Good piece, even though I don't think Seinfeld and Gervais belong in the same analysis.
I dragged myself through the entirety of Gervais' completely misnamed Armageddon. His big sin wasn't the non stop complaining, it's that he wasn't funny. At all. Any comedian who keeps stopping to explain his own alleged jokes is announcing a tutorial in unfunny. Even his scant mentions of supposed contemporary topics were stale and unfunny. The entire set was a guy being humourless and self absorbed. Gervais is good with a script, but his stand up specials aren't entertaining.
Unlike Gervais, Seinfeld can name drop contemporary comedians whose work he admires, and he doesn't pump out Netflix specials just for the sake of being seen and paid. The special you mentioned was a reminisce, so maybe answering machines were consistent with the theme. I haven't watched it, so I don't know.
Seinfeld, the show, did in fact have a lot of episodes that wouldn't pass the contemporary taste test, so it's true that some of their scripts were of their time - this is true of a lot of the arts, it's not special to his show. What's remarkable is how well the show has held up with age.
Seinfeld complaining in an interview isn't the same as Gervais making it his life's work. Besides, for Seinfeld, it was odd, because his complaint about the left (why is the left always blamed, when the right is so utterly humourless) could only relate to other comedians, not his own work, and he knows it, he's a smart man. Perhaps he was playing to the audience, telling them what they wanted to hear, an odd misstep.
All good points. I did think while putting this together that I might need more space to properly synthesize the two main points I was trying to make, which do seem a little divorced from each other. If I can gather my thoughts on this properly I might expand on it later--I've wanted for a while, also, to write about right wing comedy and why it's such a garbage fire.
I didn't think there was any right wing comedy, someone will need to point it out for me. 😁
All satire seems to come from the left.
I think of Trump, with his frequent 'I'm only kidding' disclaimer which, disturbingly, I've seen taken as a true statement in American media - he's never kidding, he's wholly humourless. He's emblematic of the right.
Thus my bemusement about the left always being accused of being the wet blankets, the humourless, the dour.
"Seinfeld, the show, did in fact have a lot of episodes that wouldn't pass the contemporary taste test, so it's true that some of their scripts were of their time - this is true of a lot of the arts, it's not special to his show. What's remarkable is how well the show has held up with age."
My mom just sent me an article about Seinfeld getting cancelled and it included some samples of his 'humor' and I honestly couldn't tell if the article was satire or not. The jokes weren't offensive, but they were so comedically weak too, which has me thinking nobody laughs at his jokes for a different reason than he thinks...
You dealt some psychic damage to me just now. I knew Seinfeld ended a long time ago but I actually didn't realise it was pre 9/11.
I misspoke with "modern era" I think--I was trying to express modern as compared to the stuff Jerry was talking about in his interview. Stuff like MASH. But the passage of time beats us all to a pulp now and then.
Yeah .. I know .. and agree .. pulling your leg since my love is forever pointing out that I should really update my cultural references to at least this century. Since it is nearly 25 percent over, I guess she has a point. Just made a change to call someone else out … psychic damage aside.
You can throw Dave Chappelle onto this pile. A guy who once gave us Clayton Bigsby, the World’s Only Black White Supremacist, but now makes tired, lame, hackneyed jokes about trans folks and whines about the fact that most people find them to be exactly what they are - tired, lame and hackneyed. What is he on now his third Netflix "special" hammering the same bent nail?
I actually remember Lenny Bruce getting thrown in the tank because of his comedy. Maybe when the “liberal fascists”make Ricky and Jerry spend do time for their skits, I can take their agita seriously.
There are issues within trans .. and LBG.. that are worth pointing out.. the implications if gender fluidity for women and minors unable to give informed consent.. identitarianism is riddled with self righteousness and wokism with conceit...
But it seems the tactics of either extreme is absolutes.
Seinfeld is a prime example of why I believe standup comedy is dead. Every time someone doing it gets some success, their head swells up + they gotta start lecturing folks on why Their Voices Are Important. And because the comedy business is bursting full of profoundly horrible people, a lot of their horrible opinions come out of the mouths of the most famous comedians. That's who they have meetings with; + play golf with, after all.
Whew, read nearly to the end and had to back out to look something up and lost the article. Finally found it again. Wonderful article, and a fabulous way at calling these comedians out.
bless you for adding George Carlin at the end
It would be an unforgivable oversight not to
That was really, really, good. I don’t have a clever way to say that cuz it’s too early in the day and I haven’t had enough caffeine yet.
I'm the most understanding man you'll ever meet on the topic of too early/no caffeine
Good piece, even though I don't think Seinfeld and Gervais belong in the same analysis.
I dragged myself through the entirety of Gervais' completely misnamed Armageddon. His big sin wasn't the non stop complaining, it's that he wasn't funny. At all. Any comedian who keeps stopping to explain his own alleged jokes is announcing a tutorial in unfunny. Even his scant mentions of supposed contemporary topics were stale and unfunny. The entire set was a guy being humourless and self absorbed. Gervais is good with a script, but his stand up specials aren't entertaining.
Unlike Gervais, Seinfeld can name drop contemporary comedians whose work he admires, and he doesn't pump out Netflix specials just for the sake of being seen and paid. The special you mentioned was a reminisce, so maybe answering machines were consistent with the theme. I haven't watched it, so I don't know.
Seinfeld, the show, did in fact have a lot of episodes that wouldn't pass the contemporary taste test, so it's true that some of their scripts were of their time - this is true of a lot of the arts, it's not special to his show. What's remarkable is how well the show has held up with age.
Seinfeld complaining in an interview isn't the same as Gervais making it his life's work. Besides, for Seinfeld, it was odd, because his complaint about the left (why is the left always blamed, when the right is so utterly humourless) could only relate to other comedians, not his own work, and he knows it, he's a smart man. Perhaps he was playing to the audience, telling them what they wanted to hear, an odd misstep.
All good points. I did think while putting this together that I might need more space to properly synthesize the two main points I was trying to make, which do seem a little divorced from each other. If I can gather my thoughts on this properly I might expand on it later--I've wanted for a while, also, to write about right wing comedy and why it's such a garbage fire.
I didn't think there was any right wing comedy, someone will need to point it out for me. 😁
All satire seems to come from the left.
I think of Trump, with his frequent 'I'm only kidding' disclaimer which, disturbingly, I've seen taken as a true statement in American media - he's never kidding, he's wholly humourless. He's emblematic of the right.
Thus my bemusement about the left always being accused of being the wet blankets, the humourless, the dour.
"Seinfeld, the show, did in fact have a lot of episodes that wouldn't pass the contemporary taste test, so it's true that some of their scripts were of their time - this is true of a lot of the arts, it's not special to his show. What's remarkable is how well the show has held up with age."
This is incredibly well said. Thank you.
Carlin is unique in that both the left & right claim him as one of theirs!
My mom just sent me an article about Seinfeld getting cancelled and it included some samples of his 'humor' and I honestly couldn't tell if the article was satire or not. The jokes weren't offensive, but they were so comedically weak too, which has me thinking nobody laughs at his jokes for a different reason than he thinks...
Thankyou .. great piece … and no hint of irony knocking Seinfeld for the 911 reference and a few lines down writing
I’ll admit that I do very much love Seinfeld, the sitcom, and I think it deserves its reputation as one of the best sitcoms of the **modern era.**
(My bold) Seinfeld’s run ended three years before 911.
You dealt some psychic damage to me just now. I knew Seinfeld ended a long time ago but I actually didn't realise it was pre 9/11.
I misspoke with "modern era" I think--I was trying to express modern as compared to the stuff Jerry was talking about in his interview. Stuff like MASH. But the passage of time beats us all to a pulp now and then.
Yeah .. I know .. and agree .. pulling your leg since my love is forever pointing out that I should really update my cultural references to at least this century. Since it is nearly 25 percent over, I guess she has a point. Just made a change to call someone else out … psychic damage aside.
Carlin was brilliant💕 My all time favorite Carlin monologue is this: The American Dream. He absolutely nails it.
https://youtu.be/-54c0IdxZWc?si=vMmYW2vrvafK68ed
Yes!! Thank you for that
You're welcome😊
“As I said in my recent t.v. interviews, on my twitter feed, in a number of newspaper columns, and in my new book - I have been SILENCED!”
You can throw Dave Chappelle onto this pile. A guy who once gave us Clayton Bigsby, the World’s Only Black White Supremacist, but now makes tired, lame, hackneyed jokes about trans folks and whines about the fact that most people find them to be exactly what they are - tired, lame and hackneyed. What is he on now his third Netflix "special" hammering the same bent nail?
I actually remember Lenny Bruce getting thrown in the tank because of his comedy. Maybe when the “liberal fascists”make Ricky and Jerry spend do time for their skits, I can take their agita seriously.
When has it been easy to do comedy? Never. These people are just weak.,
There are issues within trans .. and LBG.. that are worth pointing out.. the implications if gender fluidity for women and minors unable to give informed consent.. identitarianism is riddled with self righteousness and wokism with conceit...
But it seems the tactics of either extreme is absolutes.
Maybe they should know their audience better….
As soon as Legion of Skanks gets cancelled, then I will start to agree that comedians aren’t allowed to do comedy in the US.
Seinfeld is a prime example of why I believe standup comedy is dead. Every time someone doing it gets some success, their head swells up + they gotta start lecturing folks on why Their Voices Are Important. And because the comedy business is bursting full of profoundly horrible people, a lot of their horrible opinions come out of the mouths of the most famous comedians. That's who they have meetings with; + play golf with, after all.
Whew, read nearly to the end and had to back out to look something up and lost the article. Finally found it again. Wonderful article, and a fabulous way at calling these comedians out.