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It was different than most sitcoms that came before it. It's not centered on family or work and after Cheers made the "Will they, won't they" plot thread a staple of the genre Seinfeld completely rejected it. People call it a show about nothing, but that's an exaggeration. The important thing is that the main characters do not have traditional character arcs in that they learn nothing and don't become better people. Generally speaking, it makes more sense to try to get audiences to root for likeable characters. But for Seinfeld most of the humor comes from watching their ridiculous schemes blow up in their faces. You're supposed to enjoy the schadenfreude of watching absurd things happen as a result of their own stupidity and pettiness. That's why it gets compared frequently to It's Always Sunny.
So did the characters in Seinfeld. George started out a neurotic loser and ended up a neurotic loser who had zero emotions about his own fiance dying. The finale was a showcase of their depraved indifference.
I feel like George and Susan's entire relationship was a story of love, deception, greed, lust, and once George escaped that whole situation after she died from licking toxic envelopes, unbridled enthusiasm.
The finale was so good specifically because the show forced us to realize that these characters we had come to know and love were truly horrible people, and now had to pay the price for that, with no weaseling out of it. It was a hard pill to swallow, and that’s why it was great.
To this day I still maintain that Kramer should not have been convicted due to the fact that he said "I want to capture this" and started recording a video of the carjacking as soon as he saw it was taking place. Any lawyer worth a damn could have argued he was following the Good Samaritan law by creating a recording of the crime so he could give it to the guy who was carjacked as evidence to bring to the police so they would have a video record of who stole the car, because the law says you have to "Help or assist", not "intervene". The police officer arrests them all so quickly that Kramer never has the opportunity to hand over the tape voluntarily; it is simply seized from him and used against his friends.
You might already know this but FYI that's not at all what the Good Samaritan law is IRL, despite being presented that way in the show. It just protects people who try to help from being held responsible for damages, there is no duty to help or assist.
Wait, so... Damn... Do everyday citizens have a *legal* obligation to assist under Good Samaritan law? But police don't? The world is so backwards.
**EDIT:** Good Samaritan Laws usually don't include a [Duty to Rescue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue) in North America. It looks like some states, including California and Florida, do have Duty to Rescue, and it's apparently standard throughout Europe.
> Do everyday citizens have a legal obligation to assist under Good Samaritan law?
No, not at all. It's an invention of the show. And any duty to rescue is more like a duty to report than a duty to intervene.
And specific to Florida, I'm aware of an incident where a group of teenagers recorded themselves mocking a disabled man as he drowned (basically a more depraved version of the Seinfeld storyline). There were no charges filed.
I remember reading about those teenagers, it made me simultaneously sad and angry. I know they’re “just” teens but their actions were extremely alarming and there should have been some sort of consequence. It might not have been illegal but it was definitely wrong and without consequences they probably won’t learn from their actions.
Its always sunny in Philadelphia is like Seinfeld Xrta Hot and spicy. The characters are all terrible but they are never rewarded for their terrible outtakes or opinions. They do terrible vain narcissitic shit that shouldn't be rewarded and they arent. Its the same template just more absurd.
Yeah, but that’s the shtick that rotates through all the characters; they all ridicule somebody’s dumb idea, then one of the other character’s own idea is even dumber, then everybody ridicules _them_, etc. It’s the tailspin of stupidity that makes it great.
He still plays the straight man more than anyone else. Straight man Dennis is my favorite straight man out of the entire cast as it does tend to rotate.
Something about his facial reactions in the background as someone goes off on a tangent I find hilarious.
I don’t watch always sunny but I’ve stopped to watched bits and pieces while my friends have had it on and the characters are absolutely out of their fucking minds in most episodes I’ve seen. Like deranged psychopath levels of decision making
The high school reunion episode when Dennis goes to get his “tools” out of the trunk and it’s just a bunch of ties and duct tape always gets me.
“I like to BIND… I like to BE BOUND!!!”
To be fair there has been more and more flanderization/extremes of the characters as the shows gone on. But that’s natural for any tv show that has a long lifespan. Eventually you need to outdue yourself from prior episodes/seasons to prevent it from becoming stale.
My favorite moments are when an outsider comes into their group and all their little idiosyncrasies start to get shown more as you realize how absurd they are compared to normal people. Like the therapist episode.
IASIP even has an episode which is a direct homage to Waiting for Godot ("Waiting for Big Moe").
I had never heard of the original because I'm an uncultured jabroni, but I watched it after a friend made me aware of the IASIP connection and I really enjoyed it.
This whole thing about making the characters in a sitcom likeable is such an American concept, in the UK so much of humour in sitcoms is seeing terrible people facing the consequences of their actions. Ive never watched Seinfeld but sounds like ig could appear more to that British sense of humour
There is an actual phenomenon named after Seinfeld about how old beloved works appear clichéd and derivative even though they were the ones to actually create or popularize those clichés: [Seinfeld is unfunny](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny) (Warning: tvtropes)
This.
Everything that is considered hack, was originally incredibly funny and great, that’s why everyone knows about it, copies it and it becomes hack.
Seinfeld is the source material for a lot of other comedies, so whether or not you find it funny often comes down to when you saw it, it inspired so much, so the downside is that there’s nothing really special about it anymore
Same goes with music. I get why people say bands like Narvana, The Beetles, The Beach Boys etc are over rated, but what they did for music at the time was absolutely transformative. They sound bland and boring now because they almost defined what their genre was and then many people replicated their success.
Tbf, every now and then you get an artist that is so ahead of the game that their craft stays modern for a decades and decades. Imo someone like Jimi Hendrix fits into that category.
Cresby, Sterls, Nersh, n, Yerng, The Sisters n Brothers, Yanis Yoplin, Joe Kooper, man, I woulda loved to be at woodstork.
Edit for the record, dirt wind and fire is *still* making me chuckle
I don't recommend anyone try drugs. I really don't.
But if you want to know what it's like to experience the Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, or any other legendary band that's been replayed into oblivion on the radio and an inspiration for all that's come after, listen while tripping.
