― Richard Tunnicliffe, Friday, 17 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ally, Friday, 17 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Josh, Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mark s, Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― david h(owie), Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew L, Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― N., Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
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.
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:46 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:54 (twenty years ago) link
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.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:55 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:56 (twenty years ago) link
I HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO ROCK YET!
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:56 (twenty years ago) link
I'm afraid of you.
George Constanza is a brilliant character. A recognizable, even sympathetic monster.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:57 (twenty years ago) link
Witness this and this. As well as this, once in a while.
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 24 May 2003 20:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 24 May 2003 20:23 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Saturday, 24 May 2003 23:50 (twenty years ago) link
Also, I'm fairly sure I would love Larry Sanders, but I've never seen it because of the stupid fucking BBC.
― Nick H, Sunday, 25 May 2003 00:09 (twenty years ago) link
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
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 25 May 2003 00:24 (twenty years ago) link
― Carey (Carey), Sunday, 25 May 2003 00:28 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 25 May 2003 01:16 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 25 May 2003 01:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Nicole (Nicole), Sunday, 25 May 2003 01:55 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 02:07 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 25 May 2003 07:26 (twenty years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Sunday, 25 May 2003 07:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 25 May 2003 07:50 (twenty years ago) link
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.
― m-ry-nn (m-ry-nn), Sunday, 25 May 2003 07:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Sunday, 25 May 2003 08:41 (twenty years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 25 May 2003 09:15 (twenty years ago) link
― unknown or illegal user (doorag), Sunday, 25 May 2003 09:33 (twenty years ago) link
― unknown or illegal user (doorag), Sunday, 25 May 2003 09:34 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 25 May 2003 10:43 (twenty years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 25 May 2003 10:45 (twenty years ago) link
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.
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 25 May 2003 12:58 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 25 May 2003 18:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:34 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 25 May 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link
the “I love… United Airlines” joke might be the single stupidest line in the entire series.
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 18:12 (five months ago) link
I love that… line
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 18:55 (five months ago) link
Quite sure he's not the first person to draw this parallel, but I liked how Jake Tapper, talking about a short press scrum of Trump's outside the courtroom today, asked their legal expert to explain his latest "airing of the grievances."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 25 October 2023 20:59 (five months ago) link
slowly rewatching this show, I know it's been said a zillion times but all the meta stuff in Season 4 is even wilder than I remembered. kinda ballsy too. I mean obviously their standing with NBC must've been pretty good at that point but I wonder if they had any objection to how hacky they made their entire lineup look. of course it wouldn't work as well if they weren't incredibly self-deprecating as well. in retrospect Jerry telling Kramer he can't play Kramer because "he can't act" is one of the funniest bits.
last night we watched the opera episode with Crazy Joe Davola - it was genuinely unnerving, I'd forgotten how strange it was to put a character like that in a sitcom. the scene where Elaine walks into his apartment actually got my heart racing. wild that the actor who plays him isn't really in anything else, he was so good in that role.
only thing that bothers me is how effortlessly Jerry seems to pick up women, particularly the ones that don't actually laugh at his jokes
― frogbs, Tuesday, 2 January 2024 16:00 (two months ago) link
That run with Crazy Joe Davola is the best. Sic Semper Tyrannis!
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 2 January 2024 16:15 (two months ago) link
Re: Jerry's dates, it's been openly discussed in at least a few articles on the show, but there was indeed a conscious decision to have Jerry constantly be with very attractive women. Granted, you see this with nearly every TV show so it's not like it was an unusual decision, but Seinfeld definitely wanted to be a "ladies' man" on his show. If anything, it's more ridiculous with George - the character is designed to be unlikeable (Jerry: "It's getting difficult for me to tell people that I even know you!") and not that attractive (see Elaine trying to sell George on a blind date) but he's constantly dating different women and most of them look like they were cast out of a modeling agency.
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 2 January 2024 19:54 (two months ago) link
"I'm Victoria, hi."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_6fZGSOQI
― clemenza, Tuesday, 2 January 2024 19:56 (two months ago) link
Re: Jerry, it's actually pretty sensible that a confident benign sociopath, without much in the way of human emotions, would have no trouble getting lots of dates (with zero lasting relationships).
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 2 January 2024 20:01 (two months ago) link
ok continuing with S4 and there are some bits that have not held up well, for example George getting caught staring at a 15 year old's cleavage and Jerry hooking up with the NYU student who thought him and George were a gay couple
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2024 19:47 (two months ago) link
Don't forget Jerry was oogling her first and wanted George to join in. Elaine calls him out on this IIRC, making the specific point that she's only 15. Elaine was pretty awesome in those early seasons - on the DVD commentary, Dreyfus even points out that early on, Elaine was actually very principled and very outspoken about her beliefs, and for whatever reason all that went away by the show's end.
― birdistheword, Monday, 8 January 2024 21:47 (two months ago) link
the reason was the ppl she was hanging out with so much imo
― mark s, Monday, 8 January 2024 21:49 (two months ago) link
I guess that explains the Republican Party's continual descent.
― birdistheword, Monday, 8 January 2024 21:51 (two months ago) link
this is probably true but the reason it comes off so weird to me in the show is that Jerry is such a bad actor, in fact he almost certainly has to be the worst adult lead actor in sitcom history. it still works because he's funny, obviously most of what he does in the show is just a version of his standup act, but occassionally he has to actually express a real emotion and he's so bad at it you almost can't tell what the show's going for sometimes. like even when really bad things happen to him like his car getting stolen or his NBC deal getting cancelled all he can ever express is mild annoyance. Jason Alexander on the other hand might actually be the best sitcom actor ever, I think he's basically perfect in every single scene he's in.
― frogbs, Saturday, 13 January 2024 00:23 (two months ago) link
Re: Jerry's dates, it's been openly discussed in at least a few articles on the show, but there was indeed a conscious decision to have Jerry constantly be with very attractive women. Granted, you see this with nearly every TV show so it's not like it was an unusual decision, but Seinfeld definitely wanted to be a "ladies' man" on his show
imo one saving grace here is that a massive share of jerry's girlfriends on seinfeld were also super talented and went on to have hugely successful careers. the list is insanely stacked. mariska hargitay, catherine keener, lauren graham, daphne from fraser, courtney cox, terri hatcher and marcia cross from desperate housewives, megan mullaly and debra messing, jeniffer coolidge (as the masseuse who won't give jerry a massage), sarah silverman, kristin davis
― flopson, Saturday, 13 January 2024 04:36 (two months ago) link