― 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
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 25 May 2003 20:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 25 May 2003 20:13 (twenty years ago) link
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 25 May 2003 22:40 (twenty years ago) link
But I'm not entirely without complaint.
They truly should have found someone else to play Seinfeld. In a stellarcomedic cast he stood out as a rank amateur, often botching the proceedings. The scripts stroke his ego shamelessly, pairing him withan endless parade of beautiful women and sparing him the severest discomfort. And his standup was horrible, an unintentional joke.
But he couldn't stop the show from being brilliant! Starting abouthalfway through the second season, the writers were so great atlayering several absurd storylines, culminating in these chaoticcomedic orgies that can only be compared to end-of-episodeclimaxes in _Fawlty Towers_. How come more sitcoms don'thave this format, instead of a boring linear string of sometimes-funny wisecracks? Mindless jokes _Seinfeld_ decidedly IS NOT.
Thing is, the early episodes were pretty crappy - that's partlywhy I think people don't like them, they got a bad taste in theirmouth early on and never gave it a second chance.
Also, the episodes are highly self-referential, so you haveto watch it from the opening credits, or half the jokes don'tmake any sense whatever.
And woah, are there actually people named Shoshanna?I know a Shoshanna and I thought that her name was a bizzare hippie side effect.
Oh yeah, and the sight of a pimp Kramer beingarrested for assaulting a prostitute = one of the bestendings ever.
― squirl plise (Squirrel_Police), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:00 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:44 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:45 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:46 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:52 (twenty years ago) link
― rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 26 May 2003 02:22 (twenty years ago) link
D-U-D garbage!!!!
― Fred Nerk, Monday, 26 May 2003 02:30 (twenty years ago) link
I guess that explains the Republican Party's continual descent.
― birdistheword, Monday, 8 January 2024 21:51 (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).
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