Seinfeld: A Show About Nothing With Something For Everyone

Jerry Seinfeld, a New York-born comedian, had little interest in doing a television show when he was approached by NBC in 1988 for a creative meeting. Unhappy with his small recurring role on the television show ‘Benson’, he felt it was a limited medium and not suitable for his brand of comedy. He had already appeared several times on the ‘Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson and an HBO special on Rodney Dangerfield, which gave him enough publicity to earn a living on the traveling comedy circuit.

However, after some negotiations with NBC, Jerry agreed that he and his good friend and fellow comedian Larry David would create a pilot for a television show that would blur the lines between fact and fiction, showing footage of Seinfeld performing between scenes. of a fictional version. of his life, expanding on or showing how Seinfeld got the inspiration for the act from him.

Initial reactions to the pilot were bad. People said he was too Jewish, too New Yorker, and ironically too attractive to young adults. However, Rick Ludwin, the champion of Seinfeld on NBC, ordered the show for 4 additional episodes. These episodes were highly rated as they aired after ‘Cheers’, and the show was commissioned for a 12-episode second season, slowly becoming a cult hit with late-night TV audiences and breaking into the Top 30 ratings on Nielsen in season 4.

Seemingly a show about nothing aside from footage of Jerry onstage, the show relied heavily on dialogue and astute observations to become the first TV series since ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ to be widely described as postmodern. For example, one episode is set in the lobby of a Chinese restaurant where three of the main characters are waiting for a table. Set in real time, the episode’s humor is driven by the increasing desperation of the characters waiting for a table, since they must then go to the movies, as well as neurotic obsessions about their personal lives discussed while they wait. .

The main characters were four thirty-something bachelors: Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine, with no roots, vague identities, and a conscious disregard for morality. They often got involved in the lives of others, usually with disastrous results. However, despite the damage caused, they never grew from their experiences and continued to be selfish and self-centered people. This notion was completely at odds with other American sitcoms at the time, which often ended with a lesson in morality. Regardless of this, audiences were drawn to the dialogue and the somewhat absurd and neurotic approach to the everyday situations and conflicts the characters would find themselves in.

From season 4 onwards, the show achieved meteoric levels of success and by the end of its 9 years was the most watched show in the US, with 75 million viewers tuning in for the series finale. All of the actors on the show identified with their characters to the general public. This was a new level of success for the hitherto unknown actors, especially Jerry, who became the first person to obtain a Black AmEx credit card and even graced the cover of Time magazine when he announced the end of production. of the program.

Although fans and critics would have liked to see Seinfeld continue, by ending on a high note, Seinfeld avoided jumping the shark like many of his contemporaries, and left behind an immaculate legacy that would go on to influence other critically acclaimed and hit shows like ‘ Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘Arrested Development’.