I completely acknowledge the show went very cartoonish in the last couple seasons but I still enjoy those too. Yes they are not the same kind of humour that the show was founded on, I get it. But they are still incredibly hilarious in their own right.
I like the later ones where they get more insane the Finale kinda sucked, just a re-cap of what they did over the shows run. Still gotta respect Jerry for ending it while the show was still bigtime even though he already made enough cash for 10 lifetimes
it may have strayed away from the original vision the writers had but i still think its great silly humor, not everything needs to take itself seriously
I like J. Peterman, the actor was great and fun fact the actor John O'Hurley actually invested in the real J. Peterman Company and runs part of it to this day, played the part then later owns its in real life along with real peterman. a joke became a reality.
Condolences. My dad was a fan of Seinfeld and even though I didn’t understand much at the time, I picked it up again as an adult when it finally clicked and made me a lifelong fan. My dad had passed by then but I always remember him snickering at Seinfeld on TV
My old man was a big fan as well; his favorite joke was the cold open with Jerry and George having mustaches out of nowhere. That one always got him howling.
Something similar happened to me too. Back in the 90s, I didn't have much brain power to understand the Seinfeld structure. That's what makes it so good. They were ahead of their time. I used to laugh drooling at married with children when Al was scratching his bellybutton and then held out his arm to his wife for her to sample the content of his bellybutton too. I laughed at that cause I didn't know any better. Seinfeld is a very acquired taste as in what values and morals it promotes or makes fun of. I tried a while back to see how will I perceive married with children with new and improved brain power of understanding comedy, and......I could barely crack a smile at what the Bundy's were promoting.
soup nazi and the close talker, shrinkage, man hands, the double dipper, yada yada, master of your domain are still part of our lexicon 20 plus years later.
Friends are merely a copy of Seinfeld. Like all the sitcoms post Seinfeld. Maybe not one to one copy but in all of them have references to Seinfeld and even replicate jokes from it. The office is full of Seinfeld references. In the last season of the office, Curb is directly advertised by Saul Goodman. His way younger self as an actor dated Elaine in Seinfeld.
What exactly am I wrong about? Labeling Seinfeld as the GOAT or friends being the start of conedy mediocrity and below mediocre? I don't mean to bad mouth the dead, but Matthew Perry at some point, within SNL context, told a costar that he invented sarcasm. He must of been high on strawberry jam at that time. Aside from The Office which was pretty good up to a point, friends, gang bang theory, two men cut in half or whatever that garbage was called, king of queens, and any sitcom you can think of, tried to dethrone Seinfeld. But it's simply not possible. And it never will be. That king of queens is nothing more than a poor copy of not even Seimfeld as a whole, but a single unmatched aspect of Seinfeld. The F. Costanza and son magical chemistry.
The finale had my favourite line in the show. Frank Costanza yelling at George Steinbrenner, “How could you give twelve million dollars to Hideki Irabu?!”
It’s funny that when Larry David left is when many ppl think Seinfeld became a parody of itself, but ironically it’s Curb Your Enthusiasm which I feel like began completely grounded in reality, feeling like Larry David’s real life, and suffered becoming a total parody of itself to a much higher degree than Seinfeld ever did
I see your point, and you make a reasonable case, however, even in it's demise Seinfeld was still funnier than anything else on television. It's tone had changed the last two years and it was certainly not the clever and original concept that Larry David's acerbic sensibilities had brought to the reading table, but it still made people laugh and gave millions fodder to discuss the next day.
Pretty much what I’m saying. The show was still good when compared to others, but its quality went down as it became more and more like a parody of itself, especially once Larry left.
Larry David fixed the ending with the Curb finale where he did a shot for shot remake. Larry is in jail & Jerry comes to pick him up because a juror was caught failing to sequester & the conviction was overturned. That was a smarter ending because of course when they’re finally getting their comeuppance, some random technicality gets them off the hook. He acknowledges that this was how Seinfeld should’ve ended & I agree
Hey JJ. I thought an AI voiceover with a native American accent would be less distracting than my own voice, but enough people have complained about it sounding robotic and fake so I guess I was wrong. I guess I'll have to start recording the whole narration myself. Thanks for your input!
@@BigFilmRevI personally think the ai is fine but don't be scared to upload with your own unique cadence and voice. You've inspired me to start my channel now I know I don't have to use my own though tbh I have the same fears so I get it. You do you brother!
There has never been a television show where I couldn't wait for the next episode and go into work the next morning to discuss and laugh with my co workers.
I was in college and Thursday nights we'd watch Seinfeld, then go to the bars. The night the soup nazi episode premiered I remember going out to the bar and people just saying "no soup for you" and just laughing historically. Then, we get home and I'm watching sports center and a baseball highlight of a guy robbing a home run. No soup for you. To this day I don't think I've experienced anything like that. Literally watch an episode and minutes later it's just everywhere.
those last couple seasons are where it drew in its widest audience, including me. i didn't follow it til the last few years, the absurdity brought me in i guess
Actually it is. I watched from the beginning and began rewatching it on Netlfix last year. It holds up. The first two seasons are mostly unwatchable, and of course some things are dated, but that's the case with all tv shows. Otherwise, I can watch the rest of the run and it holds up much, much better than any other 90s sitcom.
I think the same but of the last two seasons. I couldn't even watch them. I immediately felt the shift when Larry David went away. The first couple of seasons are standard. They're fine.
The finale is a rip off of, or tribute to, The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt. Bilko). It ends with the protagonists going to jail for their (hilarious) crimes against society. It also has a touch of Barney Miller, in that some of the popular characters from the show's past come back for one last appearance.
I know Larry David loved The Phil Silvers Show, so it makes sense he’d pay homage to a series that inspired him as a TV writer. I still want to see that series.
I've seen every episode multiple times, and I find it just as enjoyable today as I did when it first aired. The fact it is still attracting new viewers demonstrates its ability to hold up over time.
I guess I don't mind cartoonish humor. Some people have critiqued it's always sunny in Philadelphia for going that way, but it still gives me a tickle in my funny bone. And as far as I know no one's forcing anybody to watch anything
I loved it when it was on, right starting from Seinfeld Chronicles, and I never noticed that the quality dropped. However, now, I cannot go back and rewatch them.
Sorry for your loss, my mom and I watched the show together too. And she’s the same age as your mom was, 1958. I agree with you, for the most part, about it jumping the shark. The last 2 seasons are fun though, for the fans. It jumped when George calls Marisa Tomei, before the funeral.
I really think you're wrong. 8&9 had some classic episodes including one of my all time favs The Car Dealership. You're overthinking it man, its a show about nothing
How on earth could you call season 8 and 9 a mess? About a dozen of the best espisodes are from those seasons. Who cares if it slipped from realism? Its ultimately a comedy, and it's supposed to make you laugh
Such a spot on review, thank you. I’m such a lifelong fan of the show but hate how it turned for the wacky worse, I agree with nearly everything you said, other than I felt the first 3 are better than 3,4,5, way more grounded and smart. Definitely 1-5 was the magic, 6-7 still had some great moments, 8-9 the few great moments it had were tragically overshadowed by the ridiculous stories and cartooned versions of the characters.
This is dead-on. It's the greatest situation comedy of all-time, but it got away from what made it truly great. The ridiculous, over the top episodes of the last two seasons were reflected not only in the writing, but the acting. George's character became a blow hard when he used to have more subtlety. The situations didn't tap into the real situations it once did, which made it iconic. It just became a cartoon - and, yes, a parody, of what made it great. The newsflash is that, apparently, Seinfeld is going to revisit the show's finale with something new he and Larry David are cooking up. That reunion arc in 2009 on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was funnier than anything from the last two seasons of "Seinfeld" because it actually got back to more realistic - everyday - a show about "nothing" - situations. I hope whatever it is they're doing, it's something special.
Very true. It's exactly the point I was trying to make. I still think Seinfeld, even at its worst, was still good, but it's a shame to see it get so far away from what made it great to begin with, and maybe people are used to seeing the episodes out of order as they shuffle through them on Netflix or catch them on TV from time to time. But when you watch them chronologically, you notice a pattern of the stories getting more and more ridiculous, and it's sad that it seems to start with one of my all time favorite episodes: The Marine Biologist.
Yes! It’s funny you mention that because I just binged the entire series over a course of a few weeks and I noticed the last two seasons really were not that good relating to everything you just said
"The newsflash is that, apparently, Seinfeld is going to revisit the show's finale with something new he and Larry David are cooking up. " I assume that this was the finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Did you see it? If so, what did you think?
Seasons 8 and 9 weren't funny, just silly, but most people think silly is funnier than funny, New fans jumped on board in the later seasons and didn't have anything to compare them to.
I thought a better way to get cameos in a finale would to have Elaine and Jerry get married and when they say speak now or forever hold your peace, all the characters come in one after the other
If they were to be getting married it would have to be under the pretense of some sort of scam. Jerry needs $15,000 of Dental work done and Elaine has a company plan that fully covers a spouse, or something like that. The show was under strict directive by Larry David to not be wholesome or sentimental.
I didnt grow up watching Seinfeld. It just wasnt' really popular in Switzerland or France where I grew up. I discovered it through the memes and decided to give it a go a couple of years back. And what a ride it was! Most sitcoms, especially from the era, rely on a formula and become a parody of themselves in the later seasons. They often get stuck in endless drama which quickly becomes boring even to the most hardcore fans. Seinfled decided to become goofy and not take things too seriously while keeping its soul. The finale was bad, but bringing everybody back really made it better than most sitcoms finales. I just love it now, and watch some episodes from time to time. You can binge watch a season, watch an episode a month, leave it, come back to it... there's always something to discover in the background or a new line that stays with you. It's just great television.
NOTHING was more important to the American television industry than the end of MASH, Cheers, and Seinfeld. Those season finales were cultural milestones, and guess which one is not like the others???
We were vacationing in NZ staying in a traveling van. Our US produced Siefield DVD's disks did not play with sound. We watched them in silence and somehow knowing the lines from memory it was as funny or sometimes even more funny.....We picked up on more of the physical comedy.
I agree 100%. When Larry left, many of the episodes became embarrassing to watch. All of the characters became cartoons. Most people don’t notice the transition.
I don't "remember" anything, because I only started to watch Seinfeld in the last 2 or 3 years. It is not that well-known in Germany, and I would never watch a dubbed TV version of it. So I watched it in its original language - more than once lol. A few dozen episodes are on constant rotation. It is a masterpiece, at least seasons 2-8. It is incredibly funny, insightful and deep and the best Sitcom I have ever watched. This is Sopranos-level humour (despite being a product of an earlier time in the TV landscape and therefore "cheaper" looking). Absolutely amazing writing and acting. George Costanza alone is possibly the greatest TV character of all time.
