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I find it strange the competition around Seinfeld was this intense actually. Certainly in its day it was the 900 pound gorilla of sitcoms, but modernly? The sit

I find it strange the competition around Seinfeld was this intense actually. Certainly in its day it was the 900 pound gorilla of sitcoms, but modernly? The sitcoms that seem to be doing well are either feel good stuff like Parks and Rec or Friends, or stuff that took Seinfeld as a jumping off point into the cesspool like Always Sunny. In 2019 Seinfeld seems like it's not hard enough to run with the modern cynic comedies, while still too dark to be classified as a positive show. Also most of the episodes seem very much of their era, and it's been 20+ years. Will episodes that relied on their extreme relatability still work when the target audience has never actually experienced that situation? In Chinese Restaurant when George is desperate to get access to a pay phone - how does that play with Gen Z?

luckydata 7y ago
people will be wasting time in front of Seinfeld for centuries to come. It's so empty of actual content it's timeless.
- arcturus17 7y ago
  A show about nothing!
- gnulinux 7y ago
  I don't like Seinfeld (among my least favorite shows, along with Friends) but I wouldn't say it's empty of actual content. It's empty of plot; but it's a show about human interaction. Human interaction in the midst of awkwardness, love etc.
devoply 7y ago
Lots of 30 and 40 somethings wish to relive their youth. Also Jerry Seinfeld needs a new Yacht.
- codyb 7y ago
  I saw Seinfeld perform recently at the Beacon in NYC. He’s doing stand up basically because he’s bored and doesn’t have much else to do. It was quite clear money was not his motivating factor for being there. He’s also doing that Coffee and Cars with Comedians thing and I’m certain that a name as big as Seinfeld isn’t getting screwed on his contract there. Seinfeld is certainly among the wealthiest individuals but he doesn’t strike me as greedy. Also, show was fantastic, truly a master of his craft. And the creators of the show Seinfeld deserve there rewards for such an outstanding contribution to our culture. But copy write laws are borked and things should enter the public domain earlier.
  - conradfr 7y ago
    He was greedy against his castmates back then though https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/pact-brings-peace-to-the-seinfeld-cast/article4087758/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/pact-brings-peace-to-th...
Insanity 7y ago
I really enjoy Seinfeld even though I never dealt with situations like the Chinese Restaurant. It is up there with my favourite shows of all time.
- colmvp 7y ago
  I've been re-watching clips of Seinfeld on YouTube recently. I realized that I didn't fully appreciate the genius of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld writing outlandish stories that had fulfilling payoffs at the end. That, plus the perfect casting of both the main and extra characters.
  - MrMember 7y ago
    If you want more of that check out Curb Your Enthusiasm if you haven't already. Most episodes follow a similar formula, several interleaving stories that join up at the end of the episode in some outlandish way, usually at the expense of the main character (Larry David in Curb's case). It's one of my favorite TV comedies.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  So many of the problems encountered by the characters would be non-issues if they all had cell phones.
  - neogodless 7y ago
    I'm sure this isn't what you meant, but I thought about putting cell phones in the hands of the characters, and all I see is them sitting in a booth at a restaurant playing on their phones. So much of the was "about nothing" but it consisted of conversations. Take away the conversation, and the show doesn't exist.
    - beerandt 7y ago
      Then you obviously haven't seen the Seinfeld reunion episode of Curbed... They do a Seinfeld episode within the episode. One of the story lines is George creates an iPhone app. It was the most I've laughed at a TV show in years. Larry David + Jerry Seinfeld is the definition of comedic synergy.
hanniabu 7y ago
Many people use Friends and Seinfeld as background noise while cooking and doing other misc stuff around the house. At least this is my experience fro observing 5-10 of my friends that have Netflix. Mind you they're all 26-28, so it's not like they watch this because they're 33-35 and like it because they grew up with it.
- iscrewyou 7y ago
  Here here. Those two, Office, Parks & Rec are on rotation.
  - kgwgk 7y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear,_hear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear,_hear
gnulinux 7y ago
I'm scratching my head here. I'm a huge IASIP fan and can't see how IASIP took Seinfeld as a jumping off point. IASIP is characterized by it's very dark humor, no laugh track and subtle plot developments when it seems like each episode is stand-alone. Seinfeld had a very obvious laugh track and it's humor was significantly less dark. (I mean, Seinfeld is cynical... But let's be honest, there has never been a long running rape joke, jokes about homophobia, misogyny, pedophilia, alcoholism, drug abuse, stalking, incest etc) So it's really hard to see a connection. Could you maybe elaborate?
- j9461701 7y ago
  Seinfeld was famous for having the rule 'no hugging, no learning'. The main characters were mean, selfish, short-sighted jerks and they never learned their lesson or grew emotionally over the whole course of the show. That was unheard of at the time, as other shows either featured at least one likable character or had their characters evolve over time into better people. The point of Seinfeld was to watch these human cesspools behave horribly for 22 minutes and laugh at their misfortune. Always Sunny took those core principles, and turned them all to 11. Jerry Seinfeld is a bit of a clean freak? Frank Reynolds strips naked, shaves his whole body, and slathers himself in hand sanitizer to keep the germs away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvxE35X8Ow\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvxE35X8Ow\ The guys on the show are kind of disrespectful toward their romantic partners? Dennis is a monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBPvrJbPA4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBPvrJbPA4 George is kind of stupid? Charlie is straight up mentally challenged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xrkNeO2QI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xrkNeO2QI Elaine dances the funky chicken? Dee is an actual bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkYh2dvoeN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkYh2dvoeN8
- conradfr 7y ago
  Seinfeld doesn't have a laugh track except to make smooth transitions over multiple takes edits with live audience laughter. Also they did a parody of Seinfeld last season.
awad 7y ago
It's possible I am looking at it rather nostalgically but it was one of the last shows before the world wide web took off that everyone would gather together to watch or talk about the next day. Add to that an entire generation of people in their 30s and 40s who all have Netflix and can't ever seem to find anything to play on it as well as those who were in their 20s through 40s when the show were airing having far more disposable time and income and you have the perfect show for Netflix IMO. I'd add....I think a large reason for this is the success of the show in syndication, which has added it to its longevity and ability to stay top of mind for people long before the streaming services came along.
conradfr 7y ago
Well here is your answer https://youtu.be/r5BxjUmzPPA https://youtu.be/r5BxjUmzPPA I'm a Seinfeld fan (thanks to Curb, in fact) and I think you underestimate the success and relevancy it still has today, like Friends (but without the cheap emotional stuff). As a fun anecdotal data, uTorrent stats on my home computer shows that Seinfeld is way way more uploaded that anything else I have.

