• @Dex@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    2331 year ago

    What’s funny about this is there’s never been anything edgy about Jerry Seinfeld’s standup act. And as far as Seinfeld goes he was barely involved in the writing. That was all Larry David and other talented writers. Of 180 episodes Jerry Seinfeld had 18 writing credits and all of them were shared with Larry David. Of those 18 credits 5 were in the first season which is undeniably the show’s weakest and most forgettable. Jerry was always just the name. Larry was the talent.

    I guess that’s probably why Larry David just wrapped the final season of Curb this year while never once complaining about “not being allowed to do comedy” anymore like Jerry is. Turns out, you’ve always been allowed to do whatever comedy you like, you just have to actually be funny.

    • @kinsnik@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1081 year ago

      It’s also funny because It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is still airing too, and that is massively more edgy than anything seinfeld ever did.

      I think that the problem is that jerry want to be edgy and still be considered the good guy. Which is not how Curb, IASIP or even the Seinfeld tv show ever was. They always were presented as bad/flawed people doing bad stuff. You 100% can still do that type of comedy. But you can’t do comedy where the characters are supposed to be good but do bad stuff

      • @ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        561 year ago

        It’s also funny because It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is still airing too, and that is massively more edgy than anything seinfeld ever did.

        And that’s always been my argument when it comes to this particular dead horse. I don’t think any jokes are off the table, you just really have to make whatever discomfort you’re summoning be worth the punchline. The edgier something is the more it has to be funny to compensate, the point of offensive humor is to be funny not to offend, right? This has to be common sense. I don’t get how it flies over the head of so many people.

        • @jqubed@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          221 year ago

          There are a lot of people who seem to think offending is all it takes. I think Sam McMurray’s character “Glen” in Raising Arizona, who is constantly telling “jokes” about Polish people being stupid that none of the other characters find funny, is a perfect example of the type.

        • @Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          141 year ago

          Exactly. Either risk it and have a big payoff, or insert a point behind it. Make the audience think after they laugh, or search within themselves why that was funny, or the context behind the joke.

          Or if you go for the edgy or dark joke, and get called out - you rolled that die, live with it. Crying “it’s just a joke” or “comedy is cancelled” after your bit failed to land is hacky

        • pootzapie
          link
          fedilink
          51 year ago

          Same thing with folks who say they are in to the ‘brutal honesty’ thing, it should be about the honesty…essentially it’s about the earnestness of the thing instead of just using comedy/etc as cover to be an asshole (like Chappel).

    • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
      link
      fedilink
      English
      -291 year ago

      Yeah it was absolutely Larry David’s show. But Seinfeld is a genius stand-up comedian in his own right.

      He’s categorically wrong on his conclusion here.

      • @funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        15
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        seinfeld pilot

        You know, why we’re here? [he means: here in the “Comedy club”] To be out, this is out…and out is one of the single most enjoyable experiences of life. People…did you ever hear people talking about “We should go out”? This is what they’re talking about…this whole thing, we’re all out now, no one is home. Not one person here is home, we’re all out! There are people tryin’ to find us, they don’t know where we are. [imitates one of these people “tryin’ to find us”; pretends his hand is a phone] “Did you ring?, I can’t find him.” [imitates other person on phone] “Where did he go?” [the first person again] “He didn’t tell me where he was going”. He must have gone out. You wanna go out: you get ready, you pick out the clothes, right? You take the shower, you get all ready, get the cash, get your friends, the car, the spot, the reservation…There you’re staring around, whatta you do? You go: “We gotta be getting back”. Once you’re out, you wanna get back! You wanna go to sleep, you wanna get up, you wanna go out again tomorrow, right? Where ever you are in life, it’s my feeling, you’ve gotta go.

        seinfeld final episode:

        It seems like whenever these office people call you in for a meeting, the whole thing is about the sitting down. I would really like to sit down with you. I think we need to sit down and talk. Why don’t you come in, and we’ll sit down. Well, sometimes the sitting down doesn’t work. People get mad at the sitting.You know, we’ve been sitting here for I don’t know how long. How much longer are we just going to sit here? I’ll tell you what I think we should do. I think we should all sleep on it. Maybe we’re not getting down low enough. Maybe if we all lie down, then our brains will work.

        …what particularly about these bits is either edgy or genius?

