Great Job, Internet!: Someone uploaded Larry David's real, unproduced Prognosis: Negative script

The New York Times has the story, and reports that it’s unclear how the script ended up on eBay in the first place, though it does seem to be legitimate. It’s a second draft dated May 3, 1983, and Robert Weide, who read the script at the time, shared notes from the era with the Times. “The basic problem, it was stated, was that the main character, Leo, is not at all likable,” read notes that Weide kept, and told the Times that David did consider changing the character. “And then he looked at [talent manager Larry] Brezner and said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ And that was it.” Apparently, Brezner saw “problems with Leo being ‘too ethnic’ — too Jewish/neurotic. That character has been overdone.”

So what is Prognosis: Negative about? It doesn’t sound all that different from what you might expect to see in an episode of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. The story centers on Leo Black, a man with commitment issues who rekindles a relationship with an ex when he learns that she is dying. In one scene, Leo tries to do something heroic and tries to chase a mugger who stole a woman’s purse, only for the mugger to realize he’s much stronger, so he turns and chases Leo instead. Another scene sees Leo struggle to break change to board a bus. In a different scene, Leo complains about an attractive couple in a restaurant, saying he’d be fine with them if they were uglier. You can peruse the entire thing for yourself right here.