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"Seinfeld": Does it hold up 10 years later? (1 Viewer)

You can't judge Seinfeld, or a lot of classic shows, by their first season. As mentioned, it usually takes time for a show to hit its stride.

 
One overlooked thing about Seinfeld is its ability to find humor in awkward pauses (I'm ALL awkward pauses !")

Kramer telling Jerry - "Well, then, I think one of us should leave..." followed by the two of them staring at one another for about 5 seconds, then -end scene-

George : "Wait, wait, wait.. hold it, back it up... beep beep beep"

Jerry : "Beep beep beep? What are you doing?"

3 second pause as George looks confused, then -end scene-

Brilliance.

 
It surprises me that in the FBG world of the norm is not cool that the consensus here is Seinfeld is good. I would figure that here Seinfeld would equal the Anti-Christ.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
One overlooked thing about Seinfeld is its ability to find humor in awkward pauses (I'm ALL awkward pauses !")Kramer telling Jerry - "Well, then, I think one of us should leave..." followed by the two of them staring at one another for about 5 seconds, then -end scene-George : "Wait, wait, wait.. hold it, back it up... beep beep beep"Jerry : "Beep beep beep? What are you doing?"3 second pause as George looks confused, then -end scene-Brilliance.
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Not an awkward pause, but a WTF look pause that I just watched that was classic-KRAMER: You think people will still be using napkins in the year two-thousand?Or is this mouth-vacuum thing for real?Jerry and George's simultaneous look is priceless.
 
Still the best all time. Like some others, I had to take a break for a while, but I've been watching again lately, and they are still great.

Another of the awesome pauses; when Elaine was trying to break up/get away from her psychiatrist, so she had Kramer pose as her boyfriend. Kramer called him to tell him to "cease and desist" but the psychiatrist convinced him on the phone to have a meeting. Kramer gets off the phone:

Elaine: What did he say?

Kramer: He'd like to have a meeting. We're getting together next week (paraphrasing)

Elaine: What?! Why didn't you just say no?

pause

Kramer: Well, now, that's interesting.

 
Worst article ever.

Watching right now. Love how it is always on. Holds up even better than Cheers. I can't say which is better though.

 
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Kramer- hmm, looks like we're looking at half a milimeter

Elaine- can it slice that thin?

Kramer- Oh Yeah...I've cut slices so thin, i couldnt even SEE them!!

Elaine- Well then how did you know you cut it?

Kramer: (awkward pause) well.....i guess i just assumed.

Best show ever. The office was catching up for me, but they've had a lot of semi-clunkers in the last year or so.

 
Class Dismissed said:
The writers in seasons 8&9 should either give up their salary or have it back taxed @105%Other than that, it was GOLD Jerry, GOLD!
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Most shows should quit after their 7th year (some after their 7th episode). After 7 years you could have a spinoff with some fresh characters if you must.
 
Nigel Tufnel said:
TheFanatic said:
William Munny said:
2nd best show ever.......to Cheers
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I reverse the order. Seinfeld is much more timeless.
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I didn't watch "Cheers" religiously, but I don't really see this.
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Both shows are timeless because they're less topical (though as mentioned earlier, Seinfeld walked that road here and there) but rather deal with everyday feelings and emotions, and human nature in general. Those things never go out of vogue. They're both as funny today as they were when they aired.
 
"Well, let me tell you something, funny boy. Y'know that little stamp, the one that says "New York Public Library"? Well, that may not mean anything to you, but that means a lot to me. One whole hell of a lot. Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I've seen your type before: Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What's this guy making such a big stink about old library books? Well, let me give you a hint, junior. Maybe we can live without libraries, people like you and me. Maybe. Sure, we're too old to change the world, but what about that kid, sitting down, opening a book, right now, in a branch at the local library and finding drawings of pee-pees and wee-wees on the Cat in the Hat and the Five Chinese Brothers? Doesn't HE deserve better? Look. If you think this is about overdue fines and missing books, you'd better think again. This is about that kid's right to read a book without getting his mind warped! Or: maybe that turns you on, Seinfeld; maybe that's how y'get your kicks. You and your good-time buddies. Well I got a flash for ya, joy-boy: Party time is over. Y'got seven days, Seinfeld. That is one week!"

