I think there’s a clear consensus that later seasons were better than earlier seasons, but why did that happen? Did writers change or something? Did Jerry and Larry have some sort of epiphany?
I don’t know the reason, but I feel that the somewhat “middle” seasons were the best. I enjoyed the first 3 seasons, but then thought the next 3 were really good and then tapered off around the last 2 seasons, but were still good.
Is there a clear consensus? I always felt that the quality dropped off markedly after Larry David left after Season 7. But I especially liked Seasons 2-5, when it really was a show about mundane things like parking garages and pez dispensers, and everybody was a little less cartoony.
It’s because Larry and Jerry were new to filming a TV show and were learning the ropes as they went along. If you listen to their DVD commentary on the first two seasons they point out a lot of mistakes they made because they were so inexperienced in film making.
That’s why seasons 3-7 were a lot better than the first two. After season 7 Larry left and the show became worse off IMHO.
The later episodes were as bad as the beginning episodes. The middle ones were the best because they found their legs and didn’t have any pressure to create new gags for the characters yes. Gags that would later be seen in the later episodes where each character is just so over the top in their neuroses it loses it’s appeal because they stop being “normal people” are start becoming cartoons.
Isn’t this the case with most shows, though (except maybe Arrested Development and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)? That they take a hwile to hit their stride? While I think early Seinfeld episodes are vastly superior to The Simpsons’ first two seasons, George is doing a whole Woody Allen thing that he later drops in favor of something a bit less contrived.
It’s called Growing the Beard.
Personally, I blame the horrible 80s costumes (Jerry in a speckled blazer sporting a skinny tie! Elaine’s truly horrible hairdo!).
You know how I decide whether to watch a Seinfeld rerun? First, if it’s one with the Seinfeld monologue to start, it’s got one strike against it. If the title is in white with the sans serif font - SEINFELD - that’s another strike. But pretty much the ones with the show logo that start with a cold open are good to go, though of course I agree with others that the middle seasons were the show’s heyday.
Seriously, though, who was behind Elaine’s hair? It is appalling in the early seasons. She actually is a great looking woman with an appropriate hairstyle.