I can see your point of view. I myself am a psycho fan of Seinfeld. Ending it with the Susan incident would have been really something. Watching your review, I see Seinfeld like Mike Tyson. It's not fully fledged without it's downs. That's what makes Mike the GOAT, his prime along with his now mythical defeats, so is Seinfeld. The office had it way worse. Really relatable chemistry up until Steve left. After that they were completely aimless. The last episode was excruciating. But still, incomparable. Seinfeld with it's perceived downs still the very best, and the office with it's downs. When the office went down, it did it like the titanic.
Huh. I clicked to agree and am actually grateful I disagreed! I saw it from the beginning as a kid all the way to being an older teenager and it still holds up for me today. I like the ridiculous older seasons more than the earliest ones. 🤷🏼♀️ anyway, great video. Subscribed!
Loved it during its run. My parents loved it. And thanks to Netflix, I've watched every episode more times than I can count. I literally just listen to it sometimes when I'm taking my evening walks; I know the visuals so well it's still funny just to hear it. A guy I work with, we have little in common and Seinfeld is pretty much the entire basis of our in-office relationship. We quote it to each other, etc. 30 Rock, Community, The Office up until Michael left: they were all great. But none of them come close to Seinfeld. It's hands-down the greatest sitcom of all time. Some of the very earliest episodes are a little meh, but once you get to the second season, I could watch it anytime, anywhere. My dad passed in March and mere days later my brothers and I had Seinfeld on in the background as we sat around the table.
While there is, of course, some truth to what this AI guy is saying, I have to point out that, in spite of some of the groaner episodes in the last two seasons (like the appallingly bad The Butter Shave) there were also some straight-up masterpieces Season 8: "The Soul Mate" is one of my top 20 episodes. The Abstinence, The Little Jerry, The Little Kicks, and The Bizzaro Jerry are all brilliant. The Fatigues, The Pothole (with their take on a classic Marx Bros bit of a packed storage room, and then when the door opens, they all tumble out) are solid. And The Muffin Tops, with George pretending to be a tourist, is sohhh good. Steinbrenner's phone call w/ the Tyler Chicken guy is pure gold. Season 7: The Wink, The Hot Tub, The Pool Guy, The Gum (hysterically funny bit w/ the gum and Jerry's thick glasses), The Rye, The Wig Master, The Bottle Deposit all brilliant. Even Season 9, with its flops and terrible finale, had some incredible work (thanks in part to David Puddy): The Blood, The Junk Mail, The Merv Griffin Show, The Strike (Festivus), The Reverse Peephole, The Strongbox, The Frogger, and The Maid all have segments that are spectacularly funny: Jerry's textbook marathon breakup w/ Julia Campbell in The Frogger; Puddy with the fur coat and then the 8-ball coat, everyone having a "job" at the party; the final scene of The Maid, with Kramer acting like a naive, lost girl getting into the "pimp's" car is incredible. So, in spite of the lousy episodes in S8 and S9, if they had stopped after S6, it would have been a huge mistake.
I agree with many of your points here, though I am grateful for the extra seasons and some hilarious moments and many more Thursday nights to look forward to. The final episode was a definite dud and quite unsatisfying. They could and should have done better... but I don't regret all those extra post-Larry episodes we got. Very sorry to hear about your mother. Glad you got to enjoy the show with her... I doubt that either of my parents ever watched a single episode...
How many of us have watched the show , in reruns for years on end , probably seeing each episode 5 --10 times at least ? That's gotta tell you something.
Those last two years weren't the same format but that doesn't make them bad. I could see hating them if there were more than two or three seasons of far-fetched writing, like the Office--which had an endless stream of crazy seasons--but two hilarious seasons hardly seem like a betrayal. (Not to mention the fact that high-concept plots, like Jerry befriending Keith Hernandez or them producing their own TV show were there already from the second season.)
Your take is your opinion but I think the show got funnier as the years went on,some of my favorite episodes were the later years and that's what made the show so good. Some shows for example like the Beverly Hillbillies or all in the family were funny but began to get cobwebs towards the end of their run .That can't be said for Seinfeld.
I was just at a birthday party for one of my PARENTS' friends and I met somebody there and talked Seinfeld with him for an hour. I'm 43. There has never been a better show than Seinfeld. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a close second.
i couldnt get into the show when i was younger, however my little brother got me into watching it (he's 20 and im 31, LOL) and i realize the appeal now
Spot on. One of my biggest gripes last seasons is what they did to Elaine. All of her charm and sweetness was replaced by bitterness. She was just mean most (all?) of the time.
It wasn't for no reason... character development. She gave up on life, it was a depiction of how people like George are created, Elaine turned from nice girl into a George.
I always took the ending , with them in jail, and one of them saying "haven't we talked about that before" as a sign that they had just run out of material. Fantastic show.
4:25 The episode with the MOST seminal content is, of course, The Contest. 7:25 Jerry pitched them a show about how a comedian gets his jokes from his actual life. He NEVER tried to pitch a show about nothing!
I absolutely love Seinfeld Seasons 4-7 and like 1-3 as well. While I like a handful of Season 8-9 episodes, I generally find those seasons difficult to watch.
This was good, I think The King of Queens went down a similar path as Seinfeld , I really liked it to a point. But it got a bit cartoonish in later seasons. The finale, however, was done really well . Maybe you could do a review of that series . Thanks!
