Watching Seinfeld for the first time

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Board 8 » Watching Seinfeld for the first time
ctesjbuvf
04/01/2023
11:16 AM
#1
We've been watching it at home. It never got that big in Danmark, so I never watched it on TV. We are now two seasons in, and I can see the first two are shorter than the rest.

Does it get much better?

It's not at all bad. I just haven't really been caught by it either. Season 2 had some alright episodes. I also started feeling the main characters a bit, except Jerry himself, who is a pretty dull lead tbh. Does that change?
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Leonhart4
04/01/2023
11:19 AM
#2
Season 3 is where the show really hits its stride.
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Xeybozn
04/01/2023
11:22 AM
#3
ctesjbuvf posted...
except Jerry himself, who is a pretty dull lead tbh. Does that change?

That never really changes, but everything else really picks up in season 3.
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RikkuAlmighty
04/01/2023
11:32 AM
#4
I just did this earlier this year!

it became easy watching tv for me. Generally amusing, some laugh out loud moments. I can see why it had the cultural impact it did
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UshiromiyaEva
04/01/2023
11:51 AM
#5
A Seinfeld topic where I have to be wary of spoilers makes me uncomfortable lol.

Season 1 and 2 are NOTEABLY weaker than 3 onwards. When I'm picking a random episode on a night to night basis, I typically don't open the tabs for 1 and 2.

2 is stronger than 1 and both have a few all time famous episodes, but there's also a lot of misses by Seinfeld standards. 3 is absolutely where we reach the critical turning point of "no more bad episodes in the series". It's also where they stop trying to pretend Kramer is a human being and he starts to evolve into the cryptid he was always meant to be.
https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
Seanchan
04/01/2023
11:52 AM
#6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpwJE5DEk7U
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
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UshiromiyaEva
04/01/2023
11:56 AM
#7
It's so bizarre going back to some of the earlier episodes, and you've got plot lines like...hey are Jerry and Elaine gonna get back together??

Still trying to pretend it's a show about something and not a show about nothing.

And people say Jerry is the weak link but honestly his presence as the straight man who's still loud and insane himself sometimes is vital.

https://youtu.be/ol4ukdjxdUM

But even this clip shows what a drastically different character Kramer becomes, because this scene with him coming and legitimately apologizing in a down mood and feeling bad is like....who is this lol.
https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
Leonhart4
04/01/2023
11:58 AM
#8
Jerry is a great straight man
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq
https://imgur.com/89Z5jrB
UshiromiyaEva
04/01/2023
11:59 AM
#9
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
Seanchan
04/01/2023
12:05 PM
#10
UshiromiyaEva posted...
But even this clip shows what a drastically different character Kramer becomes, because this scene with him coming and legitimately apologizing in a down mood and feeling bad is like....who is this lol.

Yeah, Kramer was originally supposed to be the building's weirdo who never left his apartment. I'm not even sure it was supposed to be a main role. But then Michael Richards kinda ran with it and the character evolved into what he became.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
pjbasis
04/01/2023
12:19 PM
#11
I like early seinfeld and the more down to earth characterizations, though it does get sharper writing in middle seasons.

Later seasons get a little too goofy
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KamikazePotato
04/01/2023
12:23 PM
#12
I think it's also important to watch Seinfeld with the understanding that it's the originator of a lot of modern comedy. If something on the show feels cliche, it's probably because that's where the cliche started.
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_Blur_
04/01/2023
12:34 PM
#13
I just straight up skipped the first two seasons on my recent rewatch. I think there's actually a lot of stuff in the first two seasons I've never seen, but yeah, season 3 is where it gets good.
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MZero
04/01/2023
12:41 PM
#14
I watched the first three seasons awhile back and kind of stopped but I don't remember why

but anyway Jerry was my favorite of the bunch
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UshiromiyaEva
04/01/2023
12:45 PM
#15
The Robbery is the only S1 episode I still watch sometimes, and it's mostly just for that first half.

There's a few Season 2 episodes I will watch, but at the end of the day a lot of them I would rather just pull up the good clips from the episode on YouTube. Even The Chinese Restaurant, one of the more famous episodes, is mostly held up by nostalgia.

https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
Aecioo
04/01/2023
01:20 PM
#16
Mid run Seinfeld is some of the best TV.

