(Subscriber Report) Ed Martin Live from TCA: Is HBO Recession-Proof? Plus, Larry David Reveals Details of "Seinfeld" Reunion, Robin Williams Returns, "Hung" Star Has Critics A-Twitter

HBO had a couple of downbeat years after The Sopranos ended its run, but you wouldn't have known it from the pay-cable network's presentation yesterday at the summer Television Critics Association tour. The afternoon began with President, Programming Group and West Coast Operations Michael Lombardoand Co-President Richard Pleplerannouncing that HBO's three current hits, True Blood, Hung and Entourage, would all return for additional seasons next summer, and ended with superstar comedian Robin Williams, who first appeared on HBO in 1977, promoting his upcoming special Robin Williams: Weapons of Self-Destruction.

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Asked about the impact of the economy on HBO, Plepler replied, "No business is recession-proof. That said, we've been incredibly resilient. Our subs have been very steady, our revenues are higher than they've ever been, our earnings are higher than they've ever been and our international growth has been extremely robust. Even our DVD sales with John Adams and True Blood have done extremely well. So we feel cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year. What we have seen and what the research shows to be true is that people are cocooning. They are staying home. Our viewership is up across all categories. That obviously means people are staying home and watching television."

Plepler talked briefly about HBOGo, a program recently introduced with Comcast that allows subscribers who buy HBO to stream 650 hours of programming onto their personal computers. "It gives another option to our subscribers to watch our programs when they want, how they want and where they want, all for the same price," he said. "The Comcast folks are very happy with it. We're looking forward to bringing that out in full form in the coming months."

Williams was clearly the big entertainment draw of the afternoon, but it was Curb Your Enthusiasm executive producer and star Larry Davidwho really got the press rolling. He was at TCA to reveal details about the highly anticipated Seinfeld reunion that will be the dominant story arc during the upcoming seventh season of his HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. (It begins September 20.)

"For years I've been asked about a Seinfeld reunion, as have Jerry and other cast members, and for years I've said 'no,'" David explained. Once he had the idea to attempt a reunion as a storyline on Curb, rather than a real project, he spent many years thinking about how to pull it off. The end result will be a storyline that depicts the creative development and production of a Seinfeld reunion episode as well as parts of the finished product. Viewers will see the writing, the table reads and the show being filmed.

"You won't see the entire show but you will see parts of it," David said.

Seinfeld star and co-creator Jerry Seinfeldwill appear on five episodes throughout the season, while co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richardswill appear on at least four, though not necessarily all together in the same episodes. They'll be playing themselves as they come together to work on the reunion. The show-within-a-show story will reveal where their characters are 11 years after they were all sent off to jail in the actual Seinfeld finale. David said the process of coming up with good ideas for what has happened to the four characters during the last 11 years was "surprisingly smooth." Based on scenes from the clip reel HBO presented to the press, Jerry appears to be back in his old New York apartment. (Section's of the show's original sets were taken out of storage for the filming.)

David noted that there is a compelling reason why Curb Larry, as he refers to his semi-fictional self, decides to produce a Seinfeld reunion, but he wouldn't give details. (The reason will be made clear in an early episode.)

Asked if there is reason to believe that the reunion "will be any good," David replied, "You mean as opposed to the finale?" (The final Seinfeld episode was largely panned by critics.)

"Yes, it's good!" he assured critics. He later said that the Curb season finale, which will be all about the Seinfeld reunion, may be extended to a full hour.

David is very happy with the entire storyline. "We've had arcs since Season 2," he recalled. "This one is going to be tough to beat."

Earlier in HBO's afternoon the cast of its new adult comedy series Hung took questions about their show, which predictably turned into a half-hour of hilarious double entendres and naughty suggestions by critics and actors alike. For example, when one critic asked series lead Thomas Janeif his role on this show would "extend his career," his co-star Jane Adamsleaned forward and responded, "There's something about the way you're holding that mic!" (The reporter asking the question was male.)

It took Jane a while to loosen up, but once he did there was no stopping his outrageous remarks. To the question about his career he replied, "It's all f--kin' fate and luck! There's no reason this show should be good. This show should be bad! It's about a guy with a big dick who f--ks people for money!"

Asked if playing this role made him think about what female prostitutes go through he said, "No. I just don't want to know what they go through after I give them my $300."

The hundreds of critics and reporters in the room were laughing as they madly typed every word he said onto various electronic devices. "Are you guys Twittering?" Adams excitedly asked. "I can't wait to read all this stuff later!"