Seinfeld - General Discussion

[annzeepark914]

Has anyone here read "Is This Anything?"  It's filled with Seinfeld's notes for stand-ups he did over the years. There is one that makes me burst out laughing each time I re-read it:

"I see they just finished the Roosevelt Island Tramway. That's nice. The city's going bankrupt & they're putting up rides for us. Next thing you know, there'll be a roller coaster through the South Bronx.

That would be the first roller coaster where the people scream on the flat part of the ride."

[RealHousewife]

Some people might find the two shows very different, but for me Seinfeld is a comfort show like The Office. I like that they take somewhat normal characters doing regular things but making them really funny. There are other sitcoms that can get be a little too much about romance, a little heavy, everyone has to be glamorous, etc. With Seinfeld and The Office, I just watch them and feel better about life. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Patrick Warburton is on The  Bachelorette tonight because his nephew is a finalist.

[annzeepark914]

Jeezum...have you ever seen anyone "dance" like this?  I've seen some peculiar moves on the dance floor, but nothing like Elaine 🙄.

[RealHousewife]

2 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Jeezum...have you ever seen anyone "dance" like this?  I've seen some peculiar moves on the dance floor, but nothing like Elaine 🙄.

I know someone whose dance amuses me just as much as Elaine's, but I think posting the gif is against board rules. 

[Kiki777]

I’m such a bad dancer that when I first saw the Elaine dance, I didn’t get why it was so funny.  And even now when I watch, I still kinda love it.  It’s weird but so joyful, like she doesn’t give a crap about anything and is just enjoying life 😆 

[annzeepark914]

24 minutes ago, Kiki777 said:

I’m such a bad dancer that when I first saw the Elaine dance, I didn’t get why it was so funny.  And even now when I watch, I still kinda love it.  It’s weird but so joyful, like she doesn’t give a crap about anything and is just enjoying life 😆 

Just don't ever copy her moves out in public 😎

[Ms Blue Jay]

36 minutes ago, Kiki777 said:

I’m such a bad dancer that when I first saw the Elaine dance, I didn’t get why it was so funny.  And even now when I watch, I still kinda love it.  It’s weird but so joyful, like she doesn’t give a crap about anything and is just enjoying life 😆 

That's awesome!

[Kiki777]

11 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Just don't ever copy her moves out in public 😎

Too late! 🤣😂😂🤣

[annzeepark914]

This may sound delusional, but I *swear* I saw George Costanza, shirtless, riding a motor bike yesterday 😯. I was at a stoplight and he was crossing the intersection with traffic. Uh-oh, Kiki777...just keep an eye out for people on the street, mocking your dance moves 😁.

[Oosala]

On 8/9/2022 at 8:50 AM, Madding crowd said:

My husband just bought me some balm for my sore back and I had to think of this!

My dad LOVED this bit.  He also loved Mr. Bookman.  Overall, he loved the show very much.  He only hated George's parents.  I can see him now, sitting in his recliner, chuckling and saying, "That goddamn George."  My mom also loved the show.  I always thought that was odd because she was a black belt Catholic and she apparently wasn't bothered by all of the unmarried sex.  Thank you (Far From the) Madding Crowd for the memories.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Oosala

[annzeepark914]

Sunday evening there was a Seinfeld-a-rama on the Comedy Channel. It didn't have my favorite episodes but I enjoyed it any way. I love when Estelle & Frank are on, especially together. Stiller said he modeled Frank after his father, who yelled a lot. One of my favorite Estelle scenes is when she's in the hospital trying to get George (who's, ahem, a bit distracted) to go to a deli & get her some food. "I'm starving!"

[cleo]

I just watched the Library ep. It was so good. 

Also that season had the Pen, went Jerry and Elaine went down to Florida. Elaine yelling Stella through the senior condo event was great.

[Oosala]

6 minutes ago, cleo said:

Elaine yelling Stella through the senior condo event

One of my favorites.  She really gets into the role.  If you look closely, you will see some of the rest of the cast trying to hold back laughter while watching Elaine, especially Jerry's mom.

And let's face it folks.  Any episode with Jack Klompus in it is a winner.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Oosala

[annzeepark914]

19 minutes ago, Oosala said:

One of my favorites.  She really gets into the role.  If you look closely, you will see some of the rest of the cast trying to hold back laughter while watching Elaine, especially Jerry's mom.

And let's face it folks.  Any episode with Jack Klompus in it is a winner.

Stelllaaaaahhhh.  Elaine held her own with those three guys (+ all those incredibly *outrageous* talented character actors) which was a major accomplishment. Even the subtle character actors, like Elaine's father, Alton Benes, who scared everyone by stealing a prop knife (there must've been more to this story👀).