        • @Shardikprime@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          The last office bit is so true specially on Fridays when people have the wonderful idea of pushing to prod, instead of waiting to Monday with all hands available and everything triple checked

        • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
          link
          fedilink
          English
          -61 year ago

          You don’t have to find it funny. Did people laugh at it how and when he said it? If so, it was funny. Too late to cast your vote now. That’s how comedy works.

          • @funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            131 year ago

            I’m just saying that its pretty funny in and of itself that Jerry Seinfeld is like “you can’t say anything in comedy any more” and all his bits are about losing a sock in the washing machine

            • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
              link
              fedilink
              English
              -1
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Yeah he’s obviously wrong about that and lives in N elite bubble. He’s colored by how he saw the left treat Dave Chappelle and Louie CK, for example. But he also saw how the right treated Lenny Bruce and Dice Clay, for example. He should know better that nobody on the left is actually wanting to put comedians in jail for their jokes, that’s exclusively the province of the right.

              Also, this is the daily mail. It’s probably not even real quote.

              • @funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                51 year ago

                Unfortunately for Chapelle and Seinfeld, James Acaster did that bit that absolutely destroyed their whining.

                And Unfortunately for Louis CK, his sex-pest-intimidation is just too memorable.

                Why don’t we mention Michael Richards (Cosmo Kramer) while we’re at it.

                Maybe the issue isn’t “you can’t say anything nowadays” and instead it’s “you can’t say the n-word, the t-slur, and look-its-my-dick-im-jacking-off-at-you nowadays”

                As for Andrew Dice Clay, the man’s schtick was just racism, sexism and pretending to light a cigarette. it was hardly one for the ages.

                And then as for Bruce, yes, him being arrested for saying cocksucker is the only legitimate example of being cancelled for comedy on the list - but also he impersonated a priest and stole donations meant for a leprosy charity, which you’d be cancelled for in 200BC as well as 2024 AD

                • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  -11 year ago

                  I don’t think anyone was “cancelled.” That’s a righty-wing bogeyman word with no definition.

                  Nothing any of these comedians said or did takes away the fact that when they deliver their acts, they bring down the house. They connect with the crowd and the crowd laughs, involuntarily! The crowds are voting with their laughs and any one of these legendary comedians on an average day can play any room and get laughs. You’d be lucky to witness it. Laughing is involuntary. If the crowd is laughing, can’t say the act isn’t funny, that’s some election denying bullshit. You certainly won’t find it funny if you don’t realize it’s an act. Punchlines aren’t true statements of the comedian’s personal point of view or opinion, they are an act. Sometimes the joke is that the thing was even said in the first place.

                  At any rate, all the examples I gave are real things that happened. The three most justifiable shit storms, against Kramer, CK, and to a lesser extent Chappelle, are examples I gave of the left coming after a comedian.

                  Bruce, you agree, is as an example of the right coming after a comedian. You are wrong to lump Dice Clay in with CK and Kramer; Dice Clay cleared the way for comedy as an artform, and, again, the crowds laughed.

                  A better example I’m sure you’ll also agree is not justified is South Africa, where the political right simply banned stand up comedy as a practice. That’s the usual example, too, in far right countries: no laughing allowed!

                  Man, if you can’t find the humor in these people’s acts, not just Seinfeld, but also Dice Clay, or whatever other dirty or sexist or whatever fart jokes you think you’re too whatever to laugh at, all these comics would laugh at your discomfort, which is with one person standing in front of a room full of people and talking for an hour straight. Anyone can buy a ticket. How provocative could it possibly get before they get booed off stage? You should go to a Chappelle set and turn the crowd against him; just explain why he’s not funny like you do online. Should be no problem for you.

      • @suction@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        01 year ago

        Without the show and its success, he wouldn’t be a well known Stand up today. He’s still surfing that wave.

        • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
          link
          fedilink
          English
          -2
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          He was a well-known comic before he did the show. Perhaps not a household name but very few comics ever are. He had already been on Carson like a dozen times, as a stand up in the 80s that’s like the height of fame. You might even say that Seinfeld’s TV show elevated him to a status that no comic had ever before achieved.