 
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Loved Seinfeld but I agree the 1st season and last were not that great - but all shows that run for years have that - do you see what they are doing to Scrubs this year?

The awesome thing about the show was the different storylines - you were guaranteed to have one great one. Anything with George and the Yankees was gold - speaking of "gold" - how many terms were integrated into culture by Seinfeld - they may have existed but Seinfeld brought terms to common use - I use these all the time mainly cause I've seen it on Seinfeld a ton.

shrinkage

Soup Nazi

close talker

low talker

high talker

Regifter

Antidentite

master of my domain

Double dipped

Face painter

it's not you its me

jimmy legs

man hands

Bro/manzere

moops

nip

Vault

puffy shirt

schmoopie

sponge worthy

yada yada yada

 
Cosmo Kramer: I was returning some pants. I took a short cut in a subway tunnel and fell in some mud, ruining my pants. The very pants I was returning.

Elaine: I don't understand - you were wearing the pants you were returning?

Cosmo Kramer: Well, I guess I was.

Elaine: What were you going to wear home?

Cosmo Kramer: Elaine, are you listening? I never even got there.

 
Rayderr said:
They had a lot stinkers. They went on a run for a while where they basically parodied real life events badly (OJ, Tanya Harding, etc.) But there are some good episodes.I don't think it's as good as MASH or All In The Family, or The Office. I place it just above Three's Company.
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I honestly don't get the love for MASH. It grew increasingly boring each time a major character was replaced. Trapper John>BJ Honeycutt, Henry Blake> Sherman Potter, Frank Burns > Charles Winchester.The Hawkeye and Klinger characters started out great, but grew increasingly annoying as the show wore on. Hawkeye quit being the lovable, womanizing screw-up and morphed into a preachy do gooder. Too many of the stories began to have "messages" and I grew tired of being beat over the head with them.Seasons 1 to 3 were great, the subsequent seasons were horrible.If you are saying the rankings of your all time comedies are:1) MASH2) All In The Family3)The Office 4) Seinfeld5) Three's CompanyThen I think you need to re-evaluate your ranking system because that is ridiculous.
 
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northern exposure said:
I honestly don't get the love for MASH. It grew increasingly boring each time a major character was replaced. Trapper John>BJ Honeycutt, Henry Blake> Sherman Potter, Frank Burns > Charles Winchester.The Hawkeye and Klinger characters started out great, but grew increasingly annoying as the show wore on. Hawkeye quit being the lovable, womanizing screw-up and morphed into a preachy do gooder. Too many of the stories began to have "messages" and I grew tired of being beat over the head with them.Seasons 1 to 3 were great, the subsequent seasons were horrible.
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:thumbdown: Another show that just went on too long.
 
Best show ever.

My favorite eps:

1) The Opposite - "My name is George...I'm unemployed, and I live my parents." Michelle Pfieffer's sister: "Hi!"

2) The Jimmy - Jerry to Kramer: "But there going to find out that you're not mentally challenged." Jerry/Elaine "Well..."

...after that...it gets tough:

3) The Pool Guy - Kramer: "Why don't you just tell me what movie you want to see?"

3b) Bizarro Jerry - "Kramer, we're going to have to let you go." "But I don't even really work here." "That's what makes this so tough."

...or about a dozen others.

 
Modern Seinfeld:

Kramer starts selling large sodas on the black market. Jerry's "Tonight Show" set is on Taxi TV and he becomes "Taxi Famous."

Elaine joins JDate so she pretends to be Jewish. She meets an amazing guy who dumps her for being "too Jewy." George discovers falafel.

George finds a rare gun from his dad's War days. Kramer talks him into selling it on eBay for $200. It shows up on Pawn Stars for $50,000.

Jerry joins Twitter only to find that a Jerry parody account has 50k followers. It's run by Bania who will stop if Jerry buys him dinner.

Kramer meets new GF on Craigslist, is the only one who doesn't know she's a hooker. Jerry buys a smart car. Elaine has a bad karaoke night.

