Rewind: 'Seinfeld'
The "show about nothing" that was Seinfeld remains to this day as one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. Starring Jerry Seinfeld as a version of himself, Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes and Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer, this foursome brought outrageous comedy into the living rooms of fans for 9 seasons, ending in 1998.
I still remember my dad hosting a Seinfeld finale viewing party for his friends. My stepdad had sported a sweet Kramer t-shirt in the mid 90s. Everywhere you went, people were quoting the show. The show remains in syndication today and can usually be seen on TBS for at least an hour daily.
Created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, 'Seinfeld' took a group of 4 people living in New York and followed their escapades in their daily lives. Their general indifference for the well-being of each other and for strangers was what made the show special. There were no heart-to-heart, touchy-feely moments, no sad sappy emotional speeches. Just our characters showing a different side of humanity in a unique way.
With colorful side characters like Newman (Wayne Knight), Mr. & Mrs. Costanza (Estelle Harris & Jerry Stiller), and so many more, the beauty of the show was in its character interactions. With pet names for people like 'The Soup Nazi', 'The Bubble Boy' and 'The Virgin', each episode was rounded out with fun auxiliary characters that made for entertaining episodes.
Though the "show about nothing" mainly focused on stand-alone episodes with not too much of a forward-moving storyline, there were instances with episodes requiring continuation and many references and callbacks to past events. The series featured many guest stars like Bryan Cranston, Debra Messing, Keith Hernandez and many from Larry David himself.
'Seinfeld' was a cultural phenomenon and would be the starting point for Larry David's later show 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'; a 'Seinfeld'-esque show featuring Larry playing a version of himself and even trying to recreate a 'Seinfeld' reunion in later seasons.
'Seinfeld' remains as one of my favorite shows of all time, I continue to watch it and reference it to this day...yada yada yada.