          • @suction@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            11 year ago

            Certainly a status he couldn’t have achieved on his own merits. 95% of the people going to his shows go there because they know him through the TV show, not because they’re interested in his stand-up. Nowadays he’s mostly famous for being famous. But a douche, too.

  • @NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1051 year ago

    Weird how these woke kids keep killing comedy while still being the best comedians, and it’s always the ones leaning on their 30+ year old sets that think it’s a problem.

    What is the deal with airline food, anyway?

    • Alien Nathan Edward
      link
      fedilink
      English
      471 year ago

      What’s the deal with time passing? It just happens! You don’t want it to, but it does. One day you’re riding high, one hand on Larry David’s coattails and the other up some high school girl’s skirt. You’re thinking, “I’m gonna be on top forever. Everyone loves me now and it’s always gonna be this way.” Then the next day you’re complaining about woke on a drive time radio show with Kid Rock. What’s his deal anyway? He’s not a rock, or even a kid. He’s a man. He should be called Man Man.

      • @mean_bean279@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        171 year ago

        If you haven’t heard it: Bill Burr Philadelphia Rant.

        Look it up on YouTube. It’s unfortunately a crappy video, but the audio is straight gold. For 30 whole minutes it’s just Burr trashing the audience and Philadelphia and its perfection. Better than any stand up of the last few years because it’s organic and in the moment.

        Bo Burnham is also fantastic if you want something introspective at the same time. Inside, by Bo Burnham was a critical piece of Covid media.

      • @themachine@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        51 year ago

        I have a favorite link that for “full stand up comedy special” on YouTube and new ones pop up like every day. Listen to it on my commute, shower, dishes, etc.

  • @Phegan@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1041 year ago

    As a comedian you either die funny or live long enough to become a reactionary shit bag.

    • @Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      57
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I don’t think he was ever funny. Larry David may have been funny, and Seinfeld was fortunate enough to be involved with the show, but Jerry himself has always been a poor comedian and a tool.

      • Flying Squid
        link
        fedilink
        English
        281 year ago

        I think Seinfeld was pretty funny in the 80s. His style of observational comedy was fresh back then though. Then there were a million Seinfeld copycats and there wasn’t anything special about him anymore.

        The same thing happened with Carlin. So he kept reinventing himself and updating his comedy with the times and that’s why people loved him until the day he died.

        • @thesilverpig@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          151 year ago

          Carlin got better as he got older. His shtick was always tight fast well rehearsed dense sets but he went from mostly irreverent to actually saying something. And he was still able to be so funny while clearly getting so angry.

          • @grrgyle@slrpnk.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            51 year ago

            Carlin was an artist. He could tread that line between offense and enlightening. Like I could sometimes feel my hackles go up watching him, even back in the 90s, but like you said, you really got the feeling like he was trying to communicate something real and important to him. That goes a long way to buying good will and keeping people listening, even as they’re feeling slightly defensive.

            I guess that’s authenticity.

        • @fuzz00713@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          31 year ago

          It was the supporting cast that even gave that movie a chance at being funny. Mathew Broderick, Rip Torn and Patrick Warburton did a lot of heavy lifting.

      • @phx@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        101 year ago

        Honestly, there are a few memorable episodes but most of it was pretty lame IMO.

        The only reason I watched Seinfeld is it was what was on

        • @ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          131 year ago

          The episode where George and Jerry pretend to be the names printed on a limo driver’s placard in order to get a free ride from the airport and end up getting driven to a white supremacist rally was the peak of the show, but after watching Curb Your Enthusiasm it’s pretty obvious whose sense of humor produced that one.

        • @PugJesus@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          71 year ago

          The show was hilarious.

          It’s just that Seinfeld was the least funny cast member in literally every episode.

      • @TwoCubed@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        91 year ago

        Absolutely. He always came off as an arrogant prick and none of his shit was funny to me. But I might have missed many a point because I’m not from the USA.

        • @Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 year ago

          I never liked the show because of him specifically. It’s my understanding that they’re all supposed to be bad people, but this is the same case with Always Sunny and I find the gang to be very likable. I didn’t at first, but they grew on me once I realized they were supposed to be degenerates and sociopaths. But with Seinfeld I have never been able to get over the hump.

      • @suction@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        11 year ago

        He was the least funny and interesting character in “Seinfeld”, too. Even most side characters like George’s parents added more than him.

