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Anybody watch Seinfeld?


indy4

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I love Seinfeld, in fact, I think that Seinfeld, The Office (American), and Star Trek (original) are my favorite TV series ever created (with an honorable mention to the original The Twilight Zone).

The thing that surprises me about Seinfeld is that all the shows are pretty much the same thing--pointless discussions and several subplots that all fit together like a puzzle in the end--but even though it pretty much sticks with the same formula for almost every episode, it NEVER gets tiring or old.

My favorite characters are Kramer and Elaine--I have tried for a while to pick between the two of them, but they are both just so damn funny. I love Elaine's selfishness and overall disregard to society's needs, and her great satisfaction at causing others trouble (e.g., when she tosses George's topay out the window). Kramer is just a weird nut, always hatching idiotic schemes that are as odd as he is, that never end well for others, and rarely end well for him.

George and Jerry are hilarious also, however. Jerry always seems like he's just enjoying the show like us audience members, there's always a whisp of a smile on his lips, it's great. George is a pitiful and stubborn guy, and his cheapness is tons of fun to watch. I love how he asks Susan for change from the toll booth right after she discovers her burning cabin.

And then there's all the other characters--Mr. Peterman, Jerry's parents, George's parents, the Soup Nazi, Newman, Susan, Steinbrenner, and all the rest. What a brilliant show.

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The thing that surprises me about Seinfeld is that all the shows are pretty much the same thing--pointless discussions and several subplots that all fit together like a puzzle in the end--but even though it pretty much sticks with the same formula for almost every episode, it NEVER gets tiring or old.

That formula didn't develop until about Seasons 3 and 4. That said, I find myself enjoying the early episodes a lot more because the humour was actually funny, naturalistic and well thought out, and not pure slapstick and surrealism that you saw in Seasons 8 and 9.

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Just wait until you get to the series finale.

It has to go down as one of the worst ever. 2 hrs. of crap.

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The thing that surprises me about Seinfeld is that all the shows are pretty much the same thing--pointless discussions and several subplots that all fit together like a puzzle in the end--but even though it pretty much sticks with the same formula for almost every episode, it NEVER gets tiring or old.

That formula didn't develop until about Seasons 3 and 4. That said, I find myself enjoying the early episodes a lot more because the humour was actually funny, naturalistic and well thought out, and not pure slapstick and surrealism that you saw in Seasons 8 and 9.

Also, the characters weren't quite so self-centered at the beginning of the show. That evolved as well. Seasons 8 & 9 are not very good because the characters became cartoony caricatures of their former selves and at that point the show was in self-parody mode. I prefer the more deadpan, dialogue driven dark comedy of the first couple seasons.

Depite the mostly unfunny last couple of seasons and terrible finale, Seinfeld is my favorite TV show. In fact, I just got tickets to see him perform live in September.

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It's my favorite show too - despite some problems later on in its life I do feel comfortable saying that I believe it is probably the funniest tv show ever made.

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Just wait until you get to the series finale.

It has to go down as one of the worst ever. 2 hrs. of crap.

Are you kidding? The finale is hilarious!

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uhh, no its not, its seriously bad tv

Anti-Semite!

Wasn't it one of those lame clipfests with no real story?

John- who's never watched a whole episode of Seinfeld

It was a lame plot where the four of them get arrested on a good samaritan law. Every bit character was brought back to "testify" against the main four. It was essentially a parade of cameo bit parts and rehashing of some of the greatest moments of the series. But a clip show it was not. They did broadcast an hourlong clipfest prior to the finale though, for a best-of show it was well done and I especially love the use of the Superman theme.

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Wasn't it one of those lame clipfests with no real story?

John- who's never watched a whole episode of Seinfeld

its as bad if not worse than the terrible Mash finale, both are bad tv.

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I have to disagree there, MASH has a wonderful finale. It has a proper story, is enjoyable, and has great induvidual send-offs for every character.

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After Frank Burn's character left, M*A*S*H began to lose its appeal to me. Actually once Trapper and Blake's characters left it went away from what made the film so great.

I think it became too serious / too preachy in the final years and over stayed its welcome. I will say the finale was touching.

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Joey, you strike me as an According to Jim fan.

not at all, are you the new Alex, thinking that if something like seinfeld isn't loved then the person must be stupid.

on must see tv, I'll take Alex keaton, Cheers, Night Court, and Cosby anyday over Seinfelds bunch.

