Seinfeld: Classic or Dud

"(but it's not a choice he's making, it's being made by his not knowing what else to do)"

it's also being made by his having a second larger job the others don't have, which is constantly judging the overall effectiveness of how everyone is delivering the material he's written -- but despite what flopson says i don't think he's "acting" this second dimension by choice

I think Seinfeld's approach to acting is in concert with his approach to the sitcom in that he doesn't seem to respect the medium and craft or it is irrelevant to his purposes.

This is made explicit by my favorite stretch of the show when they are selling the sitcom to NBC and then filming it - it has near Charlie Kauffman approaches to irony and identity (for instance, George's reactions to the actors auditioning for George) - highlighting the message "can you believe this shitty tv show we are making?". Seinfeld's acting delivers this same message as well as insulating Jerry from having to deal with his obvious acting limitations.

Yeah, season four is kind of astounding. One of my favorite seasons of a television show ever.

All the middle seasons blur together in my mind. Like some others, don't much like S1, and I remember it tailing off near the end. I liked the really surreal stuff the best, like the pilot within the show about the show about Larry David's life, or the Merv Griffin episode.

yeah idk if S4 is particularly better than the other ones (minus S1 of course) but as a whole it's a really cool accomplishment, especially since the Jerry show itself is basically awful

the season of Curb where they did the Seinfeld reunion was also really cool. I think they both realized an actual reunion could not help but be lame so if there was any way to actually do it this was it. by the final episode it probably got more meta than Seinfeld ever was

Was thinking again about childish views of "work," "jobs" on this, and as One Eye Open also observed, so many other sitcoms--but then realized there was a glorious exception: on King of Queens, everybody has jobs, and they always matter, one way or another, in each ep---even Arthur, Jerry Stiller's character, has jobs sometimes, and it's amazing, like watching Kramer at work would have to be. (The real life Kenny Kramer's hustles inspired some eps, like he was a hand model agent, and wrangled a creative consultant's stipend for the series, also ran Kramer's Seinfeld Reality Tour, which maybe should have been in series finale, run by Kosmo Kramer, of course).

criminal to put “glorious” in front of King of queens. best sitcom for depicting work is Taxi imo

Roseanne is good in this regard

when george works at Kruger Industrial Smoothing its to the point where even mr kruger doesnt seem totally clear on what they all are supposed to be doing. theres definitely a running thread of 'office jobs' being a weird interzone where nobody actually does anything yet jobs are sustained through some kind of strange alchemy

Reminded of course of the running joke in Friends where nobody is really sure what Chandlers job is

I still marvel at this scene and imagine how much fun it must have been to write:

JERRY'S APARTMENT
JERRY: Oh, I'm glad you're here, so we can get this all straightened out. Would you like a cup of tea?
BOOKMAN: You got any coffee?
JERRY: Coffee?
BOOKMAN: Yeah. Coffee.
JERRY: No, I don't drink coffee.
BOOKMAN: Yeah, you don't drink coffee? How about instant coffee?
JERRY: No, I don't have--
BOOKMAN: You don't have any instant coffee?
JERRY: Well, I don't normally--
BOOKMAN: Who doesn't have instant coffee?
JERRY: I don't.
BOOKMAN: You buy a jar of Folger's Crystals, you put it in the cupboard, you forget about it. Then later on when you need it, it's there. It lasts forever. It's freeze-dried. Freeze-dried Crystals.
JERRY: Really? I'll have to remember that.
BOOKMAN: You took this book out in 1971.
JERRY: Yes, and I returned it in 1971.
BOOKMAN: Yeah, '71. That was my first year on the job. Bad year for libraries. Bad year for America. Hippies burning library cards, Abby Hoffman telling everybody to steal books. I don't judge a man by the length of his hair or the kind of music he listens to. Rock was never my bag. But you put on a pair of shoes when you walk into the New York Public Library, fella.
JERRY: Look, Mr. Bookman. I--I returned that book. I remember it very specifically.
BOOKMAN: You're a comedian, you make people laugh.
JERRY: I try.
BOOKMAN: You think this is all a big joke, don't you?
JERRY: No, I don't.
BOOKMAN: I saw you on TV once; I remembered your name--from my list. I looked it up. Sure enough, it checked out. You think because you're a celebrity that somehow the law doesn't apply to you, that you're above the law?
JERRY: Certainly not.
BOOKMAN: Well, let me tell you something, funny boy. Y'know that little stamp, the one that says "New York Public Library"? Well that may not mean anything to you, but that means a lot to me. One whole hell of a lot. Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I've seen your type before: Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What's this guy making such a big stink about old library books? Well, let me give you a hint, junior. Maybe we can live without libraries, people like you and me. Maybe. Sure, we're too old to change the world, but what about that kid, sitting down, opening a book, right now, in a branch at the local library and finding drawings of pee-pees and wee-wees on the Cat in the Hat and the Five Chinese Brothers? Doesn't HE deserve better? Look. If you think this is about overdue fines and missing books, you'd better think again. This is about that kid's right to read a book without getting his mind warped! Or: maybe that turns you on, Seinfeld; maybe that's how y'get your kicks. You and your good-time buddies. Well I got a flash for ya, joy-boy: Party time is over. Y'got seven days, Seinfeld. That is one week!