      • @Coreidan@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        22
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        It means he lacks the ability to reinvent his comedy to fit the times. Instead he just complains.

        We all need to continue to reinvent ourselves over time. Things change. We need to retool for the times ahead. Reality is Seinfeld doesn’t need to because he already made his money.

        So instead of him getting back on the horse he just sits back and complains like the out of touch old turd that he is. He sucks but just can’t accept it or admit it. It’s easier to whine.

        He is a has-been and never will be again.

      • @sparkle@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        19
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        “Reactionary” means regressive conservative/anti-progressive. It originates from, as much political terminology on the regressive vs. progressive divide does (including the terms “left”, “right”, and “conservative” themselves), the French revolution, where people who favored opposing the revolution (i.e. reacting to the revolution) were called “réactionnaires” in French.

        Here’s the first known usage of the word in English, from a 1799 English translation of Lazare Carnot’s letter on the Conspiracy of the 18th Fructador.

        • @aidan@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          -21 year ago

          Interesting, but I often see it used not for people who oppose any form of change, but for people who oppose a specific change. And it’s intended to be more slanderous than conservative.

      • @geissi@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        71 year ago

        Reactionary can be seen as a more extreme version of conservatism.
        Conservatives want to keep things as they are and oppose change.
        Reactionaries want to turn back to some previous, supposedly better state.

    • @TachyonTele@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      401 year ago

      There’s a shit ton of good young comedians. Jerry is an old man telling kids to get off his lawn.

        • @almar_quigley@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          91 year ago

          You should read up on juvenoia (sp?). Vsauce did a great video on the topic. Helps keep you grounded when you struggle with the thoughts of are the kids wrong or am I just out of touch. Spoiler, they are no more wrong than we ever were as kids, and yes we are out of touch with the youth. But it’s all ok as long as you accept that there can be things you don’t understand or that just aren’t meant for you.

    • pachrist
      link
      fedilink
      English
      121 year ago

      Yeah, but Jimmy Carr’s greatest achievement is beating Father Time by transforming himself into a plastic vampire. Jerry Seinfeld’s greatest achievement is making a movie where a bumblebee cucks Kronk.

      I love Kronk, but immortality > bee sex.

        • pachrist
          link
          fedilink
          English
          21 year ago

          Nah, that came from the TV show Seinfeld, which is arguably Larry David’s greatest achievement.

          • @S_204@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            -11 year ago

            Who’s bank account is it in LoL? Cuz at the end of the day, dude’s got a billion dollars and that’s a helluva accomplishment by anyone’s standards.

      • @Gigan@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        -161 year ago

        Chapelle’s special’s have been very controversial. I think people protested about one of them, kind of proving Seinfeld’s point.

        • @ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          10
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Yeah he had a bit about how he believes trans people are gender they claim

          But against Seinfeld’s point; it still got made and is still on streaming platforms

  • livus
    link
    fedilink
    421 year ago

    I somehow did not expect the 17 year old thing to be quite so creepy.

    She was a highschooler who he met in a public park when he was 38. JFC.

    • @BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      211 year ago

      I can understand maybe thinking she was older when he talked to her and then finding out later she was underage and backing off, but he definitely just went for it. Creep.

      • livus
        link
        fedilink
        51 year ago

        Also he only dated her til she got to drinking age!

  • Striker
    link
    fedilink
    English
    411 year ago

    I remember seeing a post on r/agedlikemilk which theorised that Russell Brand was leaning more into right wing talking points in anticipation of the looming rape accusations being made public.

    I wonder if the same thing is happening here.

    • Subverb
      link
      fedilink
      English
      -181 year ago

      I can’t say, but seinfeld has almost a billion dollars. The woman would be a fool not to sue and settle for 10 million or something.

      • @Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        311 year ago

        Yeah, how foolish to demand actual justice in form of a criminal conviction for crimes instead of just letting people get away with it by paying hush money.

  • TubeTalkerX
    link
    fedilink
    401 year ago

    During the first two years of Seinfeld Jerry would stop by The Howard Stern show once a week trying to get the word out about the show. Howard said multiple times when the show takes off and is doing well Jerry would find a reason to stop coming in. Sure enough Robin reported the story of Jerry dating Shoshanna and Jerry stopped coming on.

    Howard kept making fun of this, even sang a song with video intercut during his PPV.