Kramer uses Kickstarter to fund a line of dog tasers. "Tasers for dogs to protect themselves. To protect themselves, Jerry! "

Kramer opens a food truck out of the back of Bob Sacamano's pick-up. Jerry and Elaine get stuck on a train on the way to a Nets game.

George goes crazy trying to decipher the fact that a pretty woman "liked" his Facebook status. Elaine is kicked out of a movie for texting.

Jerry breaks up with a beautiful woman because she favorites every one of his tweets. Kramer and Newman start a podcast.

George thinks his GF is faking a gluten-intolerance, feeds her real cookies, sending her to the ER. Autocorrect ruins Jerry's relationship.

 
Elaine has a bad waiter at a nice restaurant, her negative Yelp review goes viral, she gets banned. Kramer accidentally joins the Tea Party.

Jerry gets hooked on Game of Thrones. Dumps his girlfriend (Gillian Jacobs) because she likes Sansa. Kramer becomes addicted to Reddit.

Jerry trips when walking out to perform on The Tonight Show. The GIF goes viral on Tumblr. Elaine dates a freegan.

Elaine yells at her co-workers for loving Pinterest. Kramer becomes an @Uber driver. George opens actual jerk store on Etsy.

Kramer runs into Crazy Joe Davola, learns he's not crazy just autistic and mis-medicated. "He's on the spectrum! The spectrum, Jerry!"

Jerry discovers Newman is secretly an Internet famous fan fiction writer. George gets aroused reading 50 Shades of Gray, questions self.

Kramer gives TED talk full of nonsense words, gets a standing ovation. George discovers that there's a gay porn star named George Costanza.

 
'Sarnoff said:
Modern Seinfeld:

Kramer starts selling large sodas on the black market. Jerry's "Tonight Show" set is on Taxi TV and he becomes "Taxi Famous."

Elaine joins JDate so she pretends to be Jewish. She meets an amazing guy who dumps her for being "too Jewy." George discovers falafel.

George finds a rare gun from his dad's War days. Kramer talks him into selling it on eBay for $200. It shows up on Pawn Stars for $50,000.

Jerry joins Twitter only to find that a Jerry parody account has 50k followers. It's run by Bania who will stop if Jerry buys him dinner.

Kramer meets new GF on Craigslist, is the only one who doesn't know she's a hooker. Jerry buys a smart car. Elaine has a bad karaoke night.

Kramer uses Kickstarter to fund a line of dog tasers. "Tasers for dogs to protect themselves. To protect themselves, Jerry! "

Kramer opens a food truck out of the back of Bob Sacamano's pick-up. Jerry and Elaine get stuck on a train on the way to a Nets game.

George goes crazy trying to decipher the fact that a pretty woman "liked" his Facebook status. Elaine is kicked out of a movie for texting.

Jerry breaks up with a beautiful woman because she favorites every one of his tweets. Kramer and Newman start a podcast.

George thinks his GF is faking a gluten-intolerance, feeds her real cookies, sending her to the ER. Autocorrect ruins Jerry's relationship.
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There is a ton of new material out there for these guys. It's not as if any of the four have anything else to do. A top 5 show is sitting there waiting to be made. While they may have ran out of "nothing" by the end of the 90's, they have 15 years of banal "nothingness" they can make a show out of now.

 
Any time I'm between stuff to watch and Seinfeld is on, usually I tune in. I've probably seen every episode at least 3 times, but they always make me laugh. Really good humor is timeless.

 
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.

Chinese Restaurant

meeting at the movies

etc

etc

The list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.

 
'Dentist said:
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.Chinese Restaurantmeeting at the moviesetcetcThe list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.
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Remind me not to invite you to a Marx Brothers or 3 Stooges festival.
 
I can scarcely think of a comedy - TV or movie - that holds up better.

Many of the episodes make me laugh (or at least smile) even though I've seen them all 15 times.

 
Not sure it will ever be outdated. The clothes/hair, sure. The humor, no. Although, I think Curb may have eclipsed it as my favorite comedy.

