his role in a 2021 episode of David’s HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. David is famous for never being sure quite when the right time might be to close the book on Curb, with the series even filming a death scene for his main character in season 11 before the show’s team decided to scrap it and return for a yet-to-air twelfth season.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about season three, Hader said that it was a bit of a relief to have his character apprehended, even though the star didn’t see that moment as the end of the road for the series. “I did an interview, and someone goes, ‘The show could just end right now,’” Hader said at the time. “That wouldn’t be a very satisfying ending.”