Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevieg4ever]

Seinfeld never took off in the UK but i freakin love the show, the main character and the humour. in short everything about it. much better then a lot of uk trash.

can some of the more enlightened posters tell me why was it such a big hit in the states? what does it do that other comedies just simply dont and what are some of your favourite moments from the show?

thanks in advance

[VanIslander]

We just got finished pondering the years of Everybody Loves Raymond.

The best answer I can give is: It's an American thing.

[stevieg4ever]

tell me more about this because i for one think that american humour is a lot more subtle and innovative then people give it credit for. and dont have a go at me for spelling 'humour' with two 'u's

[VanIslander]

[stevieg4ever]

well the second post i meant american humour in general not necessarily seinfeld... i was interested about your 'very american' comment

ill wiki it as well.

[Hollywoodaction]

[mortin21]

as far as the American/British humorous sitcoms comparison, Britain makes a few really good ones, ex. Coupling was far better than Friends (except the last few episodes of Coupling) and the British version of The Office was much better than the American
but for a really good American sitcom with subtle lines, Arrested Development wins out; Seinfeld had its heyday but when the writers came out with another one, Curb your Enthusiasm, which had the same elements (whining, paranoia, etc.) it wasn't funny just annoying
Everbody Loves Raymond had its moments but overall was too staged, the original line never made sense but was funny when the punchline came out
just my thoughts

[Hollywoodaction]

Arrested Development was pretty sweet.

I think there are a lot of great American comedians, by the way. For example, Robin Williams. Amazing delivery. Very theartical. He builds it up to a franctic pace, but then slows it down before it gets uncomfortable for the audience (sometimes by faking a mistake or throwing in a non-sequitur).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4BX5-E_DYU

There are many more great American comedians. Too many to name them all (off the top of my head: Richard Prior, Chris Rock, Jacky Mason, Gilbert Gottfried)

[jajdude]

Some British humor is great too. One old British guy I met once summed it up pretty well I thought, when he compared the cultures. He said, "America loves a winner, the British love a loser." That might explain the sense of humor differences a bit. There seems to be more self-deprecating humor in British comedy.

[flakfizer]

I think Seinfeld was popular because it was "a show about nothing." For years so many comedies felt they had to deal with something important from time to time or handle certain subjects with care. (Examples: Sam Malone's drinking problem, Alex P Keaton's drunk uncle, Rosanne-a bunch of terrible stuff, and so on). It was nice to see a group of people who never really grew as people and never wanted to teach the audience a lesson. It was also fun the way the subplots of the four main characters usually interwove at the end somehow.

As for me, I love that show and whoever mentioned "Arrested Development," that's great too. It's a real shame it ended so fast. FOX dropped it not due to lack of popularity, but due to cost (big cast, I think). AFN is now showing it on Saturday nights.

[billybrobby]

man, that jackie mason stuff is funny. i only saw him in caddyshack 2 and thought he was a hack.

[Sina qua non]

It's probably because Seinfeld was a stand-up comedian.

The same goes for Everybody Loves Raymond; both of these main characters/show creators worked as stand-up comedians before moving to the sit-com genre.

They both ate or starved in their careers according to whether they were genuinely funny.

We can compare this idea to the case where a sit-com is made and shown as a result of the business clout of the creators, rather than the funniness of the creators. Sit-coms like Rosanne and Cheers had powerful people who drove those shows; with Rosanne, it was Rosanne and her husband Tom Arnold, and with Cheers it was the producer (was that James Burrows?).

To carry this a bit further, if a show earns good viewer ratings, it will no doubt continue. If the show is funny, it will certainly generate good ratings.

However, if a show doesn't necessarily generate good ratings, behind-the-scenes work by influential people can keep it going even if it isn't really entertaining.

[ChopChaeJoe]

That waiting-for-godot styled Seinfeld where they spend a real-time half-hour in a chinese restaurant was a triumph and kind of sums of the show.

Curb your entusiasm was great for two seasons then it seemed like Larry David was just writing through writers' block.

Arrested Development was about the only network sitcom worth watching in its day.

[Doogie]

Probabaly the best writing ever in T.V.. Also, Michael Richards and Jason Alexander. Those 2 characters made the show. Talk to any huge Seinfeld fan and they'll always say,"Who was your favorite character.....George or Kramer?". Next to Archie Bunker, I think they are 2 of the great characters in TV history.

[Unposter]

Seinfeld is great! But, its success is that it was a boomer fantasy.

They all acted like big kids who never grew up. Money, position, any kind of ambition at all was disdained. Success was all about luck. Nobody worked hard.

It also brought back the idea of the "neighborhood." It was the neighborhood. You knew everyone and dealt with everyone even Newman because they were your neighbors. You just don't see that in 90% or more of America anymore. Today, Seinfeld would have fled his neighborhood for a gated community in Connecticut. Elaine marries and lives in the suburbs too. And, no matter how fun Kramer is, he's left in the innercities to fend for himself.

In the end, they made fun of themselves: self-obsessed and a-moral. For awhile, they made a big deal of karma. They would do bad things and they would be punnished for it. In the end, they all end up in jail. They decided that was what their characters deserved most.

Very American? Maybe. Therea are a lot of American leaders self-obsessed, a-moral and deserving to rot in jail.

And, as for Rosanne Barr. She was a comediane too before making it on TV. She was not a Hollywood power until her show became successfull.