luckydata 7y ago

people will be wasting time in front of Seinfeld for centuries to come. It's so empty of actual content it's timeless.

arcturus17 7y ago
A show about nothing!
gnulinux 7y ago
I don't like Seinfeld (among my least favorite shows, along with Friends) but I wouldn't say it's empty of actual content. It's empty of plot; but it's a show about human interaction. Human interaction in the midst of awkwardness, love etc.

devoply 7y ago

Lots of 30 and 40 somethings wish to relive their youth. Also Jerry Seinfeld needs a new Yacht.

codyb 7y ago
I saw Seinfeld perform recently at the Beacon in NYC. He’s doing stand up basically because he’s bored and doesn’t have much else to do. It was quite clear money was not his motivating factor for being there. He’s also doing that Coffee and Cars with Comedians thing and I’m certain that a name as big as Seinfeld isn’t getting screwed on his contract there. Seinfeld is certainly among the wealthiest individuals but he doesn’t strike me as greedy. Also, show was fantastic, truly a master of his craft. And the creators of the show Seinfeld deserve there rewards for such an outstanding contribution to our culture. But copy write laws are borked and things should enter the public domain earlier.
- conradfr 7y ago
  He was greedy against his castmates back then though https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/pact-brings-peace-to-the-seinfeld-cast/article4087758/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/pact-brings-peace-to-th...

