Seinfeld on All4

[Puce Moment]

OK, so some of the stand-up used in the show IS from his act at the time. Thanks for clearing that up.

[olliebean]

They're meant to be shit. That's the joke.

If they were meant to be shit, surely his real stand-up would be noticeably better?

[magval]

Sounds like something to say to be able to say that Seinfeld is 100% successful, a caveat, but it's bullshit. It's not meant to be shit. If you think it's shit, it's because it's shit.

It's not shit, though. I like Jerry's standup. Don't get the accusations of hackiness and don't see why something basic, gimmick free and clean is so often completely dismissed, especially here on a comedy website where Seinfeld is almost never defended as a standup.

[olliebean]

Well, whether you like his stand-up or not, the point is that there's no significant difference in quality between what he does in the show and what he does as an actual real-life stand-up. So it follows that his stand-up in the show is not deliberately shit.

[EOLAN]

And he is a reasonably successful jobbing comedian. Getting the odd spots on national Late Night Shows; travel spots and living quite comfortable. Probably like Seinfeld himself was around early-mid 80s. Mind you; he can't be comparable to someone like Keith Hernandez. 

[Puce Moment]

Well, whether you like his stand-up or not, the point is that there's no significant difference in quality between what he does in the show and what he does as an actual real-life stand-up. So it follows that his stand-up in the show is not deliberately shit.

Quite.

[BeardFaceMan]

Sounds like something to say to be able to say that Seinfeld is 100% successful, a caveat, but it's bullshit. It's not meant to be shit. If you think it's shit, it's because it's shit.

It's not shit, though. I like Jerry's standup. Don't get the accusations of hackiness and don't see why something basic, gimmick free and clean is so often completely dismissed, especially here on a comedy website where Seinfeld is almost never defended as a standup.

Indeed. I think the main reason people call it hacky is because there were so many imitators of that style because of Seinfeld, that type of comedy was then everywhere and it soon became tiresome, especially when it's not done as well as he does it. But that's like blaming Vic & Bob for The Mighty Boosh, you can't be blamed for the shite you inspire.

[famethrowa]

I thought his response was more conciliatory than he needed to be, considering it was a comedy show and all.

Agreed. You got zinged by a guy famous around the world for being a rude weirdo? Boo hoo, better have a cry about it

[Dr Rock]

I can't imagine anyone would risk starting their new comedy series with a bit at the start where the jokes were meant to be of poor quality.

[mr. logic]

Yeah, I never even considered that the jokes were not meant to be good. Fictional Jerry is not as successful as Real Jerry but I always assumed their acts were interchangeable. He got the same shot at the sitcom that Real Jerry got, after all.

[Gurke and Hare]

Fictional Jerry is not as successful as Real Jerry but I always assumed their acts were interchangeable.

How successful was real Jerry when the show started? He wasn't the big arena selling out comic yet was he?

[buzby]

How successful was real Jerry when the show started? He wasn't the big arena selling out comic yet was he?

He recorded his first HBO special the year before starting work on what would eventually become the pilot episode of the sitcom. The pilot grew out of Larry David being asked to work with him to write a 90-minute special for NBC (to be broadcast instead of SNL one weekend) about how comedians find their material, and findnig it difficult to sustain the concept for 90 minutes they decided to develop it into a half-hour sitcom instead. Being commissioned to make a show for NBC is a pretty big deal - it's not a cable channel like HBO.

There's an article written by Seinfeld here about the lead-up to the show and it sounds like he was doing pretty well for himself as a standup by that time - 800 dates a year and big concert shows. He had also auditioned for the role in ABC's Past Imperfect that eventually went to Howie Mandel.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah he was a good and popular stand up before the show, that's how he got it, but it was definitely the show that made him famous, not his stand up. He set the template for 'stand-up gets their own sitcom', that was the goal for stand-ups from then on, to get their own sitcom named after themselves.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

it sounds like he was doing pretty well for himself as a standup by that time - 800 dates a year

And yet he still managed to find some pretty reason to break up with all of them.

[thr0b]

Jerry was a regular on The Tonight Show in the 80s, which back then was a juggernaut of a show. So no, I never even thought that Show Jerry's material was meant to be a bit crap; it was Real Jerry's material. But you're seeing 30 seconds of it, shorn of its context out of the fuller routine. The whizz-bangs only.

Saying that, though I love the show, I also love the Lucas & Walliams parody of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CTNSOq1VAg

[samadriel]

It still takes my breath away how shit that "parody" is. Are they trying to do something like Rock Profile, but with a sitcom? Like, RP's funny because we all know Prince isn't a Scottish homeless person, and "I'm Bland" is trying to be funny because we all know Seinfeld is actually not a shit TV show? It doesn't work.

[famethrowa]

Is the Shearsmith/Walliams height difference really that drastic? Reece looks tiny, Yaffle is about a head and a half taller

[lankyguy95]

I like this story from Bryan Cranston (along with a great Seinfeld impression)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC0ewou9LDA

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It still takes my breath away how shit that "parody" is. Are they trying to do something like Rock Profile, but with a sitcom? Like, RP's funny because we all know Prince isn't a Scottish homeless person, and "I'm Bland" is trying to be funny because we all know Seinfeld is actually not a shit TV show? It doesn't work.

I had a chuckle at "Yaffle yaffle" and Lucas' nonsequiturs, but, yeah, as a parody that missed the mark dreadfully.

I like this story from Bryan Cranston (along with a great Seinfeld impression)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC0ewou9LDA

I was going to comment on what an irritatingly fake laugh the host had, but then I saw that he's noted shithead Chris Hardwick, so it would be the least of his faults.

[Jerzy Bondov]

It still takes my breath away how shit that "parody" is. Are they trying to do something like Rock Profile, but with a sitcom? Like, RP's funny because we all know Prince isn't a Scottish homeless person, and "I'm Bland" is trying to be funny because we all know Seinfeld is actually not a shit TV show? It doesn't work.

It's pretty much the impression I had of Seinfeld before I actually watched it. Maybe they hadn't really seen it?

I do think there's something to be said for parody that is completely without affection and also totally inaccurate. It makes me laugh anyway.

[Icehaven]

he was doing pretty well for himself as a standup by that time - 800 dates a year and big concert shows.

800 dates a year? Am I being thick or does that mean he was somehow doing more than 2 gigs a day?

[dissolute ocelot]

It's pretty much the impression I had of Seinfeld before I actually watched it. Maybe they hadn't really seen it?

The fact that it's clearly set in a suburban living room rather than a New York apartment is a bit of a giveaway. It would make more sense as a parody of Blossom.

[BeardFaceMan]

800 dates a year? Am I being thick or does that mean he was somehow doing more than 2 gigs a day?

The article says 300, not 800. But that was back when they would go from club to club and do a couple of sets each night.

[king_tubby]

Saying that, though I love the show, I also love the Lucas & Walliams parody of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CTNSOq1VAg

That's the worst thing I've ever seen and everyone involved should be killed.

[sutin]

Saying that, though I love the show, I also love the Lucas & Walliams parody of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CTNSOq1VAg

That's absolutely awful.

[Menu]

No it's a decent parody of Seinfeld. And like someone else said it's invigorating to see a parody of something without any affection. My only note would be that it should stop before Bob M comes on. It's done what it should do by that point. The rest is a bit self-indulgent. Who's the woman? She's good.

[Menu]

Lucas and Walliams were really good at this point. It's like pure comedy. Like the sort of comedy you have with longtime friends. It's so confident and relaxed that it's almost like a succession of in-jokes. Sad what happened.

[neveragain]

I also find it very funny[nb]Obviously the farce is meant to be comically bad because they're saying Sein is shit but "And I missed my meeting!" is genuinely great.[/nb]. They obviously knew very little about Seinfeld but their dislike (I'll be kind and not say hatred) is hilarious. Mash and Peas was wonderful, pure comedy as you said.

[samadriel]

No it's a decent parody of Seinfeld.

You've never seen Seinfeld and I claim my etc.

[dr beat]

I'm a fan of that Mash and Peas thing, but I don't interpret it as a diss at Seinfeld, just an excuse to be absurd.