[annzeepark914]

19 hours ago, cleo said:

I just watched the Library ep. It was so good. 

Also that season had the Pen, went Jerry and Elaine went down to Florida. Elaine yelling Stella through the senior condo event was great.

I believe the pen episode was the only one that didn't feature all four stars. Jason was so annoyed, he let Larry know if they did that again (run an episode w/o him in it), he was outta there.  IMO, that was quite arrogant of JA. No one ever heard of this guy until Seinfeld, yet he's making threats to the creators. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Elaine wasn't in the pilot.  Kramer is not in The Pen and The Chinese Restaurant.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[DrSpaceman73]

22 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I believe the pen episode was the only one that didn't feature all four stars. Jason was so annoyed, he let Larry know if they did that again (run an episode w/o him in it), he was outta there.  IMO, that was quite arrogant of JA. No one ever heard of this guy until Seinfeld, yet he's making threats to the creators. 

He was a well known Broadway actor, tony award winning, and was in pretty woman before Seinfeld.  He wasn't a list recognizable but he was well known in the acting community and well respected.   Not some struggling unknown  who had to be pushed around by any means.  

In fact pre Seinfeld he was probably the most successful and best known actor of the main 4 group.I can see why he'd be mad.  And I've heard that story repeated many times.  

[annzeepark914]

"Jackie Chiles" is in a new commercial for some type of snack. I was busy reading emails and heard a familiar voice (& cadence). Looked up & there he was, in his office chair, yakking to himself while eating some treat out of a bag. Maybe taco chips??? Seinfeld lives on through its re-runs and via its hilarious characters.  

[Bastet]

36 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

"Jackie Chiles" is in a new commercial for some type of snack. I was busy reading emails and heard a familiar voice (& cadence). Looked up & there he was, in his office chair, yakking to himself while eating some treat out of a bag. Maybe taco chips??? Seinfeld lives on through its re-runs and via its hilarious characters.  

Yeah, earlier this summer Snyder's released the first one (they're for pretzel pieces) with a real phone number, entering you in a sweepstakes for pretzels for life:

along with two other commercials; this one:

and this one:

and there was a new one released last month:

[Kiki777]

Ooh those are good! Growing up we always had the honey mustard ones in the house.

[annzeepark914]

I'm always now searching for a Seinfeld rerun & have 4 channels I check out (one is the Comedy Channel...a/k/a  round-the-clock-The Office channel 🙄). Unfortunately, most of these  episodes are ones I consider "meh". But as I was watching a good one, Little Kicks, last night, I realized that this episode has two great scenes: Elaine's unique dancing at the company party, and scary Rodey's request to Kramer to borrow his baseball bat. Wish they had used this character more. 

[Cobb Salad]

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I'm always now searching for a Seinfeld rerun & have 4 channels I check out (one is the Comedy Channel...a/k/a  round-the-clock-The Office channel 🙄). 

Sometimes when I’m looking for something to watch I’ll tune in to the ones on Comedy Central - lately it seems like given my timing it seems like when I check again it’s a bunch of episodes I think I’ve just seen recently.  I’m not sure if they’re cycling through them quickly or they’re showing the same batch of episodes over and over again.  There are some late season episodes they’ve shown lately that I do like to watch though.  

[annzeepark914]

I think it's the same ones over & over. After Larry David left, the shows got sillier (goofier). JS acknowledged, in a recent interview, that LD would never have given the OK to many of them. 

[mmecorday]

Quote

Stelllaaaaahhhh.  Elaine held her own with those three guys (+ all those incredibly *outrageous* talented character actors) which was a major accomplishment. Even the subtle character actors, like Elaine's father, Alton Benes, who scared everyone by stealing a prop knife (there must've been more to this story👀).

I don't like this episode because you can feel how uncomfortable the actors are around Lawrence Tierney. But I love George's deliver of the line "He's in the bathroom."

Quote

And let's face it folks.  Any episode with Jack Klompus in it is a winner.

I feel the same way about Kenny Bania. "Hey, Jerry! How's it goin'?"

[annzeepark914]

2 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I don't like this episode because you can feel how uncomfortable the actors are around Lawrence Tierney. But I love George's deliver of the line "He's in the bathroom."

I feel the same way about Kenny Bania. "Hey, Jerry! How's it goin'?"

I saw the scene in the hotel lobby differently--that Jerry & George were intimidated by a grouchy, old, famous writer who didn't have a sense of humor. I always laugh at how they revert to acting like nervous kids around Alton. I now like to growl, in a Noo Yawk accent, "I'm goin' to da batroom". 

Love Bania! I read somewhere, a while back, that when this actor saw others trying out for this role, he knew he needed to approach it differently (not as a typical fellow comedian admirer of Jerry, but as a cheerful, overly exuberant type of young comedian).