Just saw this for the first time. As a huge Seinfeld fan, I could not agree more. When it went away from the ironies of life in NYC, it was done. From Del Boca Vista to Play Now and Kruger, they totally lost it. Everyone became a parody of themselves instead of being themselves. When reruns are on, I can't even watch the later shows.
My mom and I constantly quote Seinfeld to one another every time we’re together, nobody else picks up on it, it’s our thing. Sorry to hear about your mom. I liked your video.
I really don't hate the finale as it's generally said. I think it's much more than the chance of past characters to appear again. The idea of them removed from society is like evening the odds. They should pay for all the emotional abuse they subjected the people they came across with. Basically saying that, we're deserving of some jail time for what we did and rightfully so. All of you at home, don't be like us. That's what I always loved about Seinfeld and Curb. Their ability to question the viewer's sense of morality.
Like most sitcoms, Seinfeld had a few memorable episodes, but essentially its like Seinfeld himself admits, most television is 'just about a place you like to hang out'.
Jerry and Larry may have been the co-conceiver of Seinfeld but don’t forget the team of writers. They’re really the unsung heroes here without their input. It would’ve been literally a story about nothing
I own all of the DVD sets and I still watch them and enjoy them. MASH is a show that I used to watch a lot and saw every episode more than once. I couldn't sit through one of those again.
It was broadcast in UK, I watched some episodes but couldn’t remember much of it. Not the big hit in UK that it was in US. No one talks about it. However, enjoying it now on Netflix.
I agree the last couple season got a bit goofy but still some of my favorite episodes. I actually like seasons 4 5 and 6 the best. You are right that it would have been legendary if they had been willing to end the show earlier, but I'm glad they didn't.
It's one of the few shows that I can watch in reruns despite seeing all of the shows many times. It still holds up for me.
The Sopranos and Seinfeld. The best of the best and its not even close.
Most people have been watching it non-stop for decades, how could we "forget" what it was like
Ya and its only something I ever do with comedies. I watch Seinfeld and iasip over and over
If you watch it all the time how can it be better or worse than you remember maybe if you sniff glue
Friends is like that!
Your right, Seinfeld is actually better than I remember
Absolutely ❤
Exactly what I was going to say and why I clicked on the video. 😂
Seinfeld is like a fine wine, gets better with age. But some people have no taste...
@@edprado30305 it’s the best edprado, the best!
Yea I enjoy it on another level now that I’m the same age as the characters.
I completely acknowledge the show went very cartoonish in the last couple seasons but I still enjoy those too. Yes they are not the same kind of humour that the show was founded on, I get it. But they are still incredibly hilarious in their own right.
I like the later ones where they get more insane the Finale kinda sucked, just a re-cap of what they did over the shows run. Still gotta respect Jerry for ending it
while the show was still bigtime even though he already made enough cash for 10 lifetimes
its gold jerry! Its gold!
it may have strayed away from the original vision the writers had but i still think its great silly humor, not everything needs to take itself seriously
Ya its less "jumped the shark" and more of "purposefully moving towards more absurdist humor."
I'm turning my living room into the Merv Griffin Show set just to help Seinfeld's last season attain realism. Just remember, we're talking this way.
The absurd moments in the last two seasons are what make them great. And J. Peterman? One of the greatest characters in television history.
I like J. Peterman, the actor was great and fun fact the actor John O'Hurley actually invested in the real J. Peterman Company and runs part of it to this day, played the part then later owns its in real life along with real peterman. a joke became a reality.
Condolences. My dad was a fan of Seinfeld and even though I didn’t understand much at the time, I picked it up again as an adult when it finally clicked and made me a lifelong fan. My dad had passed by then but I always remember him snickering at Seinfeld on TV
My old man was a big fan as well; his favorite joke was the cold open with Jerry and George having mustaches out of nowhere. That one always got him howling.
Something similar happened to me too. Back in the 90s, I didn't have much brain power to understand the Seinfeld structure. That's what makes it so good. They were ahead of their time. I used to laugh drooling at married with children when Al was scratching his bellybutton and then held out his arm to his wife for her to sample the content of his bellybutton too. I laughed at that cause I didn't know any better. Seinfeld is a very acquired taste as in what values and morals it promotes or makes fun of. I tried a while back to see how will I perceive married with children with new and improved brain power of understanding comedy, and......I could barely crack a smile at what the Bundy's were promoting.
@@vladimirfroane3652 Seinfeld would never have lasted had it not had a strong time slot. That's a good thing because the show is brilliant.
God bless y’all
How can you dislike the Bizarro World episode in S8?!? One of the best in the series IMO
The backward episode also!!! So good!!!!
Seinfeld is actually BETTER than I remember. I have been rewatching it, and it is GOLD.
*laugh track*
It is gold jerry😅
It holds up very well actually. People still talk about it a lot 30 years later for a reason.
Fair point
soup nazi and the close talker, shrinkage, man hands, the double dipper, yada yada, master of your domain are still part of our lexicon 20 plus years later.
Thats true every time I rewatch it I realize that it is even better than I remember.
Clever I see what you did.
*laugh track*
I'm 23 and I've only ever watched it in the past 3 years. It is fantastic
Seinfeld isnt as good as you remember; it’s 10x better.
Seinfeld looks particularly good when you compare it to the other mega hit sitcom (Friends) from that time.
Friends are merely a copy of Seinfeld. Like all the sitcoms post Seinfeld. Maybe not one to one copy but in all of them have references to Seinfeld and even replicate jokes from it. The office is full of Seinfeld references. In the last season of the office, Curb is directly advertised by Saul Goodman. His way younger self as an actor dated Elaine in Seinfeld.
