Call me wrong for this, but I simply don’t think that Seinfeld changed the game about much, other than giving us Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It is fine; it just isn’t my kind of comedy, so whenever Jerr Seinfeld gets on his high horse about what is comedy, I roll my eyes.
Recently, Seinfeld has been in the news because of his new movie Unfrosted—a movie about pop tarts. So you know, the pinnacle of comedy. Seinfeld was talking with The New Yorker when he said that “PC crap” and the “extreme left” are killing comedy. I don’t know, man. My favorite show is about a leftist politician who is trying to change a small town in Indiana. I think maybe he just doesn’t watch good comedies.
“Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it,” Seinfeld said. “It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, MASH is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family is on.’ You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight.’ Well, guess what—where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”
I don’t know what he is actually on about with this, because comedy shows still exist and are great? They’re just on streaming platforms. He also said people are seeing stand-up comedians now because we don’t have comedy TV shows. Saying people are “now going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly. But when you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups—’Here’s our thought about this joke.’ Well, that’s the end of your comedy.”
[Extreme Seinfeld voice] What’s the deal with this take?!
He went on to talk about an episode of Seinfeld that they wouldn’t be able to do now, and … ok? Shows like Abbott Elementary exist and are airing weekly and show how comedy can and should breathe and grow with the times. What Seinfeld wants is to be able to say offensive things and still have a career. I guess dating a teenager when he was almost 40 wasn’t enough for him.
Simply put, Seinfeld thinks that being kind to people is too much to put on a comedian. Stand-ups like John Mulaney have found great success in not insulting people all the time, so maybe Seinfeld is just outdated? Is he mad that shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm have beat out Seinfeld as one of the greatest? What exactly spurred this on?
Anyway, there are plenty of comedies out there that you can watch (both new and old), and sorry that Seinfeld seems to think the “left” ruined comedy.
(featured image: NBC)
