Comment by lqet | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lqet | Hacker News Reader

There are extremely few comedy shows I really enjoy: Arrested Development, Curb you Enthusiasm, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Malcolm in the Middle - and Seinfeld. I think they all have something in common: while they all offer plenty of easy-to-digest but clever short-term jokes, they regularly feature completely unexpected long-term jokes, to great effect.

Seinfeld stands out because they typically achieve this across storylines. A great example (spoiler alert) is Kramer's golfing vs. George's lying in "The Marine Biologist", where the literal act of revealing that the joke was actually a storyline collision got the biggest laugh in the show's history. They sometimes even did it across episodes, for example George's job as a hand model. I think this is one of the main reasons Seinfeld nearly topped the 2013 WGA ranking of the best written TV shows [0].

Larry David became the master of this technique during the 3rd year of Seinfeld, and he further perfected it in "Curb".

[0] https://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-best-wri...

The choreography of the story arcs is something I've realised is almost unique to Seinfeld having revisited it 20-odd years later now that it's on Netflix.

So many episodes are ridiculously dense with memorable moments. "Oh, this is the episode with X, oh, and Y... and Z". They way the storylines intersect and / or peak together is meticulously crafted as well.

And the character Newman, a uniquely beautiful Seinfeldian / Larry Davidian version of evil.

The weird thing is, depending on who's being interviewed, people who worked with Larry David say he either cared about continuity or didn't care about it at all. I've heard both statements, which I was puzzled by. My guess is that he initially didn't care about continuity but by season 3 had come to fully realize that continuity allows you to recycle laughs (in a good way) in other storylines. It also makes the characters seem more real.

I'd guess is that comes from how genuine it all is? The "continuity" doesnt come from "I care about continuity" but just from "This is how these people would act."

Seinfeld is lowest common denominator humor just above duck and fart jokes, and it sells because it’s clean humor. A step up from knock knock jokes. Seinfeld uses a well worn template well.

What I dislike about what you like is the cringe comedy element. I can’t stand it. I far prefer surreal or absurdist comedy, like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or Futurama. Pound for pound 30 Rock is way better written and funnier than Seinfeld. Seinfeld makes Friends seem edgy by comparison imho.

30 Rock is lowest common denominator humor just above duck and fart jokes, and it sells because it’s clean humor. A step up from knock knock jokes. 30 Rock uses a well worn template well. What I dislike about what you like is the cringe comedy element. I can’t stand it. Pound for pound Seinfeld is way better written and funnier than 30 Rock. 30 Rock makes Friends seem edgy by comparison imho.

Seinfeld isn’t lowest common denominator, it’s situational comedy. The genius is almost every human can relate to the jokes but they’re executed at a high level of talent so it’s all elevated. Jokes don’t need to be dark or complex to be “good”. If anything people overly complicate jokes to obfuscate how bad the joke actually is.

I think what you’re describing is anything done my Seth McFarlane, who probably perfected crude “lowest denominator” humor tbh.

> he genius is almost every human can relate to the jokes but they’re executed at a high level of talent so it’s all elevated.

I argue that people who don't think Seinfeld is funny remember it as a show that their parents' watched, and they didn't get the jokes, because they were kids. But if they were to give it a serious shot as an adult, they would enjoy it.

Once you grow up and start interacting with adults, the humor of the show lands. So much of the humor revolves around the petty conflicts we have all the time in adult life.

Jerry's lack of talent compared to everyone else is pretty funny too. I love scenes where you can tell he's holding back laughter while everyone else is nailing it.

I disagree with every single point of this comment. And I'm not even a big Seinfeld fan.

Lol, the real comedy is this comment - I'd think it was a joke itself if I didn't know better.

...And I really like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Futurama! But they aren't particularly highbrow humor compared to Seinfeld.

De gustibus non est disputandum

Seinfeld, clean? Futurama, surreal or absurdist????

As another commenter pointed out, I bet this is from people being a bit young when Seinfeld came out and not getting the humor. I always thought Seinfeld (the show) and Seinfeld (the comedian) were both square and not edgy at all… then I watched both as an adult (40) and they are anything but square. The humor is just smart and subtle.

> just above duck and fart jokes

This comment quacked me up.

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