Insanity 7y ago

I really enjoy Seinfeld even though I never dealt with situations like the Chinese Restaurant. It is up there with my favourite shows of all time.

colmvp 7y ago
I've been re-watching clips of Seinfeld on YouTube recently. I realized that I didn't fully appreciate the genius of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld writing outlandish stories that had fulfilling payoffs at the end. That, plus the perfect casting of both the main and extra characters.
- MrMember 7y ago
  If you want more of that check out Curb Your Enthusiasm if you haven't already. Most episodes follow a similar formula, several interleaving stories that join up at the end of the episode in some outlandish way, usually at the expense of the main character (Larry David in Curb's case). It's one of my favorite TV comedies.
kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
So many of the problems encountered by the characters would be non-issues if they all had cell phones.
- neogodless 7y ago
  I'm sure this isn't what you meant, but I thought about putting cell phones in the hands of the characters, and all I see is them sitting in a booth at a restaurant playing on their phones. So much of the was "about nothing" but it consisted of conversations. Take away the conversation, and the show doesn't exist.
  - beerandt 7y ago
    Then you obviously haven't seen the Seinfeld reunion episode of Curbed... They do a Seinfeld episode within the episode. One of the story lines is George creates an iPhone app. It was the most I've laughed at a TV show in years. Larry David + Jerry Seinfeld is the definition of comedic synergy.

hanniabu 7y ago

Many people use Friends and Seinfeld as background noise while cooking and doing other misc stuff around the house. At least this is my experience fro observing 5-10 of my friends that have Netflix. Mind you they're all 26-28, so it's not like they watch this because they're 33-35 and like it because they grew up with it.

iscrewyou 7y ago
Here here. Those two, Office, Parks & Rec are on rotation.
- kgwgk 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear,_hear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear,_hear

gnulinux 7y ago

I'm scratching my head here. I'm a huge IASIP fan and can't see how IASIP took Seinfeld as a jumping off point. IASIP is characterized by it's very dark humor, no laugh track and subtle plot developments when it seems like each episode is stand-alone. Seinfeld had a very obvious laugh track and it's humor was significantly less dark. (I mean, Seinfeld is cynical... But let's be honest, there has never been a long running rape joke, jokes about homophobia, misogyny, pedophilia, alcoholism, drug abuse, stalking, incest etc) So it's really hard to see a connection. Could you maybe elaborate?

j9461701 7y ago
Seinfeld was famous for having the rule 'no hugging, no learning'. The main characters were mean, selfish, short-sighted jerks and they never learned their lesson or grew emotionally over the whole course of the show. That was unheard of at the time, as other shows either featured at least one likable character or had their characters evolve over time into better people. The point of Seinfeld was to watch these human cesspools behave horribly for 22 minutes and laugh at their misfortune. Always Sunny took those core principles, and turned them all to 11. Jerry Seinfeld is a bit of a clean freak? Frank Reynolds strips naked, shaves his whole body, and slathers himself in hand sanitizer to keep the germs away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvxE35X8Ow\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvxE35X8Ow\ The guys on the show are kind of disrespectful toward their romantic partners? Dennis is a monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBPvrJbPA4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBPvrJbPA4 George is kind of stupid? Charlie is straight up mentally challenged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xrkNeO2QI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xrkNeO2QI Elaine dances the funky chicken? Dee is an actual bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkYh2dvoeN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkYh2dvoeN8
conradfr 7y ago
Seinfeld doesn't have a laugh track except to make smooth transitions over multiple takes edits with live audience laughter. Also they did a parody of Seinfeld last season.

awad 7y ago

It's possible I am looking at it rather nostalgically but it was one of the last shows before the world wide web took off that everyone would gather together to watch or talk about the next day. Add to that an entire generation of people in their 30s and 40s who all have Netflix and can't ever seem to find anything to play on it as well as those who were in their 20s through 40s when the show were airing having far more disposable time and income and you have the perfect show for Netflix IMO. I'd add....I think a large reason for this is the success of the show in syndication, which has added it to its longevity and ability to stay top of mind for people long before the streaming services came along.

conradfr 7y ago

Well here is your answer https://youtu.be/r5BxjUmzPPA https://youtu.be/r5BxjUmzPPA I'm a Seinfeld fan (thanks to Curb, in fact) and I think you underestimate the success and relevancy it still has today, like Friends (but without the cheap emotional stuff). As a fun anecdotal data, uTorrent stats on my home computer shows that Seinfeld is way way more uploaded that anything else I have.