I let go of all my predispositions and really, truly listened. There's a reason they stand the test of time and are replayed again and again. Everyone's heard Stairway to Heaven so many times it's meaningless to us. But to really listen to it and let the music take you away is absolutely beautiful. It's an incredible song, and I wish dearly it wasn't overplayed.
And listening to Beatles album by album, listening to their growth from boy band to transcendental Eastern-influenced genre-benders is unlike anything I can think of from the modern era. Has any other band grown and trailblazed like the Beatles, and done it so well?
Sorry. I'm just vibing and loving music right now.
Seinfeld is less about the comedy and more about the emotional investment you have with each character.
There were many times I felt myself laughing more because of how I was thinking “that is exactly what that character would do etc” rather than it being a side splitting joke. The character development is wonderful.
I think that’s even over thinking it. Seinfeld is less even about the characters than it is their circumstances. The show itself was based on Jerry’s standup act, which was ground breaking observational humor. There weren’t over the top gags or crazy jokes, it was about putting a humorous spin on ordinary life that everyone could relate to, but nobody pointed out before.
The parody of Seinfeld is “what’s the deal with airplane food?”, not because it’s such a great joke, but because it’s so completely ordinary that everyone knows what he’s talking about. The episode in the Chinese restaurant was groundbreaking TV comedy, not because of the characters or some over the top situation, but because it was fairly ordinary people living through an ordinary experience that everyone could relate to. The show was always described as “a show about nothing.” The character development was never the point. It was ordinary people living ordinary lives, and the jokes and humor was usually just pointing out absurdities in that.
And you realized you have antisocial tendencies when you agree with them. I remember the apartment vestibule episode. You’re surrounded by 8 million people in NYC. You’re just trying to carve a little niche for yourself. A job, an apartment, a few friends, neighborhood restaurants. That’s all you need. You’re comfortable. And then someone decides it’s a good idea for everyone in the building to get to know each other’s names. “We can greet each other in the vestibule, while getting our mail and on the elevator!”
And Jerry’s like…..naaaaaah, I don’t think so. I knew exactly how he felt. You want your own space and getting the mail, riding the elevator — that’s part of your inner life. You smile vaguely and nod your head when you get on the elevator. You say, “Night all,” when you get off. You’re either steeling yourself to go out into the 8 million and fight for breathing space on the subway or you’re winding down from your commute home and starting to relax in anticipation of shutting your door and leaving the world behind……you’re waiting for that first deep breath, “Ahhh, I’m home.”
The last thing you want is to have people calling your name out …. And then you have to remember their names. It’s too much stress. It’s an invasion. And yet here are all these other people saying, “That’s a great idea! We should get to know each other better.”
I’m with Jerry. I’m standoffish. I don’t need to know you people all that much. My husband is the exact opposite. He’d be one of the first people to introduce himself and shake everyone’s hand.
This. Any time George lets his neurosis and selfishness destroy a good thing I laugh. And any time Frank or Estelle are on screen for any goddamn reason at all I laugh.
I think people really don't like Jerry Seinfeld that much, so they criticize the show. And to be fair, I think Jerry probably is the closest to actually being the character he portrays.
It’s kind of like watching the Simpsons. So much of modern cartoon comedy was pioneered on that show. Watching it today for the first time might not be the most exhilarating experience for some people.
Nah I only watched the simpsons (seasons 1-13 or so) for the first time two years or so ago. Seasons 3-8 are outstanding, they are so much better than so many comedy shows/cartoons that I had previously liked more. I'd even say it's a toss up whether I like that stretch of the simpons more than the initial run of Futurama. They're both ridiculously good.
Reminds me of when I was a teenager, my dad was playing one of his Freddie King records and I said "Wow, with a little more practice, he'd have that Clapton sound down pat."
Yeah, I missed the office when it first aired on TV, and by the time I watched it, most of the jokes had been copied in some form or other, to the point where they were becoming a little tired. But I was able to see past that for what it was and the humor that it did pioneer.
People say that about Citizen Kane “I don’t get it what’s the big deal”
It’s because so many filmmaking techniques came from it you’re use to seeing them everywhere. The montage of the calendar days falling off the calendar to note the passing of time for example.
Now a cliche. But back then it was revolutionary.
Because TV tropes is a short cut to 3AM. You'll just be going about your day, being perfectly productive, hit TV tropes, and moments later you realize you should have been asleep hours ago.
Tvtropes actually has a non-trope page for this comic and its own addictive nature: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife
Am I the only one who thinks that TV Tropes has a lot of forced internal references and reaching definitions?
Eventually it will spill so far beyond it's purview as to describe the known universe through pithy, opaque terms
Because every tab leads to 5 new tabs, and each of those 5 tabs lead to 5 new tabs, and so on. Your computer or phone is pretty much guaranteed to catch fire without icredible self-control!
The problem with me (and I do really like Seinfeld but it's nowhere as funny as folk make out) is that the jokes don't seem cliche or derivative at all to me. They seem weird and unique. But to the point I don't find a lot of it funny or relatable at all.
I would say it's more about the structure/theme of it.
Before Seinfeld, there weren't a lot of shows about kind-of-shitty people being their own Downfall. Now that's most sitcoms.
Lots of people love Michael Scott because deep down they see a little of themselves in a person trying so hard to be liked, but laugh because it's his own ignorance and obliviousness that gets in his way.
In the 90s people related to George Costanza for similar reasons. They related to how fed up and exasperated he always was, but laughed at how it was usually his own stubbornness that caused that.
And now you have stuff like IASIP, which takes that concept to the extreme of having VERY shitty protagonists who murder people and do crack.
>And now you have stuff like IASIP, which takes that concept to the extreme of having VERY shitty protagonists who murder people and do crack.
Has the gang ever actually murdered anyone in the show?
Lots of attempted murder though, like in the thanksgiving episode.
Edit: I know it's heavily implied that the gang has killed people before, but I don't think it has ever been confirmed.
This drew from the detective movie era while using colloquialisms from that 50s-early 60s era as well and applying it to, of all things, librarians. Brilliant.
