Seinfeld: Classic or Dud

Elaine had the best hair ever in the later series.

Anyway, I want to hate this show, it's the type of cultural phenomenon that normally annoys me, but every time I stumble across a rerun I end up watching it and having some good laffs. Last night I saw the one where Elaine dates a mover but breaks up with him because of his stance on abortion. And George invites himself over to a family's house to watch their rented copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's because he didn't read the book for his study group. It was funny. I'll say classic.

BBC2 didin't treat these shows like the comedy gold they were (sticking them late evening etc WTF?!) whereas crap like friends and will and grace get prime time on C4 (OK the former was funny for the first two series).

crosspost: daddino doesn't rock anymore.

I HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO ROCK YET!

I'm afraid of you.

George Constanza is a brilliant character. A recognizable, even sympathetic monster.

Witness this and this. As well as this, once in a while.

Also, I'm fairly sure I would love Larry Sanders, but I've never seen it because of the stupid fucking BBC.

But I do think it's a great show, and sometimes ridiculously funny. And I think the "nihilism" (but it's not that - it's a sympathetic portrait of failed humanity) is what makes it great. Curb Your Enthusiasm does this too, but too much so - we need some real humor and niceness along with the nasty stuff. Also, the particularly New York voice of the show. Complaining about the hackneyed plot lines is like complaining that Buffy has to kill a vampire every week (well, ok, maybe there's something to that).

It's not my personal favorite tv show - I like sentimental, yuppie-sensibility stuff like Mad About You and Northern Exposure, which I won't make greatness claims for. And It's not the greatest tv show ever - whatever that is, it's probably not a sitcom - but I think a good argument can be made for best sitcom of the last 25 years

I totally disagree with this. I've come to HATE the basic attitude of Seinfeld - I watch it every night, it's the only thing on TV in New Zealand - and Jerry's whole, 'My parents love me, aren't I adorable, you all love me, and I'm just gonna be a fucking bastard because I can' thing is really wearying after a while. Seinfeld doesn't even break a sweat. He's always as cool as a cucumber, looking at everyone else - looking at girls - and the sneer is never too far away. Larry David seems much humbler - he can hardly bear to look anyone else in the face, let alone laugh AT them. This makes 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' seem much, much nicer to me.

Seinfeld has ruined me for all other sitcoms: I can't watch any of them without getting bored. I think it's actually gotten better in syndication: the episodes I thought were lame first time around seem funnier to me now. There's also a tragic, hopeless undercurrent to the humor that's perfectly disguised by its breeziness, tho it's probably fatal to take Seinfeld too seriously.

Also, after watching it 53,000,000 times I think I've started to fancy Elaine a bit.

as a i wrote on the streaming thread, i agree with this comment on the NYT comments thread for the bizzare positive review that the NYT gave it:

Chris C
Chicago, IL 3h ago

"Unfrosted" has been widely described as one of the worst movies of the *decade*.

To find out for myself, I watched it. My jaw was on the floor. It truly is the worst movie I've ever seen. It's so *lazy.* It's like Seinfeld rolled in every morning at 10, talked through his scenes, did no second takes, then left at 4. Even his narration was the flat, affect-less reading of a blasé high schooler reading aloud to the class.

I was amazed that not a single joke made me laugh. It wasn't so unfunny that I was laughing for the wrong reasons; it was so unfunny that I found myself *silently studying it.* I was oddly enthralled by the utter blandness and poor quality of the writing, acting, and filming. I don't want to give the impression I was entertained -- merely fascinated.

I recommend watching the film yourself, then reading this review. No offense to Ms. Nicholson... I guess it's brave to be the only professional critic in the industry who gave the movie a good review. Truly baffling. Had she watched this after waking up from surgery? For the life of me, I honestly can't imagine a single person watching this movie and calling it a "Critic's Choice." This review is almost as fascinating as the movie.

It wasn't so unfunny that I was laughing for the wrong reasons; it was so unfunny that I found myself *silently studying it.* I was oddly enthralled by the utter blandness and poor quality of the writing, acting, and filming. I don't want to give the impression I was entertained -- merely fascinated.

maybe this is too much of a tenuous 'it's bad on purpose' type argument, but aren't 'silently studying it' 'oddly enthralled by the utter blandness and poor quality' and 'not entertained but merely fascinated' all very Seinfeldinan reactions, typical of how/why Seinfeld is fascinated by pop tarts in the first place? Maybe the film gives you a chance to experience what it's like seeing the world through the eyes of Jerry Seinfeld. I did read another review somewhere (on Letterboxd maybe) in which someone claimed to have been at a preview where Jerry himself was in the audience and was the only one laughing at most of the jokes.

