Seinfeld (Sitcom) Review

Broadcast on NBC from 1989 to 1998, Seinfeld, created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, is about four single friends living in New York struggling with the everyday irritations of things like work, family and most importantly relationships. There’s Jerry Seinfeld, essentially playing himself, a successful stand-up comedian, George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander), his short, stocky, balding friend, Elaine Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), his ex-girlfriend, and Kramer (played by Michael Richards), his crazy next door neighbour. Seinfeld ran for nine seasons and is still considered one of, if not, the best comedy series of all time. I love Seinfeld, and it’s more than just fantastic comedy, it’s an important show, paving a clear path for sitcoms like Friends and Frasier in the nineties and opening many doors for the future of television. Seinfeld’s undeniable impact still echoes through shows like Louie and Larry David’s own Curb Your Enthusiasm today, and for a sitcom ‘about nothing’, that’s impressive! Let’s begin my review of ‘the show about nothing’, which I suppose would be a review about nothing, enjoy!

Seinfeld was filmed with a standard multiple camera set-up, which is basically how all sitcoms are filmed, it has a very distinctively early 90’s feel to it, it’s perfect! There’s no real need for anything spectacular with the direction here, it looks great, and it works! The writing is brilliant, from the snappy dialogue between characters, the full circle storylines that culminate beautifully into one final joke at the end of each episode, to the many expressions now known as Seinfeld-isms, the ‘close talker’, the ‘double dipper’, the ‘mimbo’, ‘shrinkage’, the list goes on! Now, with this being a 90’s sitcom there’s a laughter track and when you focus on it, it can get annoying, it’s certainly not a major issue, and with the laughter track having seemingly become extinct in more recent years, it’s almost nostalgic hearing it! Although audience members screaming and cheering for Kramer every single time he walks into the room does get jarring, but as long as you don’t fixate on it, which you won’t, it’s not a problem.

The performances are timeless, Seinfeld has a very strong main cast and everyone embodies their character perfectly. First of all there’s Jerry Seinfeld himself, the single cleanest comedian of all time, the face of the show, and the main connecting piece between all the other characters. Throughout each episode Jerry uses what happens as material for his stand-up routines which are shown at the beginning and end of each episode. George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, and based on Larry David himself, is one of the best characters ever written in comedy, obsessive, paranoid and neurotic, he’s Jerry’s best friend and also his polar opposite, as Jerry tells George, ‘’I'm like you, only successful’’, they’re both as petty as each other, sharing a similarly pessimistic outlook on the world, Jerry is just better at hiding it from others. Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is the female version of Jerry, also sharing a similar outlook, although she too is better at hiding it than George. She isn't in the pilot episode as David and Seinfeld weren't sure if they could write a female role, but after the network demanded it, they made it happen! Finally, there’s Kramer, played by Michael Richards, Jerry’s wacky next door neighbour, based on Larry David’s real life kooky neighbour, also called Kramer, his crazy antics often lead to disaster, he’s oblivious to awkward social situations and breezes through life care free with no consequences for his actions. Michael Richards was a very physical comedian, there’s no one else who I've seen quite capture that physicality in their material like Richards did, Jim Carey maybe? It’s quite a sight to behold.

Outside Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, there are a whole host of fantastic characters throughout the series, George’s parents, Frank and Estelle Costanza, played by Ben Stiller and Estelle Harris, the bickering, the shouting, they’re hilarious, I love them both! It explains why George is the way he is as well. Jerry’s parents are also great, Morty and Helen Seinfeld, played by Barney Martin and Liz Sheridan. Newman of course! Played by Wayne Knight, which is way too cool a name for this guy, but outside the main four I’d say he’s the fifth most important character in the show, I love that little freak! And my favourite of them all, David Puddy, played by Patrick Warburton, Elaine’s on and off boyfriend, I adore this guy, his deadpan delivery cracks me up every time, he makes his first appearance in season 6, and returns for a more regular role in season 9.

Seinfeld pioneered the idea that characters don’t have to be likeable to be interesting, the main characters are all selfish, inconsiderate and extremely judgemental, these aren't nice people and this isn't a warm cuddly show, if I had to define it, I’d say it was a comedy made by comedians for comedians. This is a show without emotional depth; it never stops to get sentimental; with Seinfeld it’s all about the jokes, first and foremost! Unlike for example Friends, where you become emotionally invested in the characters and their lives, there’s an element that isn't really comedy at all, it’s a drama within a comedy, whereas in Seinfeld, the only element you’ll find is comedy itself. This may be off putting to a lot of people as the warmth they find in Friends is completely absent from Seinfeld, personally I don’t feel that way, I still find a warmth in the show, and many others obviously do as well, but I can understand why someone wouldn't, it makes sense, and if you’re not into it, that’s probably why.

A lot of people didn't enjoy the finale, it’s been controversially slated as a weak ending to such a strong series and having watched it about four times now, I have to disagree; I think it’s perfectly done! The lack of an emotional element is considered here, for nine seasons we’d watched these characters do anything but grow, and in the show’s final moments there’s actually an element of sentiment, Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine were finally being punished, the storyline is ridiculous, but I think what Larry David was trying to convey was simply that, this isn't what we should aspire to be, we love the characters, but we shouldn't look up to them, as I mentioned above, these aren't supposed to be lovable characters, they’re supposed to be funny, and I thought Larry David’s isolated moment of sentiment was great to see, especially that penultimate scene at the end which was a re-working of the opening scene to the pilot, it was as close to touching as you’ll get in Seinfeld, and it was the only moment like this and so it held a lot of weight, I loved the finale!

Seinfeld has a fairly slow start, don’t get me wrong, it’s great from start to finish, but there’s a significant increase in quality in the transition from season 2 to 3, if you’re new to Seinfeld, stick with it through those first couple seasons and by the third you’ll feel comfortable, by the fourth the show found itself, and from that point on it’s the Seinfeld we all know and love, the pace picks up and all the pieces fall into what feels like the right places. I think it’s because season 4 is where they hit a new level of self-awareness, especially when Jerry and George, based on the real Jerry and Larry, are given the opportunity to write a pilot episode for NBC, and in struggling to come up with a concept, they end up calling it Jerry, and it’s based on Jerry’s life. His best friend George, his ex-girlfriend Elaine, and his neighbour Kramer are all characters, basically their idea is for a show ‘about nothing’. It was a great nod to the audience and I loved the whole storyline, it was like standing between two mirrors.

Seinfeld is about the little annoyances and irritations in life, it’s about the inconsideration’s and unawareness of people who cross boundaries and don’t respect the unwritten rules of social situations, and the frustrating and often unreasonable expectations and obligations that come with relationships, it’s consistently entertaining, culturally significant, extremely relatable and most importantly absolutely hilarious! This is comedy at its finest, and in a lot of ways purest. I love Seinfeld and I consider it a comedic masterpiece, I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour. I'm 24, and I'm English, so I was born into a generation that pretty much just missed the Seinfeld era, my age group was more about Friends, which is another great sitcom, but Seinfeld brought something new to the table, and it’s a shame it never carried over to my British generation, we missed out guys! Well I didn't, but you did! If you haven’t seen Seinfeld, I thoroughly recommend it, it’s a fantastic show and arguably the most important and impactful sitcom of all time. Watch it! Have you watched it? I have no one to talk to about it, where are all the Seinfeld fans!? These pretzels are making me thirsty!!!

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