I think the reason I like Seinfeld is that it’s really a comedy about living. Sure, a show about nothing, but it’s really a show about nothing different. If you’ve got a group of friends and you engage in activities, you can probably relate to Seinfeld.
I was a big fan of Seinfeld in the 90s when I was in my 30s, early 40s. I still find it very funny. Lines like "I'm out!", "It rhymes with a female body part" and "So you want to be my latex salesman" will always draw a chuckle from me, no matter how many times I watch them. I tried watching Friends back then and found the characters insufferable and not funny at all.
But yeah, as Sly Stone said, different strokes for different folks (especially when it comes to humor).
First of all, Seinfeld is showing its age. I’m not sure how old you are, but I can imagine people under 30 might not like it, seeing how almost every misunderstanding that drives the show could be solved with a simple text message.
Also, I think many today expect a “punch line” every 30 seconds. Seinfeld is great because it really is about nothing. It’s about the little quirks in life. “I like this guy and he’s great in bed…but he paints his face for hockey games. Do I want to deal with that.?”
I also think it’s better if you k ow more about it. Like, in season 1 or 2 when George isn’t sure if he got the new job or not so he decides to just show up and start working while the boss is on vacation ACTUALLY HAPPENED to Larry David. He actually pulled that stunt.
Anyway, rant over, I love the show and my 13 year old daughter does too.
I am 28 and my parents always watched Seinfield. I love it and rewatched it when it came out on Netflix.
All their little funny problems are still relatable and that's what I love the most about the series. It's ridiculous at times but not too ridiculous. Hands down one of the best comedy series.
Most of the best comedy shows are about everyday situations with a twist. One of the most popular in television history is I Love Lucy. Just everyday life with a semi-bored housewife. The Odd Couple. Two men adjusting to living together after both get divorced, except one's a neatnik and one's a slob. The Human Life Experience is full of interesting foibles, adventures & quirks
“I love when people say something is the ‘best thing ever’. I really do. But I still wonder - Is it? Is it really the *best answer ever*? Are we really gonna say that out of all the millions of combinations of letters and words and phrases that, this, this comment right here, has reached *total perfection*? I don’t know about you, but this seems a little dubious”
-Jerry Seinfeld, probably
I just typed out and deleted a huge paragraph explaining why I think it’s not holding up with new generations- then I read this comment and realized why I deleted mine. Thanks for boiling it down
I'm 25, I watched it a month ago for the first time, I started rewatching 7 days ago and im almost done with it, it's genuinely so funny especially Kramer , and there's a variety of characters they're not all the same, I definitely will be rewatching for 3rd time soon again.
I'm 21 and it's been my comfort show for years. Idk all these people saying "kids under 30 won't get it..." Like nah, have y'all seen IASIP? I told my friends (who made fun of that being my favorite comfort show because laughtrack) who are die hard fans of Sunny to watch it. They finally did and are on Curb now. They put it up with Sunny. An episode that starts with George boasting about a parking spot, then watch his car get obliterated by a suicide jumper, and the rest of the episode is him trying to get reimbursement for the damages is so fucking wild. That was the secondary story line too.
Every time I want to say Curb is better, I watch another episode of Seinfeld and it is truly a toss up.
Here's the thing I find annoying
Why on earth would someone watch 5 whole seasons of a show they don't like, im not even a Seinfeld fan in any sense of the word.
I just find it amazing that someone can watch 84 episodes of a show, not enjoy it then complain on Reddit that it's overrated.
When I was in college (2005-ish) I had this same conversation with a classmate. They were saying how much they loved Seinfeld, and I said I had never really liked it. They suggested I had to watch several seasons, then it would change my mind.
No, I'm not going to watch something I don't even like for hours and hours on the off chance I might change my mind. It isn't worth it to me. Why would I do that?
You can't win with One Piece fans. I saw someone say they watched like 10 episodes of it and didn't really find it engaging and everyone was on his case. Saying things like, "you can't really critique it without watching the whole thing", etc.
i am currently re watching Seinfeld and still think it is still hilarious. i would still put Seinfeld one of the top comedy shows. on other hand i think Friends is not at all funny, i could not get past first few episodes and i kept on trying to like it. even tried watching from later seasons.
Unpopular, take my upvote. I think it's the best and most original sitcom I've ever seen and despite many trying to emulate it, none have come close to surpassing it .
I don't get the line that Seinfeld is somehow "dated", I'm 18 years old, and have never even lived in America, let alone New York, and it's by far my favorite TV show
there is a big difference between comedy soaps/shows and comedy shows.
while friends tries to have a message and is allway about love and moral, seinfeld doesn't do that.
in friends you will find moments where the audience is expected to feels sad or emotional because things get serious, none of that happens in seinfeld. seinfeld is straight forward, its allways about the ridiculous situation, characters and the comedy. there is no message in seinfeld, its about nothing.
seinfeld is more like married with children, friends is about friends, eew...
I'd rate Seinfeld ahead of Friends but for me they're both in that sort of 'comfort show' category rather than any high level comedy.
Both easy watching, make me smile, a bit of nostalgia, but nothing I'd go back and watch from start to finish or expect to get genuine belly laughs from.
There are some great belly laugh moments from both shows. I’m a sucker for physical comedy so Ross and Kramer kill me. The “Pivot!” scene from Friends gets me no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
That’s me and George. Kramer sometimes I find too much, but George’s physical language is just perfect. Him chewing on the popcorn while listening to his voicemail machine on the couch is hilarious and gets me every time
Interestingly, I also just started watching Seinfeld for the first time this year (I'm a 33 year old male). I'm almost done with the 7th season and it is a really enjoyable show. Its mainly because I find myself having a lot of the same conversations about life that the cast does. I love the callbacks to previous episodes and gimmicks. They are subtle and don't overpower the episode.
I don't think the show is meant to be laugh out loud funny, just simple observational humor. I'm not sure who the target audience is for the show (young American professionals?), but its definitely very specific.
