Loughlin earned a two-month sentence, while Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison, for paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as recruits on the crew team, despite both women lacking competitive crew experience. Loughlin was released from prison in December 2020; Giannulli was released in April 2021 .
The former “Full House” star appeared in the latest episode of Larry David’s hit HBO comedy series, now in the midst of its 12th and final season , to poke fun at the “Varsity Blues” college admission scandal that landed Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, in federal prison in 2020 .
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In Sunday night’s episode, former “Cheers” star Ted Danson is about to star in a play about Abraham Lincoln, with Loughlin set to play his wife in the production. Danson asks David for a favor, hoping the “Seinfeld” creator can speak on Loughlin’s behalf for admittance into an exclusive golf club.
Lori Loughlin on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Warner Bros. Discovery
“She loves to play golf, and I was just hoping that maybe you could sponsor her at the club,” Danson says to David during the episode, explaining that no one else would because of the “whole college admission scandal thing.”
“She’s being blackballed from clubs?” David responds. “That’s terrible. I’ll sponsor her.”
“Happy to do it,” he adds. “You know I’m a champion of the underdog.”
Later in the episode, David channels the gusto of Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address while making an impassioned plea to the country club to allow Loughlin to join, earning a thunderous applause.
“I highly resolve that she shall not have served her time in vain,” David declares to the club’s committee. “This exclusive club of specific people, by specific people, and for specific people shall have a new specific member.”
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Before she can join, though, Loughlin has to play two rounds of golf with David and some of the committee members. As they hit the course, David starts to get suspicious of the actress after a few questionable moments.
At one point, David tells her that they can’t use the carts that day because of the club’s rules, but Loughlin breaks out a blue flag that enables them to drive anywhere. When David notes that only people with a doctor’s note can obtain a flag, Loughlin explains that she has Epstein-Barr virus.
“You have Epstein-Barr?” David asks skeptically. “One hematologist thinks so,” Loughlin says slyly.
Lori Louglin and Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Warner Bros. Discovery
David later notices that Loughlin has a handicap sticker on her car, which raises his eyebrows.
“It’s fantastic, I can park anywhere,” Loughlin tells him. When David asks how she obtained the sticker, Loughlin cryptically responds, “Oh, you know.”
When David meets Loughlin at the club toward the end of the episode, he finds out that she bribed one of the workers to get a better tee time that day. As their game progresses, David calls the actress out for scoring a 5 on a hole, which he can’t believe since she hit the ball into the woods.
“How’d you get it out of the woods?” David asks her. “You were pretty deep in there.”
“I had a good lie,” Loughlin admits.
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Sunday’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” wasn’t Loughlin’s first time onscreen since her 2020 scandal. The actress starred in the 2023 made-for-TV movie “Fall Into Winter” on the Great American Family network.
Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.