We just learned that we have a new greatniece. Her name is Stella so you know my daughter & I are having fun yelling, Stelllaaaaahhhh!!

[DrSpaceman73]

17 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I don't like this episode because you can feel how uncomfortable the actors are around Lawrence Tierney. But I love George's deliver of the line "He's in the bathroom."

I feel the same way about Kenny Bania. "Hey, Jerry! How's it goin'?"

That's gold Jerry!

The bania episodes are the best. 

[Oosala]

Funny how we see things differently.  The episodes with Kenny Bania make me nervous.  I can't stand his pandering and general wuss-like behavior, insisting they go to Mendy's for the meal.  Maybe it's because my mom hated Bania so I do too.  Ah well.  To each their own.

[Cobb Salad]

For me Bania is best in small doses.  That initial episode where he gives Jerry the suit I found him borderline annoying even though the situation Jerry was in was completely relatable to me…honestly don’t we know someone who has tried to take more advantage of an opportunity that they initially wasted?  I did like his appearance during the Soup Nazi episode, it was icing on the cake.

I saw the actor in a movie around the same time and couldn’t believe it was the same guy.

[annzeepark914]

4 minutes ago, Oosala said:

Funny how we see things differently.  The episodes with Kenny Bania make me nervous.  I can't stand his pandering and general wuss-like behavior, insisting they go to Mendy's for the meal.  Maybe it's because my mom hated Bania so I do too.  Ah well.  To each their own.

Yup. So, you & Jerry have something in common. Bania gets on your last nerve(s)😄. 

[MagnusHex]

On 3/12/2021 at 1:17 AM, annzeepark914 said:

I've heard that you either love Seinfeld or Friends, but not both.

I don't like that kind of analogy that leans on extreme ends of the truth. It generalizes people in an unrealistic and disingenuous way. I'm up to season 3 of Seinfeld now and I liked it a lot more than season 1 (in spite of my earlier claims of liking Friends). The statement itself has some truth to it, since I do find Seinfeld to be funnier than Friends, but it's also built on the assumption that you could only like dumb or smart writing, not both. I know people who like Michael Bay films and David Fincher/Paul Thomas Anderson films. They are open-minded enough to find appeal in popcorn fun like Transformers and your more artsy There Will Be Blood. I remember being dismissive of my classmates who liked Transformers during college... Yeesh, I was a pretentious jerk. But I came to learn about the appeals of comfort food shows.

My last episode for Seinfeld was The Suicide... Phew. Try airing that today. I kinda like that Jerry still maintains that kind of blunt attitude even while he's being interviewed though, not holding back in calling out the interviewers' BS and condescending questions.

Edited October 28, 2022 by MagnusHex

[DrSpaceman73]

I like friends. But Seinfeld is great. One if the best.

I watched them both in their original run snd they were on the same network the same night, two of the top rated shows.  So I dont think it's true you like one or the other. 

[Bastet]

This just came up in conversation with a friend, one of my favorite moments from Elaine:

[RealHousewife]

What do you all think of this?

I think a fit body is beautiful personally. Also, there is a lot "utilitarian" about women's bodies. A lot of it is baby-related. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I love Elaine, but I've always hated that comment.  Just screams "This was written by a man".  It's just so boring to have the opinion about bodies that patriarchal society already has, and I don't believe for one second that a woman like Elaine would feel that way.  If she did, why would she go after himbo Puddy a million times?  She obviously loved him for the sex, not his intelligence. LOL.

2 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I think a fit body is beautiful personally. 

I think men's bodies are beautiful even when they are not fit.

[RealHousewife]

2 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I love Elaine, but I've always hated that comment.  Just screams "This was written by a man".  It's just so boring to have the opinion about bodies that patriarchal society already has, and I don't believe for one second that a woman like Elaine would feel that way.  If she did, why would she go after himbo Puddy a million times?  She obviously loved him for the sex, not his intelligence. LOL.

I see what you mean. Women's bodies are constantly exploited for everything, and I've heard the argument, well women's bodies are just more beautiful. To whom? Straight men? Places like Hooters feel very patriarchal to me. Women may not be as visual, but most of us still appreciate the male body, and gay men certainly do. I also think it sounds misandrist to put down men's bodies like that. I can get annoyed by the objectification of women, but I'd find it hurtful if a man just said women's bodies were plain hideous.

So Elaine really doesn't appreciate a man who's tall, strong, has amazing muscles, broad shoulders, none of that? And even if it isn't someone who's such a stud, I'd never laugh at my partner's body. I think that's messed up. 

and lol exactly! 