The Rolling Stones of comedy. The NBC years were like the Brian Jones, and Mick Taylor years. The HBO years were like the Ronnie Wood years.
What exactly am I wrong about? Labeling Seinfeld as the GOAT or friends being the start of conedy mediocrity and below mediocre? I don't mean to bad mouth the dead, but Matthew Perry at some point, within SNL context, told a costar that he invented sarcasm. He must of been high on strawberry jam at that time. Aside from The Office which was pretty good up to a point, friends, gang bang theory, two men cut in half or whatever that garbage was called, king of queens, and any sitcom you can think of, tried to dethrone Seinfeld. But it's simply not possible. And it never will be. That king of queens is nothing more than a poor copy of not even Seimfeld as a whole, but a single unmatched aspect of Seinfeld. The F. Costanza and son magical chemistry.
The finale had my favourite line in the show. Frank Costanza yelling at George Steinbrenner, “How could you give twelve million dollars to Hideki Irabu?!”
Oh my lord, that cracked me up.
It’s funny that when Larry David left is when many ppl think Seinfeld became a parody of itself, but ironically it’s Curb Your Enthusiasm which I feel like began completely grounded in reality, feeling like Larry David’s real life, and suffered becoming a total parody of itself to a much higher degree than Seinfeld ever did
I see your point, and you make a reasonable case, however, even in it's demise Seinfeld was still funnier than anything else on television. It's tone had changed the last two years and it was certainly not the clever and original concept that Larry David's acerbic sensibilities had brought to the reading table, but it still made people laugh and gave millions fodder to discuss the next day.
Pretty much what I’m saying. The show was still good when compared to others, but its quality went down as it became more and more like a parody of itself, especially once Larry left.
Seasons 8&9 were terrific I don't know what the f*** you're talking about
Maybe it's just me but I don't think so
@@BigFilmRevyou're insane to be this critical of seasons 6-9. I think the show got better as it went and ended at the peak.
Some people just can't stand the thought that it did not meet todays Diversity, Equity and inclusion standards.
@@danielbrown3461literally not a point mentioned anywhere
My all time favorite line is in the last season: Jerry to George: "Are you feeling anything right now?"
!Seinfeld is not as good as you remember???! SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW!
Condolences bud, my mom was born the same year and passed 12 years ago now. It's great to have shows for that connection back, loved the video
Thank you so much!
The finale wasn't great, but them ending up in prison after being such horrible people is kinda the right ending lol!
The biggest problem with the finale is that they didn't deserve it.
Larry David fixed the ending with the Curb finale where he did a shot for shot remake. Larry is in jail & Jerry comes to pick him up because a juror was caught failing to sequester & the conviction was overturned. That was a smarter ending because of course when they’re finally getting their comeuppance, some random technicality gets them off the hook. He acknowledges that this was how Seinfeld should’ve ended & I agree
They should have had that Chinese lady attorney from an earlier episode to be the prosecutor in the finale.
The biggest issue for me was it was pretty much just a clip show..
Why were they horrible people ? Because they were quirky ? I don’t buy it
Dude I'm currently watching the show. From time to time I watch a couple episodes and I could watch it anytime
I found the robotic AI voice distracting. You have a nice voice, I think you should narrate your videos yourself.
Hey JJ. I thought an AI voiceover with a native American accent would be less distracting than my own voice, but enough people have complained about it sounding robotic and fake so I guess I was wrong. I guess I'll have to start recording the whole narration myself.
Thanks for your input!
@@BigFilmRevI personally think the ai is fine but don't be scared to upload with your own unique cadence and voice. You've inspired me to start my channel now I know I don't have to use my own though tbh I have the same fears so I get it. You do you brother!
Oh, Seinfeld was better than i remember.
There has never been a television show where I couldn't wait for the next episode and go into work the next morning to discuss and laugh with my co workers.
I was in college and Thursday nights we'd watch Seinfeld, then go to the bars.
The night the soup nazi episode premiered I remember going out to the bar and people just saying "no soup for you" and just laughing historically.
Then, we get home and I'm watching sports center and a baseball highlight of a guy robbing a home run. No soup for you.
To this day I don't think I've experienced anything like that. Literally watch an episode and minutes later it's just everywhere.
Not even Vince Russo era WCW?
There were other shows that were "next day discussion worthy"; Taxi and Night Court to name just two.
those last couple seasons are where it drew in its widest audience, including me. i didn't follow it til the last few years, the absurdity brought me in i guess
Seasons 8 and 9 were totally hilarious. Completely disagree.
7,8 and 9 are my favourites. 1 I still don't really get. And even 2 and 3 are only ok. 4 to 9 are all good
Dudes an idiot. Some of the best eps were those seasons
Seriously, this guy (if it is a guy… AI?) is way, way, way off, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
@@eamano8474I completely agree with you....4-9 were amazing
@@mysterbearMy father’s way off!
Actually it is. I watched from the beginning and began rewatching it on Netlfix last year. It holds up. The first two seasons are mostly unwatchable, and of course some things are dated, but that's the case with all tv shows. Otherwise, I can watch the rest of the run and it holds up much, much better than any other 90s sitcom.
I think the same but of the last two seasons. I couldn't even watch them. I immediately felt the shift when Larry David went away. The first couple of seasons are standard. They're fine.
Agree to disagree. This show is still great.
