Which comes out on top? These are arguably the two most-popular sitcoms of the '90’s, but which one, laugh for laugh is best?
My first reaction is the Simpsons, based on laughs-per-view, but Seinfeld satisfies some sort of deep-seated desire of mine to see characters in a state of self-inflicted, self-involved narcissistic neurosis. (Am I lisping?) I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better about myself.
Breaking it down to characters, Homer, for his dog-like sensibilities, and George Costanza, for his self-imposed shortcomings, are my favs. They have me rolling constantly for their poignant, over-simplified observations.
I’m just rambing now. Anyway, how do you all feel?
I beleive the Simpsons comes out on top because it will hold up better in the long run and will ultimately be around longer (imho). I love all the concepts and beliefs that the Simpsons satirize that few other shows would have been able to get away with. The other thing that will add to the longevity of the Simpsons is all the guest cartoon appearances. I did not like that the characters never really developed over time on the Simpsons, but this is also true of Seinfeld.
For some reason Sienfeld has never made it over in England probably because its shown late at night on BBC2. Ive seen it a couple of times but it never made me laugh maybe its an American thing?
Simpsons in a runaway. It was everything Seinfield aspired to be – sharp, witty, filled with sly commentary on contemporary society – with out the puerile sex talk and obnoxious characters. It also will hold up over time much better.
WAG: Maybe 'cuz the Simpsons – which is one of my absolute all-time favorite shows – isn’t a fraction of the show it was even a few years ago. Barely even worth a laugh or two in each new episode; hopefully Fox will ship it off soon to the glue factory and let the fans revel in its syndication. At least Seinfeld had the common decency to go out when it was still funny/relevant.
I can say that every Andrew Lloyd Webber fan I’ve ever met seems to love the Simpsons, especially the British ones. Stephen King too. I don’t know why, but if Andrew Lloyd Webber ever writes the music for a Simpsons show based on a Stephen King novel, a lot of people will be having orgasms.
The Simpsons is way better than Seinfeld cause it’s a show about something. A show about nothing got very stale very quickly. Seinfeld was funny in an absurdist sort of way, but absurdity walks a fine line with being ridiculous, and Seinfeld ending up going over it.
Yeah- here’s the test for me. I often like a Seinfeld episode the first time I see it, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t hold up to repeated viewing. My favorite thing about Seinfeld was the crafting of the plots, with everything dovetailing at the end, but many times they forced this once it became a “trademark”.
On the other hand, there are very few Simpsons that I won’t watch again and again in syndication, and I always seem to find some little thing that I missed before.
I’ll go with the Simpsons. I liked individual Seinfeld episodes but I couldn’t watch it regularly. I’m not enamored of New York City, and there’s only so much I can take from a bunch of whiny, self-absorbed jerks. When it went into syndication I would watch it from time to time and enjoy it to some extent, but two days in a row was usually my limit. Also, the way the shows are structured, while very clever, ensures that if you miss the first five minutes, most of the episode will whoosh right over your head.
That’s it exactly! Seinfeld was funny at first. Many of the concepts are funny, and scarily true-to-life–who hasn’t known a low talker or a woman with man-hands? And the whiny, self-absorbed nature of the characters was all too familiar. I enjoyed it in small doses, and still do.
As the seasons wore on, though, the characters went way over the line. They went from being comedically exaggerated versions of real-life character-types to being completely absurd and unbelievable.
From the beginning, they had a selfish tendency towards minor dishonesty when it suited their purposes. By the end, they were spinning complicated webs of deceit for the most insignificant of reasons. For example, I might believe that a George Constanza type would hide under his desk. I might even believe that he brought in a blanket and a pillow. But a complete under-desk renovation? That is way beyond the bounds of funny. It’s just stupid. Another example: I might believe that an Elaine-type would lie about her own identity to avoid confronting a coworker. I might even believe that Elaine would come up with a scheme to get rid of her alias. But a huge funeral, attended by hundreds, for a person they had never heard of? Not even a little bit plausible, and therefore not funny.
Over the last few seasons, the Simpsons has been guilty of this as well–especially with story lines about Homer. But it is nowhere near as bad as Seinfeld, and it had a lot more good years before getting silly.
I admit, I passed this thread over the first few times because I thought it involved that MTV Claymation show…
That said, these two shows rank 1 and 2 in my all time faves. Simpsons slightly ahead of Seinfeld. I think it is only slightly because I am getting very bored with the Simpsons. Not only thenew episodes, but I have seen the old ones SO much that they aren’t fresh anymore. Still, I believe I will NEVER love a show as much as I have the Simpsons over its entire run.
I’d say the Simpsons. One thing that the Simpsons has that no other show on TV has is breadth. Breadth is similar to depth, the idea that there is a great deal of substance behind the characters. Rather than having substance behind them, they have substance around them.
Because the Simpsons is animated, they can interact with an extraordinarily wide variety of characters and settings. If you go here you can see the astonishing list of characters. No live action show could accomplish such a thing.
I feel a bit of a connection with the town of Springfield, because I feel like if I walked down one of their streets, I’d know everybody I meet.
Cheesesteak beat me to it, but I’ll just say that though I loved Seinfeld, an avid fan of the Simpsons can practically live in Spingfield. And I think that many of the characters, even Homer to some extent, represent what people would want to be. Also, the fact that its animated allows a new level of… sillyness. For example, in one episode, the Simpsons attend a science fair. The floor of one area was donated by some sort of rubber company (I think) and was thus very bouncy. The ceiling was donated by a velcroe company. As a result, there were many people who had bounced from the floor and gotten stuck on the ceiling. Also at the fair was a high tech arcade in which the player had to fire laser “sperm” into an ovary. When Homer lost a computer voice said “You are out of sperm.” Just in the five minutes they were in the science fair, i can name at least two other things like that, but you get the point. A live action show would never have pulled that off.
Seinfeld, on the other hand, was funny and freakishly relevant. I often find myself saying “thats just like that Seinfeld.” But as some other people have pointed out, it became too… extreme in its plots. I think Elaine especially changed too much. In the early days she was a sort of anchor-of-normality, who actually had stong opinons about things such as women’s rights and abortion. But she was corrupted into becoming another Jerry by the end of the show.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about Seinfeld these days. “Seinfeld this” and “Seinfeld that,” and, “What are we gonna do when Seinfeld is off the air?” What a bunch of babies! That was the stupidest show I’ve ever seen! Everyone says, “Oh, that’s because it was a show about nothing.” Seinfeld wasn’t a show about nothing: it was a show about four jackoffs who needed to get their asses kicked. I’m glad it’s off the air.”
About 3 years ago Seinfeld re-runs dropped off of my viewing schedule. The Simpsons re-runs only recently dropped off. So surprisingly the Simpsons would win for me. But that’s only on a series vs. series basis.
On a show by show basis I can’t really say. Both shows had perfect 10s mostly from their middle-early run which I will and can watch over and over. But for the shows out of that range I’ll most likely see what else is on. Maybe find something new and fresh.