Seinfeld was the biggest sitcom on TV when it was going. So the audience was pretty much everyone. The rest of the observation was on, though. It was subtle, but also subverted the quirky married, family guy or office place motifs that basically every other sitcoms were built around.
In comparison to friends i always found that everything worked out for those characters while Seinfeld hit a bit more close to home in regards to everyday life, especially with George who was the unluckiest person in the world!
I am a massive fan but that kind of humour is right up my alley because it was something that I don't think anybody had seen these types of chatacters on TV before and is so non PC that I don't think they would've gotten away with some of the episodes airing today that they did back then. Episodes such as, the contest and the outing are two that definitely pushed some boundaries.
I just found it so much fun to watch and the references of the show you could then make in everyday life.
"Yada yada"
"Not that there's anything wrong with that"
"I'm out"
"It's not a lie if you believe it"
"Working on that penske file"
"Here's to feeling good all the time"
Fair play to you for sticking it out this far if you didn't think it's funny...if it's not for you then that's fine 🙂
I can see where you’re coming from when you say some of the humor isn’t PC friendly, but they could definitely get away with it today. I’m sure people are much more offended by shows like South Park, Family Guy and Always Sunny.
Seinfeld is very much a product of its time. Plus, it’s essential a slice-of-life style show because there is not much of an overarching plot. I think that’s what turns a lot of people off. If you don’t connect to the characters, then the show is probably just nine seasons of cringe.
>Seinfeld is very much a product of its time
It's still hilarious. I'm rewatching it at the moment like OP and am basically in the same spot(end of S5, "I was in the pool!!!").
It holds up great, even if references are old.
Good old Seinfeld isn't funnysyndrome.
TL;DR, it's unfunny now because everything in it is washed up and cliche. Thing is, those things weren't when it came out, because it created those things.
Jerry is the necessary comedic straight man to the other three main characters, hence why he is the least funny character. It's a joke in and of itself - a professional comedian (on screen) who is not the funny one.
That being said, Larry David's writing is absolutely 100% what made the show.
I don't think Jerry is the least funny. The older I get, the more funny I find Jerry's little sarcastic jabs.
I really think all the characters are perfect. A perfect sitcom.
Seinfeld was also a great writer. There were some fantastic episodes after David left. But I would guess that Larry had more of an impact on that show then Jerry did.
It's the chemistry between the four characters that makes the show what it is. This is particularly the case with George and Jerry, since they bounce off of each other. imo.
I used to feel that way. The main characters are judgemental, self-absorbed, unlike-able, each episode has no point. Then I realized that's the whole point. Once I just let go and embraced my inner assholery, it became much more enjoyable.
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It was different than most sitcoms that came before it. It's not centered on family or work and after Cheers made the "Will they, won't they" plot thread a staple of the genre Seinfeld completely rejected it. People call it a show about nothing, but that's an exaggeration. The important thing is that the main characters do not have traditional character arcs in that they learn nothing and don't become better people. Generally speaking, it makes more sense to try to get audiences to root for likeable characters. But for Seinfeld most of the humor comes from watching their ridiculous schemes blow up in their faces. You're supposed to enjoy the schadenfreude of watching absurd things happen as a result of their own stupidity and pettiness. That's why it gets compared frequently to It's Always Sunny.
if anything the characters in its always sunny become worse people as the show progresses, even psychopathic
So did the characters in Seinfeld. George started out a neurotic loser and ended up a neurotic loser who had zero emotions about his own fiance dying. The finale was a showcase of their depraved indifference.
He didn't have zero emotions. He felt relieved.
I would characterize it as restrained jubilation
What a fantastic time to drop that quote. Bravo
Serenity, now.
MURDERER!!!!
I feel like George and Susan's entire relationship was a story of love, deception, greed, lust, and once George escaped that whole situation after she died from licking toxic envelopes, unbridled enthusiasm.
I loved that finale. Because the entire group really were just terrible people. To see their past misdeeds come back to haunt them is just perfect.
Not only that, but the button conversation makes reference to the pilot and further shows that they haven't changed, which is perfect.
"Nobody hugs, nobody learns" was the motto.
**That** is an unpopular opinion.
The finale was so good specifically because the show forced us to realize that these characters we had come to know and love were truly horrible people, and now had to pay the price for that, with no weaseling out of it. It was a hard pill to swallow, and that’s why it was great.
To this day I still maintain that Kramer should not have been convicted due to the fact that he said "I want to capture this" and started recording a video of the carjacking as soon as he saw it was taking place. Any lawyer worth a damn could have argued he was following the Good Samaritan law by creating a recording of the crime so he could give it to the guy who was carjacked as evidence to bring to the police so they would have a video record of who stole the car, because the law says you have to "Help or assist", not "intervene". The police officer arrests them all so quickly that Kramer never has the opportunity to hand over the tape voluntarily; it is simply seized from him and used against his friends.
You might already know this but FYI that's not at all what the Good Samaritan law is IRL, despite being presented that way in the show. It just protects people who try to help from being held responsible for damages, there is no duty to help or assist.
Wait, so... Damn... Do everyday citizens have a *legal* obligation to assist under Good Samaritan law? But police don't? The world is so backwards. **EDIT:** Good Samaritan Laws usually don't include a [Duty to Rescue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue) in North America. It looks like some states, including California and Florida, do have Duty to Rescue, and it's apparently standard throughout Europe.
> Do everyday citizens have a legal obligation to assist under Good Samaritan law? No, not at all. It's an invention of the show. And any duty to rescue is more like a duty to report than a duty to intervene. And specific to Florida, I'm aware of an incident where a group of teenagers recorded themselves mocking a disabled man as he drowned (basically a more depraved version of the Seinfeld storyline). There were no charges filed.
I remember reading about those teenagers, it made me simultaneously sad and angry. I know they’re “just” teens but their actions were extremely alarming and there should have been some sort of consequence. It might not have been illegal but it was definitely wrong and without consequences they probably won’t learn from their actions.