@8:44 like an old man,trying to send back soup in a deli
The finale is a rip off of, or tribute to, The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt. Bilko). It ends with the protagonists going to jail for their (hilarious) crimes against society. It also has a touch of Barney Miller, in that some of the popular characters from the show's past come back for one last appearance.
I know Larry David loved The Phil Silvers Show, so it makes sense he’d pay homage to a series that inspired him as a TV writer. I still want to see that series.
I've seen every episode multiple times, and I find it just as enjoyable today as I did when it first aired. The fact it is still attracting new viewers demonstrates its ability to hold up over time.
I guess I don't mind cartoonish humor. Some people have critiqued it's always sunny in Philadelphia for going that way, but it still gives me a tickle in my funny bone. And as far as I know no one's forcing anybody to watch anything
I loved it when it was on, right starting from Seinfeld Chronicles, and I never noticed that the quality dropped. However, now, I cannot go back and rewatch them.
Sorry for your loss, my mom and I watched the show together too. And she’s the same age as your mom was, 1958. I agree with you, for the most part, about it jumping the shark. The last 2 seasons are fun though, for the fans. It jumped when George calls Marisa Tomei, before the funeral.
The Rolling Stones of comedy. The NBC years were like the Brian Jones and Mick Taylor years. The HBO years were like the Ronnie Wood years.
I really think you're wrong. 8&9 had some classic episodes including one of my all time favs The Car Dealership. You're overthinking it man, its a show about nothing
How on earth could you call season 8 and 9 a mess? About a dozen of the best espisodes are from those seasons. Who cares if it slipped from realism? Its ultimately a comedy, and it's supposed to make you laugh
Season 8 had some rocky episodes, but dear god, the chicken roaster, the little Jerry Seinfeld, The Little Kicks. Amazing
@@iandaley2295 merv griffith, English Patient, Meat Slicer...
Later absurdity isnt peak of course, but the alternative was to retread ground with diminished returns. At least we got wild ideas instead
I love how it went off the rails😂😂😂
This talking is a idiot.
I never get tired of watching the reruns. Great show!
Such a spot on review, thank you. I’m such a lifelong fan of the show but hate how it turned for the wacky worse, I agree with nearly everything you said, other than I felt the first 3 are better than 3,4,5, way more grounded and smart. Definitely 1-5 was the magic, 6-7 still had some great moments, 8-9 the few great moments it had were tragically overshadowed by the ridiculous stories and cartooned versions of the characters.
I kinda jumped the video essay as soon as you said Seinfeld kinda jumped the shark...
(In a slow and calming voice …
Yes Larry we know this is you!
The title of this video should read, Seinfeld isn't as good as I remember. Because you're speaking for yourself. And that's ok
This is dead-on. It's the greatest situation comedy of all-time, but it got away from what made it truly great. The ridiculous, over the top episodes of the last two seasons were reflected not only in the writing, but the acting. George's character became a blow hard when he used to have more subtlety. The situations didn't tap into the real situations it once did, which made it iconic. It just became a cartoon - and, yes, a parody, of what made it great.
The newsflash is that, apparently, Seinfeld is going to revisit the show's finale with something new he and Larry David are cooking up. That reunion arc in 2009 on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was funnier than anything from the last two seasons of "Seinfeld" because it actually got back to more realistic - everyday - a show about "nothing" - situations. I hope whatever it is they're doing, it's something special.
Very true. It's exactly the point I was trying to make. I still think Seinfeld, even at its worst, was still good, but it's a shame to see it get so far away from what made it great to begin with, and maybe people are used to seeing the episodes out of order as they shuffle through them on Netflix or catch them on TV from time to time.
But when you watch them chronologically, you notice a pattern of the stories getting more and more ridiculous, and it's sad that it seems to start with one of my all time favorite episodes: The Marine Biologist.
Yes! It’s funny you mention that because I just binged the entire series over a course of a few weeks and I noticed the last two seasons really were not that good relating to everything you just said
"The newsflash is that, apparently, Seinfeld is going to revisit the show's finale with something new he and Larry David are cooking up. "
I assume that this was the finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Did you see it? If so, what did you think?
Seasons 8 and 9 weren't funny, just silly, but most people think silly is funnier than funny, New fans jumped on board in the later seasons and didn't have anything to compare them to.
You're dead wrong. It has aged like wine.
I thought a better way to get cameos in a finale would to have Elaine and Jerry get married and when they say speak now or forever hold your peace, all the characters come in one after the other
Sounds like a great idea
Oh man I'm so glad they didn't get married. That is so lame.
If they were to be getting married it would have to be under the pretense of some sort of scam. Jerry needs $15,000 of Dental work done and Elaine has a company plan that fully covers a spouse, or something like that. The show was under strict directive by Larry David to not be wholesome or sentimental.
I didnt grow up watching Seinfeld. It just wasnt' really popular in Switzerland or France where I grew up. I discovered it through the memes and decided to give it a go a couple of years back. And what a ride it was!
Most sitcoms, especially from the era, rely on a formula and become a parody of themselves in the later seasons. They often get stuck in endless drama which quickly becomes boring even to the most hardcore fans.
Seinfled decided to become goofy and not take things too seriously while keeping its soul. The finale was bad, but bringing everybody back really made it better than most sitcoms finales.
I just love it now, and watch some episodes from time to time. You can binge watch a season, watch an episode a month, leave it, come back to it... there's always something to discover in the background or a new line that stays with you. It's just great television.
I'm not even watching this video, i just came here to say, YES IT IS!!!!!!...YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!
