# Do you like Seinfeld or hate it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953 "2015-09-20T15:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/61 "2015-09-21T16:28:04Z")
In the comedy sitcom genre, Seinfeld is my favorite, no question. In part that’s because they run the gamut of humor from word play to physical humor so there’s always something different coming at you. They manage to keep it funny, even when they’re killing off characters like George’s fiance. None of them are people I would particularly like if they were real, but I don’t need to like them to be entertained by them. They are at least real enough that I can imagine them existing. A lot of people are mentioning Larry David’s role in the show… what’s funny for me is that I can’t stand anything else he’s been associated with. So whatever I liked must have come from the other people involved in the project. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/62 "2015-09-21T16:39:47Z")
I liked it well enough when it first aired, but Curb Your Enthusiasm has made Seinfeld seem dated. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/63 "2015-09-21T17:03:04Z")
Loved it, and still do. I can sit down and watch a rerun and still find them clever and funny every time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/64 "2015-09-21T17:18:13Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > I liked it well enough when it first aired, but Curb Your Enthusiasm has made Seinfeld seem dated. _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ had all of _Seinfeld_’s bile and none of its humor, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/65 "2015-09-21T17:34:36Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > A lot of people are mentioning Larry David’s role in the show… what’s funny for me is that I can’t stand anything else he’s been associated with. So whatever I liked must have come from the other people involved in the project. Yep, and I think the show improved as his level of participation dwindled. Most of the shows have the unmistakable stamp of Jerry’s observational humor. Some of the weird and dour early shows seem like Larry David. A few of the later ones – like the one where Kramer gets cough syrup from a veterinarian and starts acting like a dog – were just wacky and seemed to come from staff writers when Seinfeld was bored or out of ideas. I thought it was a funny episode but it was really out of character. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ had all of _Seinfeld_’s bile and none of its humor, IMHO. Pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/66 "2015-09-21T17:36:39Z")
I saw one episode…I knew that the show was extremely popular and thought I’d give it a try. There were two storylines. One was mildly amusing. The other wasn’t funny in the least. Was not tempted to watch another one. From time to time I’m in a place that’s showing a rerun. When I watch a couple minutes of it, out of context, it’s…again, not funny. Worth noting is that the show has always attracted polarized responses. For a while it was among the most popular on tv, but just about all of that popularity was among white people. I believe it didn’t rank among the top 100 shows where African Americans were concerned. So there’s precedent for the split verdict. (Though I doubt that all or even most of the don’t-like-its in this thread are from African Americans.) ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/67 "2015-09-21T17:38:46Z")
I tried a few episodes when it was on originally. Didn’t hate it. It just bored me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/68 "2015-09-21T19:53:38Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > …For what it’s worth, the “show about nothing” schtick was [never intended by the creators](http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/debunking-the-biggest-myth-about-seinfeld/). It was a joke in the show that got (mis)applied to the show by its audience… I always thought the “show about nothing” label was just wrong. It was a show about very minor things made to seem _enormously_ important to the characters. It was all about making mountains out of molehills. > [@pulykamell](#): > > See, the “discomfort humor” aspect of it never quite got to me… There’s a breezy airiness about Seinfeld which helps create an emotional distance. Same with my relationship with the characters. Maybe I’m a sociopath or hang around a bunch of assholes, but I never really found them that despicable within the show. It’s only analyzing them and their actions in a somewhat academic manner after-the-fact that I see them as reprehensible characters, but within the show and its style, I see them more as comedic characters and not really hatable. Agreed, and well said. Favorite episodes: The Contest The Soup Nazi “Mulva…?” The backwards episode where they go to India for a wedding A reporter thinks George and Jerry are gay (which they aren’t, not that there’s anything wrong with that!) Elaine dances _very_ badly at the office party Elaine’s nipple is showing in her Christmas card George is mistaken for a white supremacist on his way to give a speech (“You know who’s responsible for AstroTurf? The Jews!”) George wins by doing the opposite of what he ordinarily would George introduces cured meats into his sex life Yes, George is my favorite character. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/69 "2015-09-21T20:21:30Z")