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If you liked Seinfeld, you'ld love Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show is basically Seinfeld from Castanza's point of view. But, what makes that show brilliant is that all the dialogue is unscripted, so it's alot like how Seinfeld would have been had they not had to deal with censorship.

My favorite is when Larry ends up playing Max Bialystock for the Broadway production of The Producers because Mel Brooks is trying to sabotage the production. That also turned out to be Ann Bancroft's last screen appearance before her death.

Brilliant!

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uhh, no its not, its seriously bad tv

Anti-Semite!

:angry:

Wasn't it one of those lame clipfests with no real story?

John- who's never watched a whole episode of Seinfeld

No, there are no clips in it (as far as I can remember). But it does a great job of tying up a fantastic series.

They did broadcast an hourlong clipfest prior to the finale though, for a best-of show it was well done and I especially love the use of the Superman theme.

Indeed! I also love its use in "The Race."

I watch an episode from time to time while channel surfing .Never really got into it

It's an acquired taste, you have to watch it a couple times to like it. I didn't like it the first couple times I saw it.

If you liked Seinfeld, you'ld love Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show is basically Seinfeld from Castanza's point of view. But, what makes that show brilliant is that all the dialogue is unscripted, so it's alot like how Seinfeld would have been had they not had to deal with censorship.

My favorite is when Larry ends up playing Max Bialystock for the Broadway production of The Producers because Mel Brooks is trying to sabotage the production. That also turned out to be Ann Bancroft's last screen appearance before her death.

Brilliant!

I have seen a couple Curb Your Enthusiasms, and they are very funny, also. Funny you should mention that "Seinfled from Castanza's point of view," Larry David said that the character of George was modeled after himself.

I love the one where Larry tries to save a man being baptised, because he think he's drowning.

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not at all, are you the new Alex, thinking that if something like seinfeld isn't loved then the person must be stupid.

Nope, same old Scratch. But Seinfeld and MASH are easily two of the best TV shows but you consider them both trash, was just curious what you do find entertaining.

on must see tv, I'll take Alex keaton, Cheers, Night Court, and Cosby anyday over Seinfelds bunch.

I used to love all four of those shows when they first came on, Cheers is still classic TV. Only the first couple seasons of Cosby are any good. Night Court and Family Ties are unwatchable.

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I like Curb it is often hilarious but it is no Seinfeld. Seinfeld in the first few seasons had it all, a stellar supporting cast in Richards, Alexander and Dreyfuss, writers like Larry David and Larry Charles and of course Jerry himself who seemed to be enjoying the show even more than the audience. His poor acting was a charming imperfection.

Curb just doesn't have the ensemble feel the way Seinfeld did, it is very much the Larry David show. Though I like David, he can't carry a whole series by himself. Some episodes are dull because David isn't up to task 100% of the time. Cheryl is nothing more than a foil for Larry, she can be downright annoying. Jeff and Larry don't have the chemistry that Jerry and Kramer did, or Jerry and George. Jeff is pretty much a straight man to Larry, I like Jeff but he has little to do on Curb. Wanda Sykes got old quick and her "character" became redundant. The only bit player on Curb that rivals anything on Seinfeld is Marty Funkhauser, that guy cracks me up every time.

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not at all, are you the new Alex, thinking that if something like seinfeld isn't loved then the person must be stupid.

Nope, same old Scratch. But Seinfeld and MASH are easily two of the best TV shows but you consider them both trash, was just curious what you do find entertaining.

on must see tv, I'll take Alex keaton, Cheers, Night Court, and Cosby anyday over Seinfelds bunch.

I used to love all four of those shows when they first came on, Cheers is still classic TV. Only the first couple seasons of Cosby are any good. Night Court and Family Ties are unwatchable.

1st Scratch, you seriously need to LEARN TO READ. No where do I call Seinfield or Mash trash. My comment was on both shows series finale's. Both were highly rated, but both were dismal failures. In each case the finale episodes were bad tv.

Mash is a great show, Seinfeld is overrated, but its an ok show, nothing more. However both provided their fans with possibly the two greatest failures for ending a show.

2nd, put your crap pipe down if you thing Night Court is unwatchable. When Cheers and Night Court were on back to back it was the funniest hour of tv in ages, unless you watch TVLand and watch I Love Lucy back to back.

