# How Seinfeld changed TV.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-seinfeld-changed-tv/845795>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 2, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-seinfeld-changed-tv/845795 "2020-01-02T19:19:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-seinfeld-changed-tv/845795/101 "2020-01-09T01:01:40Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Was Roseanne a lesson of the week sitcom? I wouldn’t consider it so. It beat Seinfeld on the air and was pretty popular. The great sitcoms of the 70s weren’t lessons of the week. Simpsons wasn’t lesson of the week. Seinfeld really gets too much credit…

Roseanne showed some hard reality but no, I don’t consider on the same level of cynicism over right and wrong. Despite all the bickering you knew everyone wuvved each other.

I’ll give you Married with Children.

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**Author:** ![str8cashhomie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@str8cashhomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/str8cashhomie)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-seinfeld-changed-tv/845795/102 "2020-01-09T02:05:50Z")

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Jason Alexander has a pretty good take on Seinfeld’s innovations to sit-coms:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4SgIH4tTtRo/maxresdefault.jpg "Jason Alexander discusses 'George Costanza' being based on Larry David- EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SgIH4tTtRo)

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**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-seinfeld-changed-tv/845795/103 "2020-01-09T02:55:56Z")

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> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> Roseanne showed some hard reality but no, I don’t consider on the same level of cynicism over right and wrong. Despite all the bickering you knew everyone wuvved each other.
> 
> I’ll give you Married with Children.

The dopes on Married With Children were obnoxious, but they were not evil and they certainly did love each other. Al was ‘sold’ by Peg to Jessica Hahn in one long-ago episode, but he couldn’t go through with it. He did shed a tear when she left the house in her whore-ish getup, but he loved his Peg. And he defended his family, over and over: ‘Let’s Rock’.

Whooooahhh, BUNDY!

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