The McBournie Minute: Time to get over ‘Seinfeld’

Every now and then, a pop culture moment comes along that changes the referential comedy landscape forever. It’s a benchmark, a culture touchstone that for years and years, people will look back on fondly. It may not stand the test of time, but in the minds of the people who were there when it was at its zenith, it will live on.

In the 1990s, that moment was Seinfeld, which ran for nine seasons before calling it quits, mostly, because Jerry Seinfeld got tired of coming up with new ways to spend money. Have you missed it since it went off the air in 1998? Probably not, because you haven’t had a chance to, it has joined the ranks of M*A*S*H and Full House in the Pantheon of Eternal Syndication. You get to watch it any time you want, and act like all of the lines are new.

But the thing is, Seinfeld is vastly overrated. There, I said it.

In the interests of full disclosure, I was never one of the fans who had to watch it every time it came on, I didn’t quote it with my friends, and I have never owned any of the seasons on DVD. I always enjoyed it while it was on, but really, it doesn’t stand the test of time. If you watched it, you’d see what I mean. Obviously, people are tuning in, because stations love to air it, nearly 20 years after its debut, but I don’t think people are watching it anymore, they look at the screen, recognize the episode, and pretend it’s 1995 again.

It was a funny show, and it certainly paved the way for unconventional sitcoms we have since enjoyed. Shows still imitate elements of its format today (I’m looking at you, FX’s Louie). It was a good show, it was a genius show, but it was never a show that deserved to be referenced for decades, no sitcom is meant for that. Sure, people still talk about the Soup Nazi and celebrate Festivus, but who wants to hang around people quoting a show that’s been in reruns for nearly 13 years?

Seinfeld became popular because of the realistic things that happened to its characters, with which viewers could identify, in the earlier seasons, before getting a bit whackier in the later ones. At that point, they could pretty much do whatever they wanted and people would still love them for it.

Personally, I had to take exception with the show every time they had “George Steinbrenner” on. I realize the show takes place in New York, but this was also the time when the New York Yankees ruled the American League and their popularity soared. How was this not pandering? If they wanted to go for ironic, they could have gone with the Mets, isn’t that Jerry Seinfeld’s favorite team in real life anyway?

The creativity and the subject matter continued to improve, but the dialog always sucked. Repeating the same phrase several times in astonishment at what the other person just said only has so much mileage.

Perhaps Seinfeld is remembered so fondly because it went out on top. They pulled the plug when people wanted more and more. Getting cut down, or ending yourself, before your time is a great way to be remembered fondly, because people will always wish there was more, and wonder what might have been, just ask Kurt Cobain. If other shows knew when to quit, like Scrubs, for example, perhaps they would be remembered fondly, too. It doesn’t often happen anymore, and this is partly why the memory of Seinfeld lives on.

Does anyone remember the finale of that show? Sure, millions tuned it to watch it, and were disappointed horribly pretty much within the first 10 minutes, but people like to forget about things like that. Perhaps they are still hoping that the show will come back once the gang has served their time in prison.

It was a good show, certainly one of the best of its time, but its time passed long ago. I can’t watch it anymore because it makes me want to drink, like right now. That and these pretzels are making me thirsty.