Now for Alex, dear ole loveable Alex, Cosby is a very good show about family values, do you know what those are?

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Seinfeld is one of my all time favorites. I love every season of the show. What makes it great is that it just involves every day things that come up. Plus, I think everyone knows someone who acts like one of the characters on the show.

In terms of the last show, it was good for what it was worth. There was just so much hype leading up to it, I doubt it would it would have every been as great as everyone wanted it to be.

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1st Scratch, you seriously need to LEARN TO READ.

Well it would help if you learned spelling, grammar, punctuation and the nifty quotes feature that jwfan provides. Its not always clear who you are replying to and what exactly you are saying. In one of your posts you simply say "uh no its bad tv". Were you talking about the finale or answering the OPs question about watching Seinfeld in general?

Mash trash.

Joey made a funny.

2nd, put your crap pipe down if you thing Night Court is unwatchable.

Its juvenile with predictable jokes and cartoony characters. I watch it on occasion for nostalgia alone, it has very few genuine laughs. In Seinfeld the characters act juvenile, the writing though is not. There is a difference. The humor is in the dialogue and social conundrums, in Night Court it is shallow one-liners and insults the kind you would find in a kiddie insult book.

When Cheers and Night Court were on back to back it was the funniest hour of tv in ages

I thought so at the time, but only Cheers has improved with age.

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so now your a f***ing grammar nazi,

only fools play that game scratch, like living in a glass house, let me know next time when you're grading papers and I'll adjust.

it doesn't take a moron to figure out when I said it was bad tv I was replying directly to the post above me, scratch.

but you're too brainy for me, with your over analyzing Seinfeld, and your over simplification of Night Court, maybe that show was over your head, social conundrums, what a laugh. You truly are the american Alex.

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so now your a f***ing grammar nazi,

only fools play that game scratch, like living in a glass house, let me know next time when you're grading papers and I'll adjust.

This isn't being a nitpicky Nazi. Your posts read like IMs or text messages sometimes.

but you're too brainy for me, with your over analyzing Seinfeld, and your over simplification of Night Court, maybe that show was over your head, social conundrums, what a laugh. You truly are the american Alex.

I'm discussing Seinfeld and other TV shows in a Seinfeld thread. You say I'm over-analyzing because you don't like what I say. Yet, you've written dissertations on why you love Star Wars or the score to E.T. or other stuff that you like. That makes you just as guilty as "over-analyzing". So this whole over-analyzing thing is rubbish. We all come here to discuss movies, movie scores and TV shows. We are all "over-analyzing" in that case. If you disagree with me, why don't you engage in some debate instead of your potty mouth mispelled rants. If you think I'm being brainy, I'm sorry, I just discuss this stuff and state my opinion.

Maybe Seinfeld is over your head. At least I've stated my opinion and explained what I do and do not like about things. All you do is throw around words like trash, overrated, crap, etc.

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this is the internet dummy, not a technical writing class. I'd love for you to show me where I write like its a text message. I don't think you've ever received a text or IM from me, so how you could even formulate that bull I don't know. If I've over-analyzed your overanalysis, I'm sorry but Seinfield isn't brainy humor, it was often vulgar and gutter humor. Ooh a show about masterbation (it was very funny), but thats not brainy stuff, the yogart episode was funny, but Kramer's snogging mishap wasn't brainy stuff. It just happened to be immensely popular, and sometimes being popular doesn't mean quality. It's a good show, not a great show. I don't think its held up particularly well, and surprisingly its never been just the it show in syndication

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I could go for a large bowl of hot and sour soup, but I think the soup nazi does not serve that kind.

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this is the internet dummy, not a technical writing class.

It's the internet, so the hell with written language! And I'm the dummy..?

but Seinfield isn't brainy humor, it was often vulgar and gutter humor.

Vulgarity can still be "brainy" and well-written. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

Ooh a show about masterbation (it was very funny), but thats not brainy stuff

On the contrary, it was a brilliant plot. Each character typically had their own storyline in each episode, this one wove together all of their storylines around the sexual frustration of being in the contest. It also dealt with masturbation WITHOUT being vulgar, that's great writing. Show me such an episode of Night Court.

It just happened to be immensely popular, and sometimes being popular doesn't mean quality.

The popularity argument is moot. You said it yourself, being popular doesn't mean quality. Likewise, popularity doesn't mean lack of quality either. Popularity is simply no indication of quality, one way or another.