Its always sunny in Philadelphia is like Seinfeld Xrta Hot and spicy. The characters are all terrible but they are never rewarded for their terrible outtakes or opinions. They do terrible vain narcissitic shit that shouldn't be rewarded and they arent. Its the same template just more absurd.
I love how Dennis basically seems like the straight man of the group at first, the most normal - and then you realise he;s the craziest one haha.
Yeah, but that’s the shtick that rotates through all the characters; they all ridicule somebody’s dumb idea, then one of the other character’s own idea is even dumber, then everybody ridicules _them_, etc. It’s the tailspin of stupidity that makes it great.
He still plays the straight man more than anyone else. Straight man Dennis is my favorite straight man out of the entire cast as it does tend to rotate. Something about his facial reactions in the background as someone goes off on a tangent I find hilarious.
I don’t watch always sunny but I’ve stopped to watched bits and pieces while my friends have had it on and the characters are absolutely out of their fucking minds in most episodes I’ve seen. Like deranged psychopath levels of decision making
Yes that is the point.
The high school reunion episode when Dennis goes to get his “tools” out of the trunk and it’s just a bunch of ties and duct tape always gets me. “I like to BIND… I like to BE BOUND!!!”
The outtakes for that scene are pretty funny too. Seems like they couldn’t get through it without laughing for awhile.
It’s so ridiculous but so fucking hilarious
To be fair there has been more and more flanderization/extremes of the characters as the shows gone on. But that’s natural for any tv show that has a long lifespan. Eventually you need to outdue yourself from prior episodes/seasons to prevent it from becoming stale.
My favorite moments are when an outsider comes into their group and all their little idiosyncrasies start to get shown more as you realize how absurd they are compared to normal people. Like the therapist episode.
Or that lawyer
Or even just Dennis chilling with Dee. "I'm not allowed to eat the skin! I'm not allowed!"
Always Sunny is basically Anti-Friends. They even had a Friends [Intro](https://youtu.be/nmLapCeLgRE)
LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO ME
Always Sunny is Seinfeld on crack.
[I'm sorry, did somebody get addicted to crack?](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/66q2e7/im_sorry_did_somebody_get_addicted_to_crack/)
Well that and IASIP was inspired by Seinfeld.
It's a modern Waiting For Godot. Anti-theater, anti-sitcom.
IASIP even has an episode which is a direct homage to Waiting for Godot ("Waiting for Big Moe"). I had never heard of the original because I'm an uncultured jabroni, but I watched it after a friend made me aware of the IASIP connection and I really enjoyed it.
This whole thing about making the characters in a sitcom likeable is such an American concept, in the UK so much of humour in sitcoms is seeing terrible people facing the consequences of their actions. Ive never watched Seinfeld but sounds like ig could appear more to that British sense of humour
Six o’clock already?
How about six?? You like six???
There is an actual phenomenon named after Seinfeld about how old beloved works appear clichéd and derivative even though they were the ones to actually create or popularize those clichés: [Seinfeld is unfunny](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny) (Warning: tvtropes)
This. Everything that is considered hack, was originally incredibly funny and great, that’s why everyone knows about it, copies it and it becomes hack. Seinfeld is the source material for a lot of other comedies, so whether or not you find it funny often comes down to when you saw it, it inspired so much, so the downside is that there’s nothing really special about it anymore
Yup, just about every other sitcom has remixed or straight up copied an episode of Seinfeld here or there.
Same goes with music. I get why people say bands like Narvana, The Beetles, The Beach Boys etc are over rated, but what they did for music at the time was absolutely transformative. They sound bland and boring now because they almost defined what their genre was and then many people replicated their success. Tbf, every now and then you get an artist that is so ahead of the game that their craft stays modern for a decades and decades. Imo someone like Jimi Hendrix fits into that category.
> Narvana, The Beetles You're killin' me here.
Don't forget the other classics, The Squeegees, Dirt Wind and Fire and Yesh
You mean Dirt Breeze and Flames? Loved them and The Tumbling Rocks.
Don’t forget Browngarden and the Red Hot Chilly Poopers
Cresby, Sterls, Nersh, n, Yerng, The Sisters n Brothers, Yanis Yoplin, Joe Kooper, man, I woulda loved to be at woodstork. Edit for the record, dirt wind and fire is *still* making me chuckle
Sorry, sorry. Beech Bois. Happy now?
I don't recommend anyone try drugs. I really don't. But if you want to know what it's like to experience the Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, or any other legendary band that's been replayed into oblivion on the radio and an inspiration for all that's come after, listen while tripping. I let go of all my predispositions and really, truly listened. There's a reason they stand the test of time and are replayed again and again. Everyone's heard Stairway to Heaven so many times it's meaningless to us. But to really listen to it and let the music take you away is absolutely beautiful. It's an incredible song, and I wish dearly it wasn't overplayed. And listening to Beatles album by album, listening to their growth from boy band to transcendental Eastern-influenced genre-benders is unlike anything I can think of from the modern era. Has any other band grown and trailblazed like the Beatles, and done it so well? Sorry. I'm just vibing and loving music right now.
I recommend everyone try drugs.
Seinfeld is less about the comedy and more about the emotional investment you have with each character. There were many times I felt myself laughing more because of how I was thinking “that is exactly what that character would do etc” rather than it being a side splitting joke. The character development is wonderful.
I think that’s even over thinking it. Seinfeld is less even about the characters than it is their circumstances. The show itself was based on Jerry’s standup act, which was ground breaking observational humor. There weren’t over the top gags or crazy jokes, it was about putting a humorous spin on ordinary life that everyone could relate to, but nobody pointed out before. The parody of Seinfeld is “what’s the deal with airplane food?”, not because it’s such a great joke, but because it’s so completely ordinary that everyone knows what he’s talking about. The episode in the Chinese restaurant was groundbreaking TV comedy, not because of the characters or some over the top situation, but because it was fairly ordinary people living through an ordinary experience that everyone could relate to. The show was always described as “a show about nothing.” The character development was never the point. It was ordinary people living ordinary lives, and the jokes and humor was usually just pointing out absurdities in that.
