1 DVD
17 EPISODE
Overview
Seinfeld stood out from the many family and group sitcoms of its time. None of the principal Seinfeld characters were related by blood or type but remained close friends throughout the seasons. The episodes of most sitcoms like Family Ties, Who's the Boss? and Full House revolve around a central theme or contrived comic situations, whereas many episodes of Seinfeld focused on minutiae, such as waiting in line at the movies, going out for dinner, buying a suit and, basically, dealing with the petty injustices of life. The view presented in Seinfeld is arguably consistent with the philosophy of nihilism, the idea that life is pointless.[3]
The show's main characters and many secondary characters were modeled after Seinfeld's and David's real-life acquaintances. Other recurring characters were based on well-known, real-life counterparts such as Jacopo Peterman of the J. Peterman catalogue (nominally based on John Peterman), and George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees.
With every Seinfeld episode, the structure is mainly the way the principal characters' storyline is set. A story thread is presented at the beginning of each episode, which involves the characters in separate and seemingly unrelated situations. Rapid scene-shifts between story lines bring the stories together toward the end of the episode. Despite the separate plot strands, the narratives reveal the creators' "consistent efforts to maintain the intimacy" between the small cast of characters.[4]
The show kept a strong sense of continuity—characters and plots from past episodes were frequently referenced or expanded upon. Occasionally, story arcs would span multiple episodes and even entire seasons. For example, Jerry's girlfriend appears in "The Stake Out" and he ends the relationship when things do not work out in "The Stock Tip". Other examples were Kramer getting his jacket back and Elaine heading the "Peterman catalog". Larry David, the show's head writer and executive producer for the first seven seasons, was praised for keeping a close eye on minor details and making sure the main characters' lives remained consistent and believable. Curb Your Enthusiasm would further expand on this idea by following a certain theme for each season in the series.
The show stood apart from other group sitcoms of the time, in that the principal characters would never learn their moral lessons throughout the seasons. In effect, they were indifferent to the outside world and can be callous towards their guest characters and relatives, indeed sometimes to each other; a mantra of the show's producers was: "No hugging, no learning."[5] There were also very few happy endings, except when they came at somebody else's expense. More often, situations resolved with characters getting a justly deserved "comeuppance."
0 comments:
Post a Comment