Besides, the ratings for Seinfeld were terrible for the first couple seasons. The network had faith in it, recognizing it was a quality show with a lot of potential. It built a cult-like following heading into its third season and was hitting its stride just as it got the juicy post-Cheers time slot. Then it took over for Cheers after that went off the air, it was a top rated show for the remainder of its run.

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What I did not care for during it's later seasons is that in pretty much every episode everyone's storyline had to connect with with each other somehow.

That's not really how life works...

Yes, the show was definitely overcooked at that point. Every character must have a storyline and they must ALL come together in the end. The final two seasons are not good, for they stuck too closely to this formula. I think this is a byproduct of its popularity (and the fact that David was gone from the show), people like to tune in to the same thing week after week.

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yes scratch its the internet, a place of fun, damn if I will be told how to write. Your skills are no better than mine. At least I have style. What do you have?

Of course the masterbation episode was vulgar. Vulgarity is rarely ever brainy.

Night court had its share of vulgarity.

I was always partial to the Markie Post themed episode about the rich Texan oil man betting on saving the orphanage, when the plan fails Christine flashes her ample bossum and the oilman gladly pays up, saying it was worth every penny.

but what it all comes down to, something you've yet to address, is my original statement that the last Seinfeld episode was bad, you've never stated if you agree or disagree, the same with the last Mash episode. Neither was among the best they did.

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At least I have style. What do you have?

You have style alright, potty mouthed and personal insults. I don't do either one. I have no writing style, I'm not a writer. I just try to get my point across as best I can. I try to enlighten others with my opinion and I like when my opinion is challenged. We both come away better for it.

but what it all comes down to, something you've yet to address, is my original statement that the last Seinfeld episode was bad, you've never stated if you agree or disagree, the same with the last Mash episode. Neither was among the best they did.

Read my first and second post in this thread. And I'm the one that needs to LEARN TO READ?

I say that its terrible and I explain why I feel that way.

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The last Seinfeld episode was very poor. I enjoyed it all the same though. The last shot was the camera backing away from the prison cell right?

Yes, but then there was a credits segment of Jerry doing stand-up in front of the other inmates.

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At least I have style. What do you have?

You have style alright, potty mouthed and personal insults. I don't do either one. I have no writing style, I'm not a writer. I just try to get my point across as best I can. I try to enlighten others with my opinion and I like when my opinion is challenged. We both come away better for it.

but what it all comes down to, something you've yet to address, is my original statement that the last Seinfeld episode was bad, you've never stated if you agree or disagree, the same with the last Mash episode. Neither was among the best they did.

Read my first and second post in this thread. And I'm the one that needs to LEARN TO READ?

I say that its terrible and I explain why I feel that way.

who called who an anti semite, you cast the first stone. Then you tried and failed to be clever by hiding your insult in the According to Jim post, interesting. I guess that makes you a liar too.

No I didn't read your post because it wasn't addressed to me, it wasn't quoting me, I only engaged in dialogue with you once you attacked me.

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who called who an anti semite, you cast the first stone.

That was a direct Seinfeld reference. Jerry's uncle in the show accused everybody of being an anti-semite. Absolutely no insult was intended. I'll find what episode it was from if you don't believe me.

Then you tried and failed to be clever by hiding your insult in the According to Jim post, interesting. I guess that makes you a liar too.

I was kidding and meant it as a joke. "You strike me as..." is a far cry from your direct namecalling and telling me to learn how to read.

No I didn't read your post because it wasn't addressed to me, it wasn't quoting me, I only engaged in dialogue with you once you attacked me.

You only read posts that are directly addressed to you or quote your own comments? And you tell me to learn to read?

It's from the episode "The Shower Head"

http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheShowerhead.htm

Uncle Leo: Look at this, I told them medium rare, it's medium.

Jerry: Hey, it happens.

Uncle Leo: I bet that cook is an anti-Semite.

Jerry: He has no idea who you are.

Uncle Leo: They don't just overcook a hamburger, Jerry.

Jerry: All right. Anyway, the point I was making before Goerbbles made your hamburger is a man like you could be dating women twenty years younger.

And its a running gag for the rest of the episode.

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answer this Scratch what is muligatawny?

And for the record, no I don't always read ever post, not because I can't read, but because I choose not to. I admit I'm a skimmer.

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