NOTHING was more important to the American television industry than the end of MASH, Cheers, and Seinfeld. Those season finales were cultural milestones, and guess which one is not like the others???
Iv seen it 10s of times and every time it gets better.
It’s still good to me damn it
It never looses its touch. Hope someone preserves it long time into the future. Then we can give it a spin and talk about it.
Very good video, and I'm sorry for your loss!
I’ve been watching it recently on tv and it’s actually just as good if not better than I remember. A perfect show.
Really sorry for your mother! Nice video with an interesting take, but I can still rewatch them all over and over.
Yes, it is as good as I remember
I don't think it ever "jumped the shark" --until the finale
Too bad Ted McGinley didn't play the judge.
Season 8 and 9 are just as good as the others, better in some cases.
We were vacationing in NZ staying in a traveling van. Our US produced Siefield DVD's disks did not play with sound. We watched them in silence and somehow knowing the lines from memory it was as funny or sometimes even more funny.....We picked up on more of the physical comedy.
I agree 100%. When Larry left, many of the episodes became embarrassing to watch. All of the characters became cartoons. Most people don’t notice the transition.
Importer exporter was a running gag
Name one sitcom which ended with a blast , don't they all just fade away and bleed to death... ?
30 rock had an amazing ending, as did parks and rec. Brooklyn 99 was solid. Friends had a good ending. If anything seinfeld is memorable ending.
@@K37-h1zFriends? We are talking about sitcoms. Friends had to rely on too much romantic crap to keep people hooked.
I don't "remember" anything, because I only started to watch Seinfeld in the last 2 or 3 years. It is not that well-known in Germany, and I would never watch a dubbed TV version of it. So I watched it in its original language - more than once lol. A few dozen episodes are on constant rotation.
It is a masterpiece, at least seasons 2-8. It is incredibly funny, insightful and deep and the best Sitcom I have ever watched. This is Sopranos-level humour (despite being a product of an earlier time in the TV landscape and therefore "cheaper" looking). Absolutely amazing writing and acting. George Costanza alone is possibly the greatest TV character of all time.
I can see your point of view. I myself am a psycho fan of Seinfeld. Ending it with the Susan incident would have been really something. Watching your review, I see Seinfeld like Mike Tyson. It's not fully fledged without it's downs. That's what makes Mike the GOAT, his prime along with his now mythical defeats, so is Seinfeld. The office had it way worse. Really relatable chemistry up until Steve left. After that they were completely aimless. The last episode was excruciating. But still, incomparable. Seinfeld with it's perceived downs still the very best, and the office with it's downs. When the office went down, it did it like the titanic.
Huh. I clicked to agree and am actually grateful I disagreed! I saw it from the beginning as a kid all the way to being an older teenager and it still holds up for me today. I like the ridiculous older seasons more than the earliest ones. 🤷🏼♀️ anyway, great video. Subscribed!
Loved it during its run. My parents loved it. And thanks to Netflix, I've watched every episode more times than I can count. I literally just listen to it sometimes when I'm taking my evening walks; I know the visuals so well it's still funny just to hear it. A guy I work with, we have little in common and Seinfeld is pretty much the entire basis of our in-office relationship. We quote it to each other, etc.
30 Rock, Community, The Office up until Michael left: they were all great. But none of them come close to Seinfeld. It's hands-down the greatest sitcom of all time. Some of the very earliest episodes are a little meh, but once you get to the second season, I could watch it anytime, anywhere. My dad passed in March and mere days later my brothers and I had Seinfeld on in the background as we sat around the table.
We still watch Seinfeld and Curb every day. Best shows ever. Agree that they jumped the shark in the last two seasons, but also had some high points.
While there is, of course, some truth to what this AI guy is saying, I have to point out that, in spite of some of the groaner episodes in the last two seasons (like the appallingly bad The Butter Shave) there were also some straight-up masterpieces
Season 8: "The Soul Mate" is one of my top 20 episodes. The Abstinence, The Little Jerry, The Little Kicks, and The Bizzaro Jerry are all brilliant. The Fatigues, The Pothole (with their take on a classic Marx Bros bit of a packed storage room, and then when the door opens, they all tumble out) are solid. And The Muffin Tops, with George pretending to be a tourist, is sohhh good. Steinbrenner's phone call w/ the Tyler Chicken guy is pure gold.
Season 7: The Wink, The Hot Tub, The Pool Guy, The Gum (hysterically funny bit w/ the gum and Jerry's thick glasses), The Rye, The Wig Master, The Bottle Deposit all brilliant.
Even Season 9, with its flops and terrible finale, had some incredible work (thanks in part to David Puddy): The Blood, The Junk Mail, The Merv Griffin Show, The Strike (Festivus), The Reverse Peephole, The Strongbox, The Frogger, and The Maid all have segments that are spectacularly funny: Jerry's textbook marathon breakup w/ Julia Campbell in The Frogger; Puddy with the fur coat and then the 8-ball coat, everyone having a "job" at the party; the final scene of The Maid, with Kramer acting like a naive, lost girl getting into the "pimp's" car is incredible.
So, in spite of the lousy episodes in S8 and S9, if they had stopped after S6, it would have been a huge mistake.
I agree with many of your points here, though I am grateful for the extra seasons and some hilarious moments and many more Thursday nights to look forward to. The final episode was a definite dud and quite unsatisfying. They could and should have done better... but I don't regret all those extra post-Larry episodes we got. Very sorry to hear about your mother. Glad you got to enjoy the show with her... I doubt that either of my parents ever watched a single episode...
