Seinfeld

I caught a few episodes of Seinfeld over it's final two seasons run on public channel, and made it a point to catch a lot more of Jerry and friends during it's reruns. I found it very amusing on first viewings, but as time wore on, I began to like it more and more, and to eagerly borrow taped episodes from friends, and to hunt for re-runs on syndicated channels.

Of the two comedy TV series in the history of television, I would choose both Seinfeld and Monty Python as the cultural landmarks of the medium. In Seinfeld, there is not a trace of sentimentality and glib moralizing that plagues the American sitcom genre. Characters do not hug each other on Christmas, fall in love, wax on and on about family and friends, there is no faux-cathartic season ender so favoured by the writers of, say, "Friends".

Instead, we have the narcissistic Jerry, constantly mining the minutiae of everyday detail for every bit of situational comedy; we have the hyper-aggressive Elaine, whose strings of breakups with boyfriends are as impressive as her petty neuroses leading up to the breakups themselves; the ultimate schlub-loser George, who lies to every single woman he dates, sells faulty equipment to the handicapped and muscles off women and children when fleeing an apartment fire; and the impossibly inventive physical comedy of the entrepreneur cum schmooze Kramer.

Over and over again, week in and week out, the quartet discuss trivialities with unbridled zeal, as the non-descript narrative pings from one mundane setting to another. Seldom has such wit been generated by such gargantually pointless human endeavours. That is where the brilliance of Seinfeld lies, in the ability to go to the most bizarre ends to fulfill the potential of a less than hopeful comedic premise; and the endless, pointlessly smug and nihilistic banter that almost invariably escalates into some of TV's classic lines, such as when George shouts triumphantly after winning an argument that "there is no bigger loser than me!".

Surely, we won't find something like this again, for many more years to come.

Seinfeld is the funniest TV show in history. Built around the day-to-day life of a New York comedian, Seinfeld managed to spear every sacred cow in sight. The irreverence of the show's four main characters never let up over 9 glorious seasons. The "gang of four" were petty, childish, surly, selfish, compulsive, obsessive, and totally hilarious ... like 4 children in adults' bodies.

Jerry Seinfeld played himself and surrounded himself with an ex-girlfriend (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a childhood friend (Jason Alexander), and a neighbor (Michael Richards). Four terrific actors with incredible chemistry among them, the four careened through 9 seasons of total mayhem. Sex, religion, politics, old age, political correctness, race, relationships, homosexuality, Los Angeles ... you name it, they harpooned it.

Great supporting cast over the years included Jerry Stiller, Estelle Harris, Barney Martin, Liz Sheridan, Wayne Knight, Patrick Warburton, John O'Hurley, Len Lesser, Heidi Swedberg, and others.

And so many brilliant actors who only showed up once or a few times: Steve Hytner as Bania, Mark Metcalf as the Maestro, Megan Cole as Peggy the germophobe, Sheree North as Babs Kramer, Charles Levin as the mohel, Elmarie Wendel as Helene the actress, Philip Baker Hall as the library detective, Judge Reinhold as the close talker, Bette Midler as herself, and so many others.

Seinfeld probably added more catch phrases to the English language than any other show in TV history. Brilliant writing that found humor in WORDS (such a concept) as well as SITUATION, Seinfeld owed much to the writing of Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David and others. So with great scripts, a perfect cast, and no respect for anything, Seinfeld marched along to his own drum and made us all captives of its brilliant wit.

One of the great things about Seinfeld was that you could see a little bit of yourself in each of the 4 zany characters. And you could ALWAYS recognize the dumb situations they found themselves in. Just brilliant!

And let's not forget that Jerry Seinfeld became the first Jewish Superman/Everyman on TV. He was everything from comic to sex symbol and everything in between.

The best television show ever. Ever. It's been off for how many years and we still try and get our 1 1/2 hour fix every weeknight. Like those famous Beatles, the combination of Larry David (too outrageous) and Seinfeld (too pedestrian) was so much greater than the sum of the parts. Classic ensemble work by Jerry, Alexander, Richards and Louis-Dreyfus. Richards and Louis-Dreyfus are all-time comic all-stars in their own right. It took them about 1/2 to 1 year to get up to speed and then they're off and running. With David gone the concept showed considerable wear in the final season, where some episodes are a grim caricature of earlier successes (e.g., George's "Twix" episode). The Puddy story lines were the show's one regular miss, particularly so towards the end. But what a run! And completed by a fitting send-off. The only television series I've watched regularly in the last 25 years. The DVD collections are highly recommended and include loads of fun commentary from the stars. 10 out of 10.

This show was totally unique. Nothing has been done like it before, or since (with the possible exception of the Simpsons, which does mimic some of the "nothing" plots a little). While it was about nothing, it was really about everything--but the little things that no one thinks about, like giving your bank code to your fiancé. I also liked how this show was the last of the "non-fashion" shows.

You always saw Kramer wear the same ridiculous jacket, pants, and shirt. George always had those too-small plaid shirts and even Jerry had the black-and-gray striped shirt we saw him wear in the one where he and George make "The Pact". Even Elaine had many of the same clothes, even after her "make-over". I mean, I LOVE the show Friends but every time the guys have a new turtleneck or sweater, and the girls always have a new dress or a new pair of pants, which is totally unrealistic (for the guys anyway).

This show had consistent humour all the way up to the last season, which is unusual for many shows. I LOVED George styling his hair to look like the bald guy from NYPD Blue, Elaine buying the JuJubes on the way to the hospital, Uncle Leo yelling "STOP THE SHOW" on the PBS special--these were just some of the great moments! This show is the best on televison, and if you haven't seen it, go and watch now!

What can I say about Seinfeld that hasn't already been said? It's just flat out hilarious and still holds up about almost 20 years later. I don't know of any sitcom ever (outside of maybe Friends) where all the co-stars are all equally funny! Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry), Jason Alexander (George), Michael Richards (Kramer) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus's (Elaine) are all some of the best sitcoms in the history of television. I mean everyone has there favorites but bottom line is they're all great as is the show! If you read any "best sitcom ever" list ever written you will find Seinfeld near the top on every list for a reason...because it is!