      • Flying Squid
        link
        fedilink
        English
        21 year ago

        I mean… his movie kind of implied he sort of wasn’t? And also that the marriage that ended not long after was a perfect one.

  • Alien Nathan Edward
    link
    fedilink
    English
    391 year ago

    my favorite part of Seinfeld complaining that woke has killed comedy is that Curb Your Enthusiasm just finished a 24 year, 12 season run and their last season has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

      • @Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        31 year ago

        You see, “crackers” means White People. Really, he was trying to start a conversation about race relations. Or was that when Jerry ate a black and white and got sick after comparing the cookie to race relations?

  • Flying Squid
    link
    fedilink
    English
    36
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Jerry, kids aren’t laughing at you because you’re still doing the same style of comedy you did in the 90s and they don’t think it’s funny.

    And I say that as someone who does think he’s funny.

    Edit: I did standup in the 90s too (obviously nowhere near his level). There are many reasons why I don’t do it anymore, but realizing that what I was doing was getting out of date was definitely a factor. Get out when you can and people might still think of you fondly.

    • @TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      161 year ago

      I watched a woman do stand up recently who looked to be in her late 30s/early 40s. All of it was unironically about those stupid millennial kids and how they’re running comedy because they “are woke”. Seriously.

      The material is 20 years out of date and she’s a member of that group (or damn close). I think she stole the act from someone 20 years ago who thought a movie like Tropic Thunder would never get made.

  • @RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    341 year ago

    Far-Right Influencers Celebrate Jerry Seinfeld Once Again Claiming ‘P.C. Crap’ Killed Comedy

    “It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, Cheers is on,” he said in the interview. “‘Oh, M.A.S.H. is on, oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family is on.’ You just expected, there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap and people worrying so much about offending other people. When you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups - ‘Here’s our thought about this joke’ - well, that’s the end of your comedy.”

    So he picks shows that had some racism in them as justification that we should still have racism around for entertainment purposes?

    What an idiot. I’ve heard plenty of comedy that’s funny as hell without being a knuckle dragging buffoon and going after low hanging fruit like racism or making fun of women.

    The clown admits he’s just not creative or smart enough to make decent comedy that isn’t easy cheap shots.

    • Flying Squid
      link
      fedilink
      English
      28
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      So he picks shows that had some racism in them as justification that we should still have racism around for entertainment purposes?

      He also picked shows that were “extreme left” for their time. M*A*S*H was full of left-wing morals and speeches from the pens of both Larry Gelbart and Alan Alda and was savagely critical of an American war against communists while America was still in Vietnam.

      Mary Tyler Moore was about an independent career woman in the 1960s, when women weren’t allowed to have their own credit cards.

      All in the Family was about a conservative racist constantly being shown that the world had moved on from his archaic ideas about the way things should be.

      So what is his issue with the “extreme left” exactly if those were the shows he picked?

      • @A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        10
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Seriously. MASH had episodes around racism, and every time denigrating the racism and the fool perpetuating it. It never pushed a racist message… at least from what my memory can recall all these decades afterwards.

        I think the two that come immediately to mind are racist general who is clearly looney toons asking a black soldier to dance cause its in his blood, properly being demonstrated as off his rocker and crazy to believe such racist bullshit and just a downright mockery of those who think like that.

        and there was the one where the guy didnt want blood from any black person, and they spend the episode fucking with him with makeup and claiming he got the wrong color blood… and the episode ends with him thanking them for giving him something to think about, then salutes a black woman before leaving.

        • @ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          61 year ago

          racist general who is clearly looney toons asking a black soldier to dance cause its in his blood

          Weirdly enough, that role was played by the actor who portrayed Colonel Potter in later seasons.

          • Flying Squid
            link
            fedilink
            English
            41 year ago

            Back when TV was like, “sure, we’ll cast you in the same show in a different role three times.”

            Columbo practically thrived on it. “William Shatner is the murderer again?”

        • @Thrashy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          3
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          MASH also had a Black character in the first season whose nickname was “Spearchucker Jones,” which is supposedly justified by him being a former javelin athlete (which strikes me as coming from the “Quiet has to be dressed in clubwear while doing Serious Military Stuff because she breathes through her skin!” school of poorly-justified writing choices). It also suffers from the conceit of Hawkeye being simultaneously the moral center of the show, and a shameless womanizer whose conquests only exist in the context of the show for as long as it takes him to bed them.