Just understand, as someone else said, the "cliches" you see were most likely started here.
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http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
SeabassDebeste
04/01/2023
03:01 PM
#17
only watched through it once, but i think S4 is very noticeable better than S3, even - and that's where the show becomes GOAT stuff
yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness
ctesjbuvf
04/01/2023
04:38 PM
#18
Oh I haven't minded any cliches or anything.
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FoolFantastic
04/02/2023
10:39 AM
#19
I also happened to watch Seinfeld for the first time this year. The first two seasons were a struggle, but I eventually fell into its rhythms and absolutely love it now that I've finished.
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UshiromiyaEva
04/02/2023
11:22 AM
#20
Oh, I actually do have ONE issue with S3 and on Seinfeld.

For a few seasons in the middle, I forget exactly which, they started pumping in applause box audio every time Kramer first busts into Jerry's apartment in an episode for the first time.

This can get annoying because, again, just feels off for the type of show this is at that point.
https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
Whiskey_Nick
04/02/2023
11:25 AM
#21
Seinfeld is a lot like Simpsons in that the first season is pretty meh, but not bad. Season 2 starts to build and has some good to great episodes.

Season 3 is where both take off with classic after classic after classic.

Seinfeld however ended before it ever started to really decline, while Simpsons is still going somehow.

Actually Married with Children also has sort of the same arc. Season 1 is kinda weird and then it just goes to an insane level of quality until it ends.
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Xeybozn
04/02/2023
11:36 AM
#22
Whiskey_Nick posted...
Seinfeld is a lot like Simpsons in that the first season is pretty meh, but not bad. Season 2 starts to build and has some good to great episodes.

Season 3 is where both take off with classic after classic after classic.

Seinfeld however ended before it ever started to really decline, while Simpsons is still going somehow.

Actually Married with Children also has sort of the same arc. Season 1 is kinda weird and then it just goes to an insane level of quality until it ends.

This is basically every good episodic sitcom. Weird/mediocre first season -> Good/great seasons -> Massive decline unless it ends before that happens
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UshiromiyaEva
04/02/2023
11:45 AM
#23
I don't actually know what Seinfeld would have been like if it had kept going, because honestly on paper some of the episodes in 8 and 9 are absolute dumbass nonsense and feel like shark jumps, but they're some of the best episodes in the entire series. Same with some of the characters introduced. I always forget Putty didn't become a recurring character until near the end of the show, he feels like a staple.

So like...yeah I just don't know how far it would have had to go before the supports fell lit from under it, because it sure felt like those supports were holding strong.
https://twitter.com/OocWTC/status/1348011667976699904?s=19
SeabassDebeste
04/02/2023
04:38 PM
#24
married with children is better early on than later but it's just not as good of a show as the best sitcoms
yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness
pjbasis
04/02/2023
05:57 PM
#25
UshiromiyaEva posted...
they started pumping in applause box audio every time Kramer first busts into Jerry's apartment in an episode for the first time.

Honestly this made me feel like he was kind of an overrated character at the time, even though he's still great.
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Yesmar_
04/02/2023
06:19 PM
#26
I do like that apparently Kramer's 100th entrance is: "I'm out!"
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GranzonEx
04/03/2023
10:27 AM
#27
I don't remember the seasons but I do remember individual episodes. I think the parking garage episode was in one of the first two seasons. Jerry urinating and getting caught is the highlight of those two seasons.

The show improves dramatically when more and more side characters get introduced.
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FoolFantastic
04/03/2023
10:31 AM
#28
GranzonEx posted...
I don't remember the seasons but I do remember individual episodes. I think the parking garage episode was in one of the first two seasons. Jerry urinating and getting caught is the highlight of those two seasons.

The show improves dramatically when more and more side characters get introduced.

It's actually season 3. I think The Chinese Restaurant is the only episode from the first two seasons typically held up as a classic.
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GranzonEx
04/03/2023
10:55 AM
#29
FoolFantastic posted...
It's actually season 3. I think The Chinese Restaurant is the only episode from the first two seasons typically held up as a classic.
I think I know why I thought that episode was early Seinfeld. It's because it had that season 1 orange glint.
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Board 8 » Watching Seinfeld for the first time