I’m curious enough to ask anyone who didn’t consider it funny or special: What are you holding up in its place as a model for funny? Try to make it comparable. Are you saying Friends or Raymond or King of Queens is funny? Are you comparing it to Dick Van Dyke or All in the Family? Are you comparing it with kids in the Hall or Arrested development? Were you watching in the 90s? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/70 "2015-09-21T20:23:15Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m curious enough to ask anyone who didn’t consider it funny or special: What are you holding up in its place as a model for funny? > > Try to make it comparable. Are you saying Friends or Raymond or King of Queens is funny? Are you comparing it to Dick Van Dyke or All in the Family? Are you comparing it with kids in the Hall or Arrested development? Were you watching in the 90s? I shouldn’t answer because I think it’s funny just not to my taste, but of the shows you’ve listed I only like DVD and Arrested Development. I have seen all of the former and only a handful of the latter. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/71 "2015-09-21T21:00:04Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m curious enough to ask anyone who didn’t consider it funny or special: What are you holding up in its place as a model for funny? > > Try to make it comparable. Are you saying Friends or Raymond or King of Queens is funny? Are you comparing it to Dick Van Dyke or All in the Family? Are you comparing it with kids in the Hall or Arrested development? Were you watching in the 90s? Taxi, WKRP, Community, Scrubs, Barney Miller, Dick Van Dyke Show, Coupling, Simpsons (seasons 2-10), Futurama and even Get Smart are all funnier than Seinfeld. All in the Family & MASH were better overall shows and as funny. From what I have seen of it, which is not a lot, Show of Shows was also funnier. The first cast on SNL qualifies as better. Also the cast around 1990 or so. Friends, Raymond & King of Queens are dumb shows with very little humor. Mary Tyler Moore Show was very good, but overall Seinfeld was funnier to me. The Odd Couple was probably about equal to Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/72 "2015-09-21T21:12:34Z")
Love the show! One of the best sitcoms ever! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/73 "2015-09-21T21:24:59Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Taxi, WKRP, Community, Scrubs, Barney Miller, Dick Van Dyke Show, Coupling, Simpsons (seasons 2-10), Futurama and even Get Smart are all funnier than Seinfeld. All in the Family & MASH were better overall shows and as funny. From what I have seen of it, which is not a lot, Show of Shows was also funnier. The first cast on SNL qualifies as better. Also the cast around 1990 or so. > > Friends, Raymond & King of Queens are dumb shows with very little humor. > > Mary Tyler Moore Show was very good, but overall Seinfeld was funnier to me. The Odd Couple was probably about equal to Seinfeld. You didn’t list any shows that were contemp with Seinfeld, except maybe Simpsons, maybe Scrubs? I never watched them closely. I love old TV shows but it’s not a good comparison. The new ones have been influenced by Seinfeld among other things. I’m looking for the shows that the dislikers turned to away from Seinfeld. (I’ll count Simpsons and scrubs) For the most part Sitcoms have been horrible over the years, in the 90s and til today. It’s the exceptions that are worth watching. I’m just trying to see how Seinfeld could possibly be below the median. “SNL … the cast around 1990 or so…” Oh you and I not going to see eye to eye. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/74 "2015-09-21T21:28:00Z")
I’m very meh on the show. I didn’t really watch it at the time. (Here’s a blast to the past. I was living in an apartment and had no cable so it was only broadcast tv. But the local affiliate (Channel 2–Do any other Houstonians remember how crappy their reception was?) would never come in. ) So I never watched it and would I would listen to people talk about how great it was. I finally got cable and started watching it and was meh. I reminded me of when a friend of mine told me that I “absolutely HAD to read the Wooster and Jeeves” stuff! So I read a few, and I told her, “yeah, they’re…they’re ok.” And she started explaining the jokes to me and I had to tell her, "No, I got that. Yes, yes, I get it. " (She’s laughing so hard tears are coming.) I had to say, “No, I get the joke. I just don’t think it’s that funny.” Loved Seinfeld’s standup. Enjoy all the other actors. That music bothers me a bit. I see why it’s beloved, just not by me. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/75 "2015-09-21T21:49:14Z")
