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I just watched (x television show here)
Thrillho:
I figured that it might be worth having a thread like we have for movies, but for TV shows that don't warrant a thread of their own.
I've been watching Seinfeld lately, which I had never watched it before.
I find it quite astounding not just how much Friends lifted from it (the latter was called a ripoff by TV critics at the time), but that Seinfeld is ostensibly a show about four complete assholes, but I keep finding them behaving less objectionably than our favourite six cis-hets. I've already become quite invested in the 'Ross sucks, etc.' discourse for the past few years, but it's astounding to me how, for example, George Costanza is concerned about appearing openly homophobic, whereas Ross Geller has no such issue in the entire ten years of his own show.
LeeC:
--- Quote from: Thrillho on 14 Dec 2020, 13:11 ---
I've been watching Seinfeld lately, which I had never watched it before...
...Seinfeld is ostensibly a show about four complete assholes...
--- End quote ---
No spoiler but it gets addressed a few times in the show. Seinfeld was great. It used to come on after the Simpsons and I would watch it. Its been a decade since I've watched the show, but I remember liking it. Its how my sister got her nick name.
Spoiler for season 9 episode 19:
(click to show/hide)George really wants to get a nickname at work, T-Bone. Someone else on the staff beats him to it and gets the nickname from the boss. George later confronts the co-worker and yells at him that he wanted that nickname. He was holding a banana and gesturing wildly. The boss saw this threw a window with the other colleagues and decide to give George the nickname Koko the Monkey, after the famous Koko the sign language gorilla. About 5 minutes after the episode concluded, my sister came down and was giving my dad a hard time about something. She was a rebellious teenager, and I don't remember what the subject was about, but after yelling at my dad about something, only to find out it was an unintentional accident, we jokingly gave her the nick name Koko. She found it funny and it stuck, and we still use it to this day. I found out years later that Coco is also a common nickname for Nicole, which is her real name. Funny that it worked out that way.
--- Quote --- but it's astounding to me how, for example, George Costanza is concerned about appearing openly homophobic, whereas Ross Geller has no such issue in the entire ten years of his own show.
--- End quote ---
Seinfeld is very quotable. I know people that have never seen the show quote that episode whether they realize it or not:
To be clear, I'm not saying Seinfeld paved the way for gay acceptance in the public eye in 1993, but I am sure it was a step in the right direction. Especially compared to some other sitcoms and shows of the time.
Blue Kitty:
I made a list of TV shows I've been meaning to watch and dropped it into a random generator so it would mix them all up. I made it like a year ago and I've only gotten through like 20 shows so far on a list that's over 100 now.
I'm on Cloak and Dagger now and it's pretty great. I couldn't get into The Gifted even after a few episodes, but Cloak and Dagger hooked me right away. My only problem with it right now is it's kind of depressing and who needs to be more depressed right now?
oddtail:
"Seinfeld" is one of those things that a lot of people rave about and I am completely befuddled as to why.
I tried watching it once, and was bored throughout. I don't think I laughed at a single joke. And I don't give up easily - I think I watched three seasons or so before I was certain it wouldn't get better.
When "Seinfeld" is praised, the same points are brought up - mainly that it was revolutionary and completely unlike anything on TV at the time. That it influenced pretty much *all* of TV comedy going forward.
I can believe that, but those shows that "Seinfeld" supposedly influenced? They're actually funny to me, at least some of the time. "Seinfeld" is a group of intensely unpleasant people that I'm supposed to watch for... reasons. It's almost like "they're assholes" is the entire joke, but I honestly can't tell.
I know I'm in the minority here, everyone and their grandma seems to like "Seinfeld". But I do wonder how much of that is nostalgia, because humor tends to age poorly. Or maybe it's that I'm not an American. But I dunno. The show is not just no funny to me. It's aggressively, almost proudly unfunny. It's not even a case of "I get why someone might be amused by this". I think I'm missing what jokes are in there. Maybe something gets lost in translation (culturally speaking, not literally. I obviously watched it in English).
Which is weird, because I've watched at least one standup by Jerry Seinfeld and while he wouldn't even be in my top 20 stand up comedians probably, some of his jokes did at least make me smile, and I gave a mild chuckle once or twice. So clearly, he can make an effective joke.
dutchrvl:
I'm with you Oddtail, and I also wonder how much of it is culture-specific type of humor.
Similar to Seinfeld, which I only on occasion find amusing, I also never found David Letterman's talkshow funny. I appreciated his show for other reasons, but certainly not for the comedy in it. ALways wondered if it's a USA-specific comedystyle that just doesn't appeal to me.
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