Ever since I moved to the Mid-West (Kansas City) from Las Vegas five years ago, everyone I talked to has said they dislike (or sometimes even HATE) the show Seinfeld, which is a first because everyone I used to talk to say they love it. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m the only one who still likes the show! (I know it’s been off the air for three years; I’m talking about re-runs). It’s like an empty town called Seinfeld, and I’m wandering around yelling, “Where is everybody?!” I’m also wondering if the popularity of a show is based on where you come from (i.e. west, mid-west, east, south, etc.).
Almost everybody I know here in Maine and New Hampshire loved the show, especially people about my age (I’m 31). But I hated it. I don’t think I ever managed to sit through an entire episode, but I have seen snippets. The show itself was occasionally mildly amusing, but usually not even that. The only good part of the show was the brief stand-up routine he did at the beginning and/or end. Those were sometimes pretty good.
I think Seinfeld rates right up there with The Cosby Show and The Simpsons as one of the very best sitcoms ever (each great in its own way). I watch Seinfeld reruns continuously and still find them all hilarious. One exception was the finale, which was a real piece of shit.
Dislike it. The first run – “The Seinfeld Chronicles” was pretty good, but once it was picked up for a full season, it went downhill quickly. George was one of the most annoying characters on television – the destitute man’s Woody Allen, though Allen actually knew how to be funny. Jason Alexander didn’t (and don’t get me started on his unwatchable performance in “Bye Bye Birdie”). I also didn’t much care for Kramer, though I can see how he was popular. Then the plots became so puerile that it was imposible to watch. It was like watching a bunch of teenagers talking about sex in the most ignorant way possible (and being appallingly superficial in the process).
These people weren’t loveable – they were egotistical idiots and constantly did stupid things for no particular reason. Sort of like Jim Carrey at his worst, but Carrey was better with slapstick.
I used to love the show, but I don’t think it has aged well. It’s been off the air for what, 3 years? And it’s already completely irrelevant. That’s kinda weird for a show that was so popular when it was running.
And I agree about the final episode, jane_says. It sucked my ass out.
Love it. I agree with jane_says, one of the best ever. I think the show excelled at situation comedy, as opposed to the wise-crack comedy that makes up most other sitcoms.
RealityChuck - “These people weren’t loveable” - I think this is why people say they “hated” the show, as opposed to just saying they didn’t think it was funny. For me they were just annoying enough to laugh at, without becoming too annoying to watch. I guess they crossed the line for a lot of people.
Ugh. Everyone here loves it too. I am not one of them. I agree with the fact that they were egotistical and superficial. And the plot lines were just a little too far fetched, that is, if they were even original…
Watch as Jerry breaks up with another woman!
Watch as George never gets laid!
Watch as Elaine searches for happiness in bed!
Watch as Kramer gets mistaken for a pimp!
I’m with cuautemhoc. I loved it when it was on, but for me, it hasn’t aged well. I caught part of a rerun the other day, and it just didn’t do anything for me.
Loved Seinfeld when it originally aired, and I love the re-runs. I could write a long essay on why I love the show, but I think I’ll skip it. Your welcome.
I hated it when it was first on, but I think a lot of that was due to the fact that my brother and sister were obsessed with it. To this day, my brother has every episode catalogued and taped, and quotes it as often as possible. Now whenever I catch it, I usually find it rather funny.
Seinfeld is another sure indicator of the decline of modern civilization. The vacuous and completely unfunny material only serves to point up what a complete moron Jerry Seinfeld is.
As to comparing The Simpsons to Seinfeld… Go To Your Room!
I loved it when it was on. I love the reruns. (Except for the first couple of seasons – the characters really hadn’t meshed yet.) The last episode did indeed suck ass, though.
I never watched it, tho I caught parts of some episodes if my husband had it on. What little I saw didn’t entertain me in the least. I could never understand why Kramer was such a big hit, and Jerry was just annoying.
It was a strange show… hardcore leisure pornography. The main characters
A. Didn’t ever work
B. yet they had nice apartments
C. and a different girlfriend almost every week.
It’s total American adolescent fantasy disguised as a sitcom. Modern wild boys on Pleasure Island. Therein lies the mass appeal… it’s not that it was particularly funny. It was about as funny as every other sitcom… they’re all pretty much the same.
Seinfeld had a bizarre ability to crawl under my skin. It was amazingly annoying and innane. But I do understand that was the appeal of the show. shrugs I watched bits of it but never laughed very hard. A lot of my friends like it. I could not handle it. Jerry, as a person, a comic and an actor is just wrong. Annoying nasal voice, no deep insights, just drivel.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The only character who didn’t work was Kramer, and that was a mystery of the show that it acknowledged. The rest of the characters had fairly consistent employment histories. And when George didn’t work, he lived with his parents. Jerry, of course, is a comic. Elaine worked at Pendant Publishing, as a personal assistant for Mr. Pitt, and later the J. Peterman catalog. George worked for some office for a while before he quit, then for the New York Yankees. A good deal of the plots of the show revolved around the characters’ jobs.
You must be thinking of Friends, a true piece of shit sitcom if ever there was one. Seinfeld, on the other hand, is a masterpiece. The last episode was awful, though, I’ll grant that.