We recently rewatched the whole series start to finish. It still held up as one of the finest TV shows of all time. The first few episodes, except the pilot, were better than I remembered. Ditto the last season. The finale still sucked. The main issue, for me, during the entire run was the weakness of the George character. No one, absolutely no one, would be friends with this guy. He is a terrible person. (And this is compared to not-all-that-great Jerry and Elaine.) No woman would go on a second date with him. ---
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/76 "2015-09-21T21:52:13Z")
My second all-time favorite sitcom behind Frazier. Two words … Library Cop. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/77 "2015-09-21T22:08:29Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You didn’t list any shows that were contemp with Seinfeld, except maybe Simpsons, maybe Scrubs? I never watched them closely. > > I love old TV shows but it’s not a good comparison. The new ones have been influenced by Seinfeld among other things. > > I’m looking for the shows that the dislikers turned to away from Seinfeld. (I’ll count Simpsons and scrubs) > > For the most part Sitcoms have been horrible over the years, in the 90s and til today. It’s the exceptions that are worth watching. I’m just trying to see how Seinfeld could possibly be below the median. > > “SNL … the cast around 1990 or so…” Oh you and I not going to see eye to eye. \*\*90s were a terrible time for Sitcoms I would say. \*\*Seinfeld was second best after Simpsons. Mad About You was OK and Roseanne was still good until maybe 1993 or 1994. I recall some good stand-ups on Comedy channel or A&E in the 90s. But sitcoms in the 90s were a weak crop. As to SNL, it was the cast from 1986 to 1990 that was funny led by Dennis Miller doing the news and Dana Carvey being funny. You made me go figure it out. It is a little bit of a blur as I have been watching since part way through the first season. For the 90s I was watching the awesome Northern Exposure, NYPD Blue was excellent for several years, Animaniacs was better than almost anything in Prime Time, The X-Files, The Drew Carey Show had 3 good years early in its run, that show Buffy wasn’t bad and Murphy Brown had a few good years in the early 90s. First season of Sopranos start in 1999 and that was also awesome. Also South Park started in the late 90s. It was entertaining early. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/78 "2015-09-21T22:33:10Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > We recently rewatched the whole series start to finish. It still held up as one of the finest TV shows of all time. > > The first few episodes, except the pilot, were better than I remembered. Ditto the last season. The finale still sucked. > > The main issue, for me, during the entire run was the weakness of the George character. No one, absolutely no one, would be friends with this guy. He is a terrible person. (And this is compared to not-all-that-great Jerry and Elaine.) No woman would go on a second date with him. That’s like saying “I like Mr Ed but it really fails on why Ed would be talking to a loser like Wilbur” I never get concerned with suspension of disbelief unless it’s a drama. Maybe that’s me. You know I saw the finale in syndication and I liked it fine. I think the expectations were so high, rightly so, that it had to be a deflation, which it was for me at the time. Somehow I think that too many people were reading about how lousy the characters were, and it fed into a loop where they did the finale about that. The other issue was that the last two or so seasons were Jerry taking care of his buddies: They had drained the well fairly efficiently, but the costars were about to get their Million an episode and Jerry I think was being a mensch to keep on. So it got a little silly. (The New Yorker Cartoon episode comes to mind) Anyway you can’t judge it on at least the last season IMO. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/79 "2015-09-21T22:38:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > As to SNL, it was the cast from 1986 to 1990 that was funny led by Dennis Miller doing the news and Dana Carvey being funny. You made me go figure it out. It is a little bit of a blur as I have been watching since part way through the first season. Early 90s SNL was pretty awesome, in my opinion. Add to that Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Jan Hooks. Probably my favorite era, minus the early seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953/80 "2015-09-21T22:44:15Z")
I think Seinfeld is probably the 2nd best English language sitcom ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-seinfeld-or-hate-it/731953.md?page=5)