while I was watching it I thought of Purple Toupee by They Might Be Giants, and that maybe you could see it as someone garbled childhood memories of the 1960s, so big world events like the space race and the Cuban missile crisis become mixed up with stuff like Pop Tarts and old kids toys and daydreams, and that's kind of how you remember your childhood?(maybe filtered again through movie representations you saw later). Or something like Alice in Wonderland where you have this parody of the adult world seen from the perspective of a child, where the adult world is both ridiculous and menacing with all these incompressible games and competitions.

the opening shot of the various items the kid is carefully laying out in the bindle before he runs away from home - a slinky, a Gold Key Woody Woodpecker comic book, a GI Joe - I definitely remember being a kid and being fascinated by various objects like this, just sitting there examining them, it seems like this is how Seinfeld felt about pop tarts? (and at the end, after pop tarts are a hit he fulfils his dream and gets a sod grass lawn, like this is the adult equivalent)

https://i.discogs.com/7y0p1O_QssP2c-ieYMe7be9Al4g-VI-PyHw55Xq5BXY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:598/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc1MTI4/MDMtMTU0ODE3Mjkz/MS02OTY2LmpwZWc.jpeg

https://i.discogs.com/7QrPrNefPwpPRz0A9sDait4n29gHJaOC1ZowgMEGRgE/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:598/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc1MTI4/MDMtMTU0ODE3Mjk0/MC01ODk2LmpwZWc.jpeg

https://i.discogs.com/8hht8da8QyihRhKFvoCZzfprBMOYE0VsHUbPI-23DoU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:428/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc1MTI4/MDMtMTU1NjAzNzEw/Mi00NzA1Lm1wbw.jpeg

that's how long i have lived with boomer daydreams. since 1973!

Maybe the film gives you a chance to experience what it's like seeing the world through the eyes of Jerry Seinfeld. I did read another review somewhere (on Letterboxd maybe) in which someone claimed to have been at a preview where Jerry himself was in the audience and was the only one laughing at most of the jokes.

It's an interesting one, because everyone is always telling writers not to try and chase an audience, rather to be true to themselves and write about what they're interested in, and the authenticity will attract the right audience. And there are a lot of comedians who are happy with being weird and not caring what people think of them, really. I just never thought of Jerry Seinfeld as one of those comedians.

Jerry Seinfeld taught me it was okay to be weird

seinfeld_ziggy_stardust_facepaint.png

scott otm, i couldn’t get through unfrosted and i’m a shameless seinfeld apologist

i just remember thinking: dude, you are supposed to be the expert comedy technician who studies the history and knows everything about comedy and is a master of the game or whatever how could you watch the dailies and think this was in any way funny and how could the TIMING of the thing be so awkward and stilted? master of the game, remember!!??
but he couldn't hear me. he was too busy hyping it on every show on earth. what a sucky thing to have to hype for weeks on end.

remember Bee Movie

He was legitimately great at this on Seinfeld though, something that really defines that show for me is how most episodes end on a good joke rather than trying to wrap anything up

I just searched 'Unfrosted' on twitter to see if I was maybe off-base with my impression that it's getting a mostly negative reaction and after scrolling through dozens of people hating on it the first positive comment is from someone whose profile says they own over 2300 Funko Pops lol (including/plus "300 + grails")

Kurt Pickard
Murfreesboro, TN 2h ago

"Unfrosted" is a true delight, especially for those of us who grew up during that era. For those who didn't, I can see where some of the nuanced humor gets lost. No bloody violence, foul language, sex or computer graphics. The casting is superb and we need to keep a special eye on Eleanor Sweeney. Everyone in the house can lean back in the recliner and enjoy some good natured fun. How uncommon is that these days? Jerry Seinfeld hit this movie out of the park and should be nominated for an Oscar's Oscar. My only complaint is that Larry David was noticeably absent.

no bloody violence, foul language, sex or computer graphics 👎🏽

it does have that Gus Grissom joke though, which has divided even fans of the film

@JerrySeinfeld I very much enjoyed Unfrosted. I would be pleased if you would consider removing the name of Gus Grissom from the movie. It's not appropriate. Also, FYI - IBM is not responsible for Univac. Of course Chef Boy-are-dee had noting to do with Pop Tarts either. :)

— ReadandRight (@ReadandRight999) May 10, 2024

The casting is superb and we need to keep a special eye on Eleanor Sweeney.

assuming that this was the girl who played one of the two kids who appear at various points throughout the film, she was really eerily good

That Kurt Pickard review reminds me of those Walter Monheit blurbs in Spy Magazine back in the day. (In fairness it should be pointed out that the Spy Magazine TV Special in the late 80's was ably hosted by a young Jerry Seinfeld.)