Well I remember watching the Chinese Restaurant and the Puffy shirt a few days ago and gave me a few chuckles
If I watch the show today and still laugh, then, yes, it's as good as I remember
How many of us have watched the show , in reruns for years on end , probably seeing each episode 5 --10 times at least ? That's gotta tell you something.
I hated the show until someone said give it a chance. As in you have to watch more than one episode. Now I’ve seen every episode multiple times.
Try that with 3rd Rock From The Sun. Watch it from the beginning if you haven't. That show is hilarious.
You are actually going through the 'reality' vs 'episode' story?
You should update it with the Curb show.
The contest is the one that caught my attention
Those last two years weren't the same format but that doesn't make them bad. I could see hating them if there were more than two or three seasons of far-fetched writing, like the Office--which had an endless stream of crazy seasons--but two hilarious seasons hardly seem like a betrayal. (Not to mention the fact that high-concept plots, like Jerry befriending Keith Hernandez or them producing their own TV show were there already from the second season.)
Your take is your opinion but I think the show got funnier as the years went on,some of my favorite episodes were the later years and that's what made the show so good. Some shows for example like the Beverly Hillbillies or all in the family were funny but began to get cobwebs towards the end of their run .That can't be said for Seinfeld.
Interesting view. For me it was the opposite. Loved seasons 6-9. First five were also OK, just not as good for me. But I understand your point.
I was just at a birthday party for one of my PARENTS' friends and I met somebody there and talked Seinfeld with him for an
hour. I'm 43.
There has never been a better show than Seinfeld. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a close second.
i couldnt get into the show when i was younger, however my little brother got me into watching it (he's 20 and im 31, LOL) and i realize the appeal now
Back in the 90's. Seinfeld, Friends, Fresh Prince, Simpsons (great decade of programming)
Thank you! Someone who finally gets it about the Finale. I loved it. It's a better episode than any of its competitors.
Spot on.
One of my biggest gripes last seasons is what they did to Elaine. All of her charm and sweetness was replaced by bitterness. She was just mean most (all?) of the time.
Very true. Elaine became very mean and very silly for no reason, it’s pretty much a completely different character.
It wasn't for no reason... character development. She gave up on life, it was a depiction of how people like George are created, Elaine turned from nice girl into a George.
Totally disagree. Who cares if its less realistic? Its about making you laugh. Are the later curb seasons realistic? Not in the slightest
Mean Elaine is my favorite 🤣
I always took the ending , with them in jail, and one of them saying "haven't we talked about that before" as a sign that they had just run out of material. Fantastic show.
4:25 The episode with the MOST seminal content is, of course, The Contest. 7:25 Jerry pitched them a show about how a comedian gets his jokes from his actual life. He NEVER tried to pitch a show about nothing!
I absolutely love Seinfeld Seasons 4-7 and like 1-3 as well. While I like a handful of Season 8-9 episodes, I generally find those seasons difficult to watch.
This was good, I think The King of Queens went down a similar path as Seinfeld , I really liked it to a point. But it got a bit cartoonish in later seasons. The finale, however, was done really well . Maybe you could do a review of that series . Thanks!
Just saw this for the first time. As a huge Seinfeld fan, I could not agree more. When it went away from the ironies of life in NYC, it was done. From Del Boca Vista to Play Now and Kruger, they totally lost it. Everyone became a parody of themselves instead of being themselves. When reruns are on, I can't even watch the later shows.
My mom and I constantly quote Seinfeld to one another every time we’re together, nobody else picks up on it, it’s our thing. Sorry to hear about your mom. I liked your video.
Every episode of the final season has at least one quotable gag. I don’t think a future season would have been great, but I think it ended strong.
I really don't hate the finale as it's generally said. I think it's much more than the chance of past characters to appear again. The idea of them removed from society is like evening the odds. They should pay for all the emotional abuse they subjected the people they came across with. Basically saying that, we're deserving of some jail time for what we did and rightfully so. All of you at home, don't be like us. That's what I always loved about Seinfeld and Curb. Their ability to question the viewer's sense of morality.
Like most sitcoms, Seinfeld had a few memorable episodes, but essentially its like Seinfeld himself admits, most television is 'just about a place you like to hang out'.
My favorite episode was about Elaine and the cake in her boss's office 😂
the second bananas on the show were great. Elaine's boss is great
Yeh, been watching it recently after a few years of not watching and I am crying with laughter. I'm on Season 4 with Crazy Joe Davola 😂
It's one of the only shows i can watch over and over. And I'm old as dirt.
Jerry and Larry may have been the co-conceiver of Seinfeld but don’t forget the team of writers. They’re really the unsung heroes here without their input. It would’ve been literally a story about nothing
True.
I own all of the DVD sets and I still watch them and enjoy them.
MASH is a show that I used to watch a lot and saw every episode more than once. I couldn't sit through one of those again.
I recently rewatched the entire show. It is actually funnier now that I'm older. Far better than when I was in my late teens/early twenties
Great analysis!
It was broadcast in UK, I watched some episodes but couldn’t remember much of it. Not the big hit in UK that it was in US. No one talks about it. However, enjoying it now on Netflix.
I agree the last couple season got a bit goofy but still some of my favorite episodes. I actually like seasons 4 5 and 6 the best. You are right that it would have been legendary if they had been willing to end the show earlier, but I'm glad they didn't.