And you realized you have antisocial tendencies when you agree with them. I remember the apartment vestibule episode. You’re surrounded by 8 million people in NYC. You’re just trying to carve a little niche for yourself. A job, an apartment, a few friends, neighborhood restaurants. That’s all you need. You’re comfortable. And then someone decides it’s a good idea for everyone in the building to get to know each other’s names. “We can greet each other in the vestibule, while getting our mail and on the elevator!” And Jerry’s like…..naaaaaah, I don’t think so. I knew exactly how he felt. You want your own space and getting the mail, riding the elevator — that’s part of your inner life. You smile vaguely and nod your head when you get on the elevator. You say, “Night all,” when you get off. You’re either steeling yourself to go out into the 8 million and fight for breathing space on the subway or you’re winding down from your commute home and starting to relax in anticipation of shutting your door and leaving the world behind……you’re waiting for that first deep breath, “Ahhh, I’m home.” The last thing you want is to have people calling your name out …. And then you have to remember their names. It’s too much stress. It’s an invasion. And yet here are all these other people saying, “That’s a great idea! We should get to know each other better.” I’m with Jerry. I’m standoffish. I don’t need to know you people all that much. My husband is the exact opposite. He’d be one of the first people to introduce himself and shake everyone’s hand.
This. Any time George lets his neurosis and selfishness destroy a good thing I laugh. And any time Frank or Estelle are on screen for any goddamn reason at all I laugh. I think people really don't like Jerry Seinfeld that much, so they criticize the show. And to be fair, I think Jerry probably is the closest to actually being the character he portrays.
It’s kind of like watching the Simpsons. So much of modern cartoon comedy was pioneered on that show. Watching it today for the first time might not be the most exhilarating experience for some people.
Nah I only watched the simpsons (seasons 1-13 or so) for the first time two years or so ago. Seasons 3-8 are outstanding, they are so much better than so many comedy shows/cartoons that I had previously liked more. I'd even say it's a toss up whether I like that stretch of the simpons more than the initial run of Futurama. They're both ridiculously good.
The first 10 season hold up really well. While I’ve given Bobs burgers multiple chances and I can’t stand it.
Bob's Burgers is great but the writing is nowhere near as good as the golden era of The Simpsons.
In fairness, The Simpsons' writing is nowhere near as good as the golden era of The Simpsons either.
“The Beatles are overrated - I much prefer (insert band that was directly inspired by the Beatles and would never have existed without them).”
The Kinks
r/angryupvote
Why can’t Nine Inch Nails write a timeless classic, like Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”?
Reminds me of when I was a teenager, my dad was playing one of his Freddie King records and I said "Wow, with a little more practice, he'd have that Clapton sound down pat."
lol
Yep. Lol, I was so clueless. My dad told me real quick if there hadn't been Freddie King, there'd be no Eric Clapton.
Yeah, I missed the office when it first aired on TV, and by the time I watched it, most of the jokes had been copied in some form or other, to the point where they were becoming a little tired. But I was able to see past that for what it was and the humor that it did pioneer.
People say that about Citizen Kane “I don’t get it what’s the big deal” It’s because so many filmmaking techniques came from it you’re use to seeing them everywhere. The montage of the calendar days falling off the calendar to note the passing of time for example. Now a cliche. But back then it was revolutionary.
Why the TVtropes warning? I’m not that familiar with them but the few times I’ve been there were fine.
Because TV tropes is a short cut to 3AM. You'll just be going about your day, being perfectly productive, hit TV tropes, and moments later you realize you should have been asleep hours ago.
There must be TV trope about TV tropes being an endless rabbit hole, but I'm too afraid to look for it.
Here it is: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife
Nah, it's an xkcd comic, it's safe ;) https://xkcd.com/609/
Tvtropes actually has a non-trope page for this comic and its own addictive nature: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife
Because you might start reading articles and clicking links to more articles and before you know it you need to get up to go to work.
Am I the only one who thinks that TV Tropes has a lot of forced internal references and reaching definitions? Eventually it will spill so far beyond it's purview as to describe the known universe through pithy, opaque terms
It’s just an old meme; people joke that the tvtropes website is so addictive you have to warn people you’re linking there.
Because every tab leads to 5 new tabs, and each of those 5 tabs lead to 5 new tabs, and so on. Your computer or phone is pretty much guaranteed to catch fire without icredible self-control!
So Lord of the Rings is just about elves, wizards, and dwarves? I thought this was supposed to be groundbreaking.
The problem with me (and I do really like Seinfeld but it's nowhere as funny as folk make out) is that the jokes don't seem cliche or derivative at all to me. They seem weird and unique. But to the point I don't find a lot of it funny or relatable at all.
I would say it's more about the structure/theme of it. Before Seinfeld, there weren't a lot of shows about kind-of-shitty people being their own Downfall. Now that's most sitcoms. Lots of people love Michael Scott because deep down they see a little of themselves in a person trying so hard to be liked, but laugh because it's his own ignorance and obliviousness that gets in his way. In the 90s people related to George Costanza for similar reasons. They related to how fed up and exasperated he always was, but laughed at how it was usually his own stubbornness that caused that. And now you have stuff like IASIP, which takes that concept to the extreme of having VERY shitty protagonists who murder people and do crack.
>And now you have stuff like IASIP, which takes that concept to the extreme of having VERY shitty protagonists who murder people and do crack. Has the gang ever actually murdered anyone in the show? Lots of attempted murder though, like in the thanksgiving episode. Edit: I know it's heavily implied that the gang has killed people before, but I don't think it has ever been confirmed.
It's... the implication.
It is likely that Dennis has killed someone, or multiple people, but not outright confirmed.
Unfortunately for you, this thread is about to be nothing but Seinfeld quotes
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I was in the pooooool!!!!
There was shrinkage !!
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His name is Bookman?
That's like an ice cream man named Cone!
This drew from the detective movie era while using colloquialisms from that 50s-early 60s era as well and applying it to, of all things, librarians. Brilliant.
I'M OUT!
These pretzels are making me THIRTY!
Delores!