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

So Elaine really doesn't appreciate a man who's tall, strong, has amazing muscles, broad shoulders, none of that? And even if it isn't someone who's such a stud, I'd never laugh at my partner's body. I think that's messed up. 

and lol exactly! 

Elaine was portrayed as a very sexual woman who dated a lot, just like the other 3 main characters.  She obviously enjoyed men and sex.   I can understand a more prim or asexual character speaking like that, maybe.  But Elaine?  It makes no sense.  She's almost like a Samantha Jones character.  Would you ever hear Samantha saying anything but extremely lovingly complimentary things about the male form?  Never, ever, ever, ever.  She often waxed poetic about how much she loved men and men's bodies.  That's the kind of character we need to see more of.  It's so subversive.

Some men hate to hear how beautiful women find men's bodies, but sorry!  Some of us do, deal with it!  And some of us don't want to have nude women's bodies shoved in our faces all the time. I've heard the argument that people don't want to see sex in movies anymore.  It's not that at all. I think it's more like women standing up and saying we're sick of seeing the female form being objectified again and again.  It's so boring!

I love Seinfeld, but sometimes, Jerry and Larry's really regressive viewpoints come through on the show, like "Men's bodies are ugly" or "Going out dancing is stupid".  It's just such a boring old school viewpoint, so narrow minded.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[RealHousewife]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Elaine was portrayed as a very sexual woman who dated a lot, just like the other 3 main characters.  She obviously enjoyed men and sex.   I can understand a more prim or asexual character speaking like that, maybe.  But Elaine?  It makes no sense.  She's almost like a Samantha Jones character.  Would you ever hear Samantha saying anything but extremely lovingly complimentary things about the male form?  Never, ever, ever, ever.  She often waxed poetic about how much she loved men and men's bodies.  That's the kind of character we need to see more of.  It's so irreverent.  

Some men hate to hear how beautiful women find men's bodies, but sorry!  Some of us do, deal with it!  And some of us don't want to have nude women's bodies shoved in our faces all the time. Ohhhh they hate that viewpoint too.  I've heard the argument that people don't want to see sex in movies anymore.  It's not that at all. I think it's more like women standing up and saying we're sick of seeing the female form being objectified again and again.  It's so boring!

I love Seinfeld, but sometimes, Jerry and Larry's really regressive viewpoints come through on the show, like "Men's bodies are ugly" or "Going out dancing is stupid".  It's just such a boring straight white male viewpoint, so narrow minded.

I never thought of Elaine as similar to Samantha, but you're right. Did she just shut the lights out and enjoy the way a man could make her feel? It is definitely inconsistent to love sex and men but find men hideous to look at. I loved the way Samantha waxed poetic about men. She especially loved Richard's body. 

Not to get too OT, but I think Sex & the City was such a hit because it was so groundbreaking as a show. Yes it was often about sex, but not in a way that's centered around straight male sexual desire, which is indeed cliche and boring for a lot of us. 

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think men's bodies are beautiful even when they are not fit.

You're right. I still think they're beautiful too, but I think a fit body in general is most beautiful, whether it's a man's or a woman's.

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

I never thought of Elaine as similar to Samantha, but you're right. Did she just shut the lights out and enjoy the way a man could make her feel? It is definitely inconsistent to love sex and men but find men hideous to look at. I loved the way Samantha waxed poetic about men. She especially loved Richard's body. 

Think about the infamous episode, "The Contest", where JFK Jr. joins Elaine's gym.  PERFECT subplot with the PERFECT man at the PERFECT time!  She was so horny over him and rightfully so!  It made so much sense and it didn't feel false at all.  I'm sure every straight woman watching the show could relate to that.  There is no way she thought his body was ugly puuuhhleeeeeeeeeeeaze.

One of the major points was that her friend, the aerobics instructor or whatever, put Elaine in a special spot in the class so she could look at "John John's butt."

Edited November 13, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[annzeepark914]

Well, today I had a sort of Seinfeldian experience. My cashier at Wegmans was a nice chatty fellow, but there was something familiar about him. It wasn't until I got home that I realized who he reminded me of: the admirer of Elaine who created art out of Frank Costanza's TV Guide. Seinfeld had *the best* character actors!

[annzeepark914]

It's a Seinfeld afternoon & evening (until midnight) on the Comedy channel. 

[iarwain]

On 11/12/2022 at 8:49 PM, RealHousewife said:

I think a fit body is beautiful personally. Also, there is a lot "utilitarian" about women's bodies. A lot of it is baby-related. 

An interesting point.  But a lot of the "baby-related" aspects also serve to make the female body attractive.  I've always found Elaine's comments on the male body in that episode to be interesting (partly because they echo my own thoughts), and I wonder who wrote them?  From what I can find, the episode was written by Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jennifer Crittenden.