joy-boy!

Yeah great scene

weird that he says he doesn't drink coffee though, isn't he always supping it in the Toms diner?

no television show in history had a better cast of one-off characters, right? I mean what even comes close

Xp it's pointed out elsewhere in the show that Jerry drinks decaf.

Really, well if that isn't justification for a full re-watch I don't know what is.

Actually decaf tea iirc.

Lemon lift?

lot of love for Bookman and so many more over here: Seinfeld secondary character poll

Crazy Joe Davola was robbed.

“Bookman: You're a comedian, you make people laugh.
Jerry: I try.
Bookman: You think this is all a big joke, don't ya?”

nothing tops this guy for me, single funniest line reading in the whole series imo

http://peopleyouseeinairports.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/take-a-bite.gif

I beg to differ:

https://tenor.com/SZmq.gif

Or I would if I could post a gif.

https://c.tenor.com/-cmGwgBlbdcAAAAC/sonofabitch-sob.gif

Lol every time I have a bath I think "The soak o' the year!"

dunno if Puddy is considered a secondary character but he's the best minor character in this

yeah, that's right

hey babe

Last flight I took I saw a guy just staring straight ahead for the whole flight, not even wearing earphones, and I kept thinking of Puddy and giggling.

my favorite joke in that goes like

Jerry: Who's that?
Elaine: VEGETABLE LASAGNA

haha I'm watching an episode of Friends right now and Monica's mum has just pulled out Lasagnas from her freezer

fyi

literally everything puddy ever says is amazing.

“sure thing, joe mayo.”

I involuntarily shush everyone around me if I hear "Desperado"

Absolutely one of the best exchanges in the history of the show. I crack up every time. From “The Parking Garage”:

ELAINE: “And now he's gone. I'm sure he's looking for the car. Five minutes, that's all. I just want to find him.”

MAN #1: “I can't do it.”

ELAINE: “But why? Why can't you do it?”

MAN #1: “… I can't.”

ELAINE: “No, see that's not a reason you can't. You just don't want to.”

MAN #1: “… That's right.”

ELAINE: “But why? Why don't you want to?”

MAN #1: “I don't know.”

ELAINE: “But wouldn't you get any satisfaction out of helping someone out?”

MAN #1: “No, I wouldn't.”

It feels pointless to write it out here because so much of the brilliance is in the delivery.

Favourite Puddy: "That's right."

(Hearing it in context helps.)

I’ve spent many moments on this earth idly wondering if I could pull off puddy’s 8 ball jacket

Glad Flopson cited Elaine's manic luggage-packing up there, possibly mycfavourite scene in the series.

And then she shows up at Jerry's place, hair in face, to give a stirring account of how she *almost* got him there in time: "Gentlemen, I assure you--" What's the rest?

"Mr Kramer, he's an innocent primate."
"Well so am I!"

I’d forgotten what a jackass Jerry is in this show/ The insincerity in every moment is breathtaking, it just oozes from every pore.

that’s a shame

mocking, mocking, mocking! all they do is MOCK!

I’m not saying that’s a negative, mind.

i'm just quoting the series finale lol

been rewatching a few episodes and god damn Jerry is somehow even a worse actor than I remembered

He's not a good actor but he's also not trying to "act" really. Jason and Julia are trying to be believable, even in ridiculous situations but Jerry is always showing an awareness that he's a character in a scripted show.

aren’t we all, really

i watched a couple of episodes the other night

at one point george says he’s driven women to lesbianism and the crowd WHOOPS and gasps like this is a super edgy thing to say. it was awkward to experience

fell in love w elaine all over again. the camera loves her face. she shows up and everything just lights up.

I had an epiphany last night that Seinfeld did to the sitcom what Letterman did to the late night talk show.

The Seinfeld Theme Mixed With A Hit Song From Every Year Seinfeld Was On TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY9axZBUUlo