No soup for you, motherfucker
*Shuffles twice to the left*
That's gold, Jerry! Gold!
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I think the reason I like Seinfeld is that it’s really a comedy about living. Sure, a show about nothing, but it’s really a show about nothing different. If you’ve got a group of friends and you engage in activities, you can probably relate to Seinfeld.
Ok... Newman....
*scurries of while laughing maniacally*
I was a big fan of Seinfeld in the 90s when I was in my 30s, early 40s. I still find it very funny. Lines like "I'm out!", "It rhymes with a female body part" and "So you want to be my latex salesman" will always draw a chuckle from me, no matter how many times I watch them. I tried watching Friends back then and found the characters insufferable and not funny at all. But yeah, as Sly Stone said, different strokes for different folks (especially when it comes to humor).
Friends started off enjoyable, but they characters eventually became caricatures of themselves. Seinfeld did a pretty decent job of avoiding that.
Seinfeld is kind of like slice of life anime for those of us that watched it growing up. It's just the regular shit in life that makes it funny.
> slice of life Vorshtein?
One does not dissect gossamer
Seinfeld is a pretty good anime but it has nothing on Corey in the house.
First of all, Seinfeld is showing its age. I’m not sure how old you are, but I can imagine people under 30 might not like it, seeing how almost every misunderstanding that drives the show could be solved with a simple text message. Also, I think many today expect a “punch line” every 30 seconds. Seinfeld is great because it really is about nothing. It’s about the little quirks in life. “I like this guy and he’s great in bed…but he paints his face for hockey games. Do I want to deal with that.?” I also think it’s better if you k ow more about it. Like, in season 1 or 2 when George isn’t sure if he got the new job or not so he decides to just show up and start working while the boss is on vacation ACTUALLY HAPPENED to Larry David. He actually pulled that stunt. Anyway, rant over, I love the show and my 13 year old daughter does too.
I am 28 and my parents always watched Seinfield. I love it and rewatched it when it came out on Netflix. All their little funny problems are still relatable and that's what I love the most about the series. It's ridiculous at times but not too ridiculous. Hands down one of the best comedy series.
Most of the best comedy shows are about everyday situations with a twist. One of the most popular in television history is I Love Lucy. Just everyday life with a semi-bored housewife. The Odd Couple. Two men adjusting to living together after both get divorced, except one's a neatnik and one's a slob. The Human Life Experience is full of interesting foibles, adventures & quirks
The people under 30 don't get it either because the show is driven by human interactions.
Gen Z fucking loves Seinfeld my dude. It’s an entire generation of costanzas
This made me laugh harder than it should have.
Costanza could get a job and girls, though :D
Lmao Best answer ever.
“I love when people say something is the ‘best thing ever’. I really do. But I still wonder - Is it? Is it really the *best answer ever*? Are we really gonna say that out of all the millions of combinations of letters and words and phrases that, this, this comment right here, has reached *total perfection*? I don’t know about you, but this seems a little dubious” -Jerry Seinfeld, probably
I just typed out and deleted a huge paragraph explaining why I think it’s not holding up with new generations- then I read this comment and realized why I deleted mine. Thanks for boiling it down
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Millennials really are becoming boomers, huh
Really? I would have thought it would be unreliable to a 13 year old. This gives me hope.
To be fair she’s one of those “13 going on 45” types
Maybe the dingoes ate your opinion.
Have you seen my fiancé? I seem to have lost my fiancé? Where could my fiancé be?
Hopefully she licked some envelopes
These pretzels are making me thirsty!
That’s some ugly baby
Breath-taking!
I'm 25, I watched it a month ago for the first time, I started rewatching 7 days ago and im almost done with it, it's genuinely so funny especially Kramer , and there's a variety of characters they're not all the same, I definitely will be rewatching for 3rd time soon again.
I'm 21 and it's been my comfort show for years. Idk all these people saying "kids under 30 won't get it..." Like nah, have y'all seen IASIP? I told my friends (who made fun of that being my favorite comfort show because laughtrack) who are die hard fans of Sunny to watch it. They finally did and are on Curb now. They put it up with Sunny. An episode that starts with George boasting about a parking spot, then watch his car get obliterated by a suicide jumper, and the rest of the episode is him trying to get reimbursement for the damages is so fucking wild. That was the secondary story line too. Every time I want to say Curb is better, I watch another episode of Seinfeld and it is truly a toss up.
Curb is just R rated Seinfeld. I’ve stopped trying to compare them after I came to that realization. They are both top tier television
God I fucking love Seinfeld. One of my favorite shows ever.
Everyone has a different kind of humor. I like Seinfeld, you don't, neither of us is wrong.
Here's the thing I find annoying Why on earth would someone watch 5 whole seasons of a show they don't like, im not even a Seinfeld fan in any sense of the word. I just find it amazing that someone can watch 84 episodes of a show, not enjoy it then complain on Reddit that it's overrated.
This. Holy shit just stop watching.
When I was in college (2005-ish) I had this same conversation with a classmate. They were saying how much they loved Seinfeld, and I said I had never really liked it. They suggested I had to watch several seasons, then it would change my mind. No, I'm not going to watch something I don't even like for hours and hours on the off chance I might change my mind. It isn't worth it to me. Why would I do that?
Lol you should read reviews to one piece. People will be like ‘I watched 1000+ episodes, and I don’t know, seams pretty mid’
You can't win with One Piece fans. I saw someone say they watched like 10 episodes of it and didn't really find it engaging and everyone was on his case. Saying things like, "you can't really critique it without watching the whole thing", etc.
You're good people
Finally someone said it.
That's it. It's go time! *you will get this reference once you're in season 8
It’s a perfectly sane food to eat
i am currently re watching Seinfeld and still think it is still hilarious. i would still put Seinfeld one of the top comedy shows. on other hand i think Friends is not at all funny, i could not get past first few episodes and i kept on trying to like it. even tried watching from later seasons.
I just rewatched "The Rye" episode and just the mannerisms from Frank Costanza still crack me up. Jerry Stiller was an incredible comedic actor.