 
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'Leroy Hoard said:
'Dentist said:
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.Chinese Restaurantmeeting at the moviesetcetcThe list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.
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Remind me not to invite you to a Marx Brothers or 3 Stooges festival.
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Everything...EVERYTHING contains anachronisms the moment they appear on television. The question: is Seinfeld still fresh and brilliant? I say yes.
 
'Dentist said:
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.Chinese Restaurantmeeting at the moviesetcetcThe list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.
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Cartwright!!!
 
'jdoggydogg said:
I can scarcely think of a comedy - TV or movie - that holds up better. Many of the episodes make me laugh (or at least smile) even though I've seen them all 15 times.
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They're still hilarious. Aside from some of the celebs/names being outdated (Elaine going after JFK jr being the first that comes to mind), the situations are top notch.
 
'Dentist said:
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.Chinese Restaurantmeeting at the moviesetcetcThe list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.
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But the plots don't need to hold up because they didn't have cellphones like we do now.
 
'bigmarc27 said:
'jdoggydogg said:
I can scarcely think of a comedy - TV or movie - that holds up better.

Many of the episodes make me laugh (or at least smile) even though I've seen them all 15 times.
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They're still hilarious. Aside from some of the celebs/names being outdated (Elaine going after JFK jr being the first that comes to mind), the situations are top notch.
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Certainly. The weirdest anachronism is when Elaine wants to rename her boyfriend because he has the same name as a serial killer. One of the names she likes?

O.J.

 
'Fla\/\/ed said:
'Dentist said:
What doesn't hold up is that most of their conundrum's could be solved by the widespread carrying of cell phones.Chinese Restaurantmeeting at the moviesetcetcThe list goes on... watch the show.. i love it... BUT there's a lot of their plots that don't hold up in the cellphone era.
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But the plots don't need to hold up because they didn't have cellphones like we do now.
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1,000 years from now when we're driving liquid rockets and constantly hooked up to computers instead of walking around, Seinfeld will still be funny.
 
I have the great pleasure to watch this each evening with the guy with whom it was appointment television for me 20 yrs ago. We can each fairly well recite every line, but we still audibly chuckle on cue and giggle at the confluence of comic effluvia at least twice per ep. It's really like watching one's own DNA at work, in many ways.

 
One big thing they have going for them, even if you could recite every line before the actors say them, Kramer's physical comedy makes you laugh every time. The surprised look and sudden twitch, the falls, sometimes just an inflection...he was a genius.

Also the whole premise, a show about nothing...waiting for a table, going to a party and people being annoying, stupid bosses, these are things people will always relate to, and they are portrayed in ways that don't rely on any certain era to be funny.

 
'McGarnicle said:
One big thing they have going for them, even if you could recite every line before the actors say them, Kramer's physical comedy makes you laugh every time. The surprised look and sudden twitch, the falls, sometimes just an inflection...he was a genius.

Also the whole premise, a show about nothing...waiting for a table, going to a party and people being annoying, stupid bosses, these are things people will always relate to, and they are portrayed in ways that don't rely on any certain era to be funny.
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"giddy up" :thumbup:

 
One big thing they have going for them, even if you could recite every line before the actors say them, Kramer's physical comedy makes you laugh every time. The surprised look and sudden twitch, the falls, sometimes just an inflection...he was a genius.
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:goodposting: I've seen them all 10 times...still watch almost every day...but now I look for subtleties missed on past viewings...and Kramers looks or voices often end up being that. Like just after George's whale story when he pulls out the Titleist...or when Kramer and Newman are discussing generic beans on his talk show set when he realizes the show has 'officially bottomed out'. Didn't appreciate any of that when I was younger watching it live.
 
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1. Still holds up.

2. Opposite George is absolutely the best ever. I think about it every time someone talks in a movie theater.

 
'wikkidpissah said:
I have the great pleasure to watch this each evening with the guy with whom it was appointment television for me 20 yrs ago. We can each fairly well recite every line, but we still audibly chuckle on cue and giggle at the confluence of comic effluvia at least twice per ep. It's really like watching one's own DNA at work, in many ways.
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Yeah. Between Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Futurama, I practically generate zero original thoughts of my own :bag:
 
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