          I love MASH for what it is, but there are aspects of it that are clearly of its era, which we wouldn’t repeat in modern television. I think you can either accept that society has moved on from where it was in the 70s and 80s, or you can be like Seinfeld and be mad that you’re no longer allowed to play sexism and racism for laughs with the perpetrator framed as the good guy.

      • @chiliedogg@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        91 year ago

        MAS*H had an episode in 1974 about the injustice of a decorated soldier having to fear being dishonorably discharged for being a homosexual. That was way, way ahead of its time.

        • @III@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          81 year ago

          And guess what… they went woke and haven’t aired a new episode in DECADES.

          Checkmate libs.

          • Flying Squid
            link
            fedilink
            English
            -31 year ago

            That is utter nonsense. I remember watching it in re-runs more than once.

            Why do people lie about shit like this?

      • @Icaria@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        01 year ago

        So what is his issue with the “extreme left” exactly if those were the shows he picked?

        You could legit just read the screenshot and answer your own question.

        Looks like Jerry is a pretty mainstream liberal who is okay with shows tackling issues of their own volition, but doesn’t appreciate the current production model of everything having to pass through focus groups, committees, and wanker consultants, coming out the other side so impotent and safe that it doesn’t arouse the intellect enough to really make a point or stand for anything specific.

        Like if you watch Disney stuff and think that’s normal, you’re part of the problem.

        • Flying Squid
          link
          fedilink
          English
          51 year ago

          the current production model of everything having to pass through focus groups, committees, and wanker consultants

          Sorry… you think that’s current? It’s always been that way.

          • @Icaria@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            11 year ago

            American television was always known for production interference, but it was mostly from advertisers, bored executives, and censors. Not even close to the same thing, widespread use of focus testing and demographic committees and having 12 different sensitivity consultants is all relatively modern, and that’s on top of most of the traditional interference.

            And you in all likelihood knew all this, but chose to waste our time anyway.

            • Flying Squid
              link
              fedilink
              English
              01 year ago

              That is absolute nonsense. And I do know this because I worked in the entertainment industry for over 10 years. Did you?

              • @Icaria@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                11 year ago

                Ignoring the my-uncle-works-for-microsoft flex for a moment, are you trying to pretend we’re talking about changes that occurred in the last 10 years? Jerry was working in television 35 years ago, and is talking about programmes even prior to that. You probably weren’t even born then.

                It didn’t take long for Lemmy to turn into a carbon copy of reddit, I barely post here and you’re like the third dude in the last day to pull the same sleight of hand by trying to change the argument.

    • @frostysauce@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      91 year ago

      Also his frame of reference is TV shows that aired at specific times. Few people under 60 watch TV like that anymore. Where is the funny stuff? On the fucking streaming services, YouTube, TikTok, etc.

      • @Icaria@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        41 year ago

        Where is the funny stuff? On the fucking streaming services, YouTube, TikTok, etc.

        You may have just made his argument for him. If Ticktok is what passes for comedy today, loud, obnoxious reaction bits from people who think a bad hair day is literal, all delivered in 10 second disposable bytes, yeah nah.

        • @frostysauce@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 year ago

          First of all, that description tells me you’ve never used TikTok. I haven’t either, and fwiw I’m not a fan of TikTok one bit, but from what I hear coworkers listening to and laughing at that is like a telephone game description of it.

          But if tens of thousands of people are laughing with something… Yeah, that’s comedy.

          • @Icaria@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            21 year ago

            You don’t need to use meth to have an informed opinion on it, and dear lord its popularity has no bearing on its value.

            but from what I hear coworkers listening to and laughing at that is like a telephone game description of it.

            No, it is accurate. The three primary sources of inspiration for TikTok videos seems to be Facebook style outrage bait, black american subculture, and anime, which all rely heavily on zany and sassy and dramatic reactions to shit. Every time someone shows me something, I just have to smile and nod to be polite.

            It isn’t by accident, either, every social media platform is designed to appeal to the 14-25 demographic, the rest of us are just stuck along for the ride, and you get exactly the maturity and sophistication you’d expect from that design focus. The short format and pressure to grab people in 0.5 seconds before they scroll past aren’t helping, either.

