'Curb Your Enthusiasm' season 9 release date: Mary Steenburgen returns to the set after 8 years

The six-year wait for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" season 9 ends shortly, and Mary Steenburgen, the better half of Ted Danson, will return to the core cast of the show that began a little over 17 years ago. After season 8 aired in 2011, the ninth season of the iconic comedy series will return on Oct. 1 this year.

Steenburgen was last seen in the episode "The Hot Towel" in season 7. While hosting a dinner party, she questions Larry David about eating too much caviar before being directed to Christian Slater, the true culprit.

Danson and Steenburgen were regular fixtures during the few first few seasons, especially the third in which the "Cheers" star and David go into partnership on a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. The couple has made brief appearances in recent seasons but without actively influencing storylines.

During a recent interview to Gold Derby, Steenburgen admitted that being away from the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" set for eight years hadn't derailed her enthusiasm for the new season. “I’m not in it a lot because (the filming) overlapped with Last Man (On Earth), so I really wasn’t able to do very much. It honestly felt like no time had passed and we started the next day. It felt exactly the same. I’m sure we all look a little bit older, but other than that, it’s exactly the same.” Watch the full interview below.

Mary Steenburgen returns to 'Curb' after eight years

Steenburgen will re-join the regular cast of David, Cheryl Hines (Cheryl David), Jeff Garlin (Jeff Greene), Susie Essman (Susie Greene), JB Smoove (Leon Black) Ted Danson (himself), Richard Lewis (himself) and Bob Einstein (Marty Funkhouser), among others. A few months ago, Steenburgen told EW that she was admittedly under the impression that David had given up on the show after taking a six-year hiatus.

“I’m so glad because it (has been) so long now that we really didn’t know if it was going to happen. And we never got a straight answer out of him (David) when we would ask him over the last couple years. And people asked us constantly, ‘When’s Curb coming back?’ That, and ‘When are you making Step Brothers 2?’ And then last summer, (Larry David) suddenly said, ‘I think we’re doing it,’ and he pitched the idea for our part of it.”

Meanwhile, executive producer and actor Jeff Garlin, who portrays the character Jeff Greene, recently told ABC News that David had outdone himself for the forthcoming season with a storyline that "is rather insane" and will enthral restless fans who have yearned six long years for the return of the HBO series. "The storyline is rather insane. Like people are going to go, 'I can’t believe they’re doing this!'"

Curb Your Enthusiasm season 9 release date:

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" season 9 was written for a 2017 release after David & Co. wrapped up production in April. Smoove recently appeared at the Roots Picnic Saturday night in Philadelphia and revealed that season 8 will premiere on Sunday, October 1.