Declared openly and even in the show as the "show about nothing" by its creators, this American sitcom of the Nineties nevertheless has it all. At least everything you might expect from an exceptional comedy that succeeds to connect directly with its viewers and at the same time tries to push the envelope of what's feasible to do on television. But however out there "Seinfeld" episodes might seem, they are mostly superbly written, acted with style and often delivered with impeccable comic precision. Especially the writing of the cleverly intertwined plots easily trumps anything comparable American sitcom productions have to offer, as aside from Seinfeld and David the credits range from Peter Mehlman over Carol Leifer to Larry Charles, forming a strong backbone to what constitutes "Seinfeld" as an American TV institution and reliable catch phrase provider.
Based on real-life experience of its writers Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David (both initially stand-up comedians), "Seinfeld" is about a stand-up comedian living in New York named Jerry Seinfeld, played by, duh, Seinfeld himself, and his queer friends, one of them - might sense a pattern - Larry David's alter ego. Even the goofball and border-line insane Kramer character, always out of work, always full with ideas what one should do and shouldn't do, is based on an actual annoying acquaintance of Larry David. And on top of that one of the show's story arcs centers around introducing a "show about nothing" to the NBC executives, just the way Seinfeld and David did in real life. Well, maybe the pitch in the episodes isn't reproduced exactly, but that's the point: Exploit the own life, even the tiniest things, condense it to the funny bits and push the result to the absolute side-splitting limit. Furthermore "Seinfeld" is known for not shunning controversial topics (the award winning masturbation episode comes to mind, homosexuality is elegantly touched upon, even death has a role etc.) It all works as long as it's in good humor and the audience can identify with the characters. And that's what good situation comedy is all about: Funny, identifiable characters in no less hilarious predicaments we can all relate to from own experiences. Turning nothing into something - that's the art of "Seinfeld".
Based on real-life experience of its writers Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David (both initially stand-up comedians), "Seinfeld" is about a stand-up comedian living in New York named Jerry Seinfeld, played by, duh, Seinfeld himself, and his queer friends, one of them - might sense a pattern - Larry David's alter ego. Even the goofball and border-line insane Kramer character, always out of work, always full with ideas what one should do and shouldn't do, is based on an actual annoying acquaintance of Larry David. And on top of that one of the show's story arcs centers around introducing a "show about nothing" to the NBC executives, just the way Seinfeld and David did in real life. Well, maybe the pitch in the episodes isn't reproduced exactly, but that's the point: Exploit the own life, even the tiniest things, condense it to the funny bits and push the result to the absolute side-splitting limit. Furthermore "Seinfeld" is known for not shunning controversial topics (the award winning masturbation episode comes to mind, homosexuality is elegantly touched upon, even death has a role etc.) It all works as long as it's in good humor and the audience can identify with the characters. And that's what good situation comedy is all about: Funny, identifiable characters in no less hilarious predicaments we can all relate to from own experiences. Turning nothing into something - that's the art of "Seinfeld".