Jerry Seinfeld’s frosty view of modern TV comedy pines for a long-gone past
Analysis by Brian Lowry, CNN
(CNN) — “Seinfeld” premiered 35 years ago on NBC, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms ever and making Jerry Seinfeld and creator Larry David insanely rich. In promoting his directing debut “Unfrosted,” Seinfeld has lamented the current state of TV comedy, in a way that identifies some modern challenges while ignoring the complexity of how times have changed.
Seinfeld voiced those remarks to the New Yorker while making the rounds (he joked about the extent of that promotional tour on “Saturday Night Live”) to support the movie, which looks back at the creation of the Pop-Tart in the 1960s. Yet the comic’s views of where comedy went wrong have an unavoidable “Old man yells at cloud” quality, not because the observations were entirely wrong but because of everything they overlook in oversimplifying and romanticizing the past.
“It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, ‘Cheers’ is on. Oh, ‘M*A*S*H’ is on. Oh, ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ is on. ‘All in the Family’ is on,’” Seinfeld told The New Yorker. “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. Now they’re going to see standup comics because we are not policed by anyone.”
That’s a lot to unpack, starting with singling out four of the best sitcoms ever, conveniently skipping all the lame ones that existed during those years. Similarly, people looking for something to watch when those shows premiered only received three broadcast networks and a handful of channels, before Fox, cable and premium TV, much less Netflix, streaming and a host of internationally produced imports.
Yes, greater sensitivity among various constituencies – or “PC crap,” if Seinfeld prefers – has complicated the comedian’s job. But one aspect of the past Seinfeld appears to long for is that people could be offended with little fear of consequences or reprisals because, well, where were they going to go? When the menu consisted of ABC, NBC and CBS, it’s not like they had a lot of choices or alternatives.
The mass-appeal comedies that Seinfeld cites were indeed great shows, but they have given way to a wider variety of series aimed at narrower tastes, scattered across a vast array of outlets. The result has been fewer traditional multi-camera sitcoms but more single-camera shows, including the broadcast hits “Abbott Elementary,” “Ghosts” and “Young Sheldon,” the last of which (spun off from “The Big Bang Theory”) will wrap its seven-season run this month.
That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of cable and streaming comedies, animated shows, international series that now reach US shores, and acclaimed series labeled “comedy” that aren’t really comedies at all, like “The Bear” and “Barry.”
Even taking Seinfeld’s argument at face value, “All in the Family” is the only one of the shows he mentioned that might have regularly run afoul of the comedy scolds to which he objects. As for standup comics, there has been an explosion of opportunities to get their material in front of the public he couldn’t have imagined when he was breaking in sets on “The Tonight Show,” including the barrage of specials spilling out as part of the “Netflix is a Joke” festival.
Granted, there’s a long tradition of talent bemoaning how bad things have gotten since their heyday. Having recently turned 70, Seinfeld and the rest of the baby-boom generation have seen TV change in unrecognizable ways from the period during which he cut his professional teeth.
While it might not be “All in the Family” or “Mary Tyler Moore,” there’s still funny stuff to watch for a broader range of tastes, including those with the fortitude to sit through “Unfrosted.” All that’s required is knowing where to look, and maybe, opening your eyes.
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