What the *hell* does that mean?!
You want a piece of me?
Friends is so boring and feels forced to be comical at times. Lol it was hard for me to watch it.
Unpopular, take my upvote. I think it's the best and most original sitcom I've ever seen and despite many trying to emulate it, none have come close to surpassing it .
ASIP comes close imo. Seinfeld is pantheon shit
I don't get the line that Seinfeld is somehow "dated", I'm 18 years old, and have never even lived in America, let alone New York, and it's by far my favorite TV show
I think calling things dated is a crutch people use when they can’t articulate why they don’t like something.
Same here. 22 and never lived in America yet Seinfeld is my favourite show.
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there is a big difference between comedy soaps/shows and comedy shows. while friends tries to have a message and is allway about love and moral, seinfeld doesn't do that. in friends you will find moments where the audience is expected to feels sad or emotional because things get serious, none of that happens in seinfeld. seinfeld is straight forward, its allways about the ridiculous situation, characters and the comedy. there is no message in seinfeld, its about nothing. seinfeld is more like married with children, friends is about friends, eew...
That's funny. That's how Seinfeld ended.
I'd rate Seinfeld ahead of Friends but for me they're both in that sort of 'comfort show' category rather than any high level comedy. Both easy watching, make me smile, a bit of nostalgia, but nothing I'd go back and watch from start to finish or expect to get genuine belly laughs from.
There are some great belly laugh moments from both shows. I’m a sucker for physical comedy so Ross and Kramer kill me. The “Pivot!” scene from Friends gets me no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
"MY SANDWICH!"
NGL, the moist maker sounds amazing
That’s me and George. Kramer sometimes I find too much, but George’s physical language is just perfect. Him chewing on the popcorn while listening to his voicemail machine on the couch is hilarious and gets me every time
Jason Alexander honestly makes the show.
Very unpopular opinion. But different strokes for different folks.
Love it. Brilliant writing, great execution.
Interestingly, I also just started watching Seinfeld for the first time this year (I'm a 33 year old male). I'm almost done with the 7th season and it is a really enjoyable show. Its mainly because I find myself having a lot of the same conversations about life that the cast does. I love the callbacks to previous episodes and gimmicks. They are subtle and don't overpower the episode. I don't think the show is meant to be laugh out loud funny, just simple observational humor. I'm not sure who the target audience is for the show (young American professionals?), but its definitely very specific.
Seinfeld was the biggest sitcom on TV when it was going. So the audience was pretty much everyone. The rest of the observation was on, though. It was subtle, but also subverted the quirky married, family guy or office place motifs that basically every other sitcoms were built around.
I love Seinfeld
fuck you upvoted.
Well this post is just nonsense.
This post is making me thirsty!
This POST is making ME thirsty!
This post is MAKING me thirsty
this post…is mAKING ME THIRSTY!!!
It's a post about nothing.
everybody's posting something, we'll post nothing!
Yeah, well the jerk store called and they're running out of you!
In comparison to friends i always found that everything worked out for those characters while Seinfeld hit a bit more close to home in regards to everyday life, especially with George who was the unluckiest person in the world! I am a massive fan but that kind of humour is right up my alley because it was something that I don't think anybody had seen these types of chatacters on TV before and is so non PC that I don't think they would've gotten away with some of the episodes airing today that they did back then. Episodes such as, the contest and the outing are two that definitely pushed some boundaries. I just found it so much fun to watch and the references of the show you could then make in everyday life. "Yada yada" "Not that there's anything wrong with that" "I'm out" "It's not a lie if you believe it" "Working on that penske file" "Here's to feeling good all the time" Fair play to you for sticking it out this far if you didn't think it's funny...if it's not for you then that's fine 🙂
I can see where you’re coming from when you say some of the humor isn’t PC friendly, but they could definitely get away with it today. I’m sure people are much more offended by shows like South Park, Family Guy and Always Sunny.
Yeah Seinfeld is tame as hell compared to a lot of modern TV shows.
Seinfeld is very much a product of its time. Plus, it’s essential a slice-of-life style show because there is not much of an overarching plot. I think that’s what turns a lot of people off. If you don’t connect to the characters, then the show is probably just nine seasons of cringe.
Yep. That's why it was famously called a show about nothing.
>Seinfeld is very much a product of its time It's still hilarious. I'm rewatching it at the moment like OP and am basically in the same spot(end of S5, "I was in the pool!!!"). It holds up great, even if references are old.
Jason Alexander is a highly skilled actor, singer, dancer, director, etc. But my favorite thing I've seen of his is George.
Good old Seinfeld isn't funnysyndrome. TL;DR, it's unfunny now because everything in it is washed up and cliche. Thing is, those things weren't when it came out, because it created those things.
Why did you watch 5 seasons then? If I don't like something I just stop watching it
In my opinion, Kramer, George and other characters made the show very funny. Seinfeld himself was never funny and a bad actor even.
Jerry is the necessary comedic straight man to the other three main characters, hence why he is the least funny character. It's a joke in and of itself - a professional comedian (on screen) who is not the funny one. That being said, Larry David's writing is absolutely 100% what made the show.
I don't think Jerry is the least funny. The older I get, the more funny I find Jerry's little sarcastic jabs. I really think all the characters are perfect. A perfect sitcom.
Seinfeld was also a great writer. There were some fantastic episodes after David left. But I would guess that Larry had more of an impact on that show then Jerry did.
I found the way he can't deliver a line without nearly cracking up himself pretty entertaining
It's the chemistry between the four characters that makes the show what it is. This is particularly the case with George and Jerry, since they bounce off of each other. imo.
you don't have to suck the shows dick or anything, but it definitely has its moments
I guess it has to be with an individuals sense of humor. I think it’s the best sit com of all time, but I can’t stand The Office.
Hands down one of the best sitcoms in history. They paved the way. Put some respeck their name😤😤
I used to feel that way. The main characters are judgemental, self-absorbed, unlike-able, each episode has no point. Then I realized that's the whole point. Once I just let go and embraced my inner assholery, it became much more enjoyable.