The genius about Seinfeld was the plots they had about the ordinary things we take for granted. Knowing a "high" or "close" talker. Having a "low flow" showerhead. Watching the movie instead of reading the book. Not being able to remember someone's name. How long to go without taking someone's clothes out of the washer/dryer. Not being able to find your car in a parking garage. I think that was a big reason the show was a success. We watched it and said, "That happened to me."
It was a show where we all laughed at the vainness of the characters and how superficial they were in their daily lives. They were each of us in a lot of ways.
"The top button makes or breaks a shirt"
"I saw a drain! It's all plumbing!"
"Do women know about shrinkage?"
" And by the way...they're real, and they're spectacular.
"What do you think would be the worst thing about being blind? I think it would be not being able to tell if there were bugs in my food."
It was a show about NOTHING.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
"I'm virtually free to do whatever I want, but I try to remember so is everybody else..." - Todd Snider
That's very true. We could relate to them because of that and the situations they were in. Like when they were pitching the sitcom. I think that was a little too meta for a lot of people but it showed how difficult it would be to get a sitcom like Seinfeld made.
What made it different from a show like Cheers - not better or worse, but different - is that it relied more on physical comedy rather than verbal comedy. Cheers had basically two sets: the bar and Sam's office which is really one set. You knew that pretty much every scene was going to be in the bar. Not a lot of variety there so you had to rely on the characters and the dialogue to get laughs. Cheers is just as funny listening to it as it is watching and listening to it.
GEORGE: I think I can sum up the show for you with one word: NOTHING.
RUSSELL: Nothing?
GEORGE: (Smiling) Nothing.
RUSSELL: (Unimpressed) What does that mean?
GEORGE: (Showing an example) What'd you do today?
RUSSELL: I got up and came to work.
GEORGE: There's a show. That's a show.
RUSSELL: (Confused) How is that a show?
JERRY: Well, uh, maybe something happens on the way to work.
GEORGE: No, no, no. Nothing happens.
JERRY: Well, something happens.
RUSSELL: Well, why am I watching it?
GEORGE: Because it's on TV.
RUSSELL: (Threatening) Not yet.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
You're saying Cliff, Norm, and Frazier weren't annoying? Hmmm...
Seinfeld is pretty much my favorite sitcom of all time. Mostly because I never watched a bad episode. I'm really glad they quit when they did.
Cheers is very close, but my second favorite would have to be M*A*S*H. So my list would look something like this:
1 - Seinfeld
2 - M*A*S*H
3 - Happy Days
4 - All in the Family
5 - I Love Lucy
6 - Cheers
7 - The Cosby Show
8 - Gilligan's Island
9 - The Love Boat
10 - Mork & Mindy (on Robin Williams alone)
After that it becomes difficult for me to choose...there are sooooo many great sitcoms. My honorable mentions would be The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Andy Griffith Show, Good Times, Welcome Back Kotter, Taxi, The Brady Bunch, Green Acres, Soap, Mary Tyler Moore, Bewitched, and Sanford & Son.
I love a good sitcom!
"This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again." -- Terence Mann
Welcome back, Kotter! Yeah. I could go for some of that right about now. And Soap. And Benson... And the facts of life... well maybe not the facts of life... Perfect Strangers, though.. Balky Bartokomous...
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