            • @frostysauce@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              -11 year ago

              I get it, you don’t like TikTok. Again, neither do I but I’m not making it my personality to shit on what others do like.

              • @Icaria@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                01 year ago

                This isn’t about ‘not letting people enjoy things’, you straight up equated tiktok with the likes of MASH, one of Seinfeld’s examples. But lets just pretend we were arguing about something else.

      • @RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        41 year ago

        Never even considered the fact that police procedurals are still the dramatized version of cops’n robbers kids games where good guy and bad guy are obvious and no thought is required. Just get the bad guy, throw them in jail. Seems to suit the simplified version of reality a segment of our population prefers, minus the police brutality the shows generally don’t include.

        • Gloomy
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 year ago

          To be fair, many Youtuber and Tiktokers that are watched alternatively by younger people aren’t intellectual powerhouses presenting super complex content. Not that it’s not there, I have a couple of more informative-ish chanels I like to watch, but there is nothing intellectual challenging watching a video about the speedrun history of kings quest IV.

          • @RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            1
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Lol, nobody suggested that the vapid and shallow content on YT or TikTok had any particular value to it. The point is that procedural dramas have an underlying format popular with an age group that might have an affinity for such a format because it aligns with personal narratives they prefer.

            Unless of course you are suggesting that the generation viewing TikTok and YT are as vapid and shallow as the content they prefer?

            • Gloomy
              link
              fedilink
              English
              11 year ago

              After reading the comment again: yeah, you are right, I missed the point.

              Unless of course you are suggesting that the generation viewing TikTok and YT are as vapid and shallow as the content they prefer?

              No, not what I was suggesting at all.

      • @John_McMurray@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        1
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Did they not? Maybe that’s exactly what he’s talking about. Take a real close look at producer credits and compare those names politicians

    • @feedmecontent@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      11 year ago

      Is this guy actually invoking All in the Family in this discussion? Anyone reading this should find the pilot of All in the Family and watch it right now. That is so much more woke than anything that’s been on TV lately. Yea Archie Bunker used racial slurs, because the era equivalent of a fox news viewer spoke exactly like that at the time and the whole point was to show how backward and ignorant that was. Jerry Seinfeld is ignorant if he is bringing that show up as an example of an era where TV wasnt woke.

  • @PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    281 year ago

    The man defended Kramer after he hurled slurs and abuse at minorities at one of his shows. His opinions on comedy and bigotry are worthless.

  • @suction@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    241 year ago

    Seinfeld is such a douche. Always has been. He should thank God every day that he met Larry David.

  • @the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    241 year ago

    Why would he even be concerned about this? Seinfeld isn’t Richard Pryor or George Carlin, he’s the most milquetoast PG comic out there.

    • @smooth_tea@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      01 year ago

      Why does that matter? Is he wrong? Maybe your insinuation that this is about him is incorrect and he just sees it as a blemish on comedy as a whole? Could it be that he just cares about the profession?

      It’s so peculiar that people would rather argue something irrelevant rather than admit that they agree with someone they don’t like.

      • @the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        21 year ago

        Is he wrong?

        Yes. There’s plenty of politically incorrect comics and they’re thriving. Dave Chappelle took a lot of heat on social media for being transphobic (not even as a joke) and he got 2 Netflix specials out of it.

        • @smooth_tea@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          01 year ago

          We haven’t just gone through a deadly pandemic because many people got ill and survived. It seems that you don’t know what a logical fallacy is.

          • @the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            11 year ago

            Did you really just use a fallacy accuse me of using a fallacy? Ok. Point out a single ‘death’ in the comedy world due to woke culture. Just one. Or, alternatively, give me a single example of how it has negatively affected Jerry Seinfeld’s career.

              • @the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                11 year ago

                Is that really a result of woke culture? If so, it’s been since around long before Matt groening or Jerry Seinfeld were born. They stopped doing minstrel shows over a hundred years ago.

                • @smooth_tea@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  01 year ago

                  You’ve gone from name just one to it’s happening all the time pretty quick. Of course it’s something that’s always been around, but we tend to have the ability to gauge the gravity of a situation and react accordingly to address them. Of course that assumes you’re able to admit there’s an issue in the first place.