The Seinfeld Ref
Posted: February 28th, 2010 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 71 Comments »
I have been a Jerry Seinfeld fan for a long time. My best friend in college, Joe Habina, and I were huge Seinfeld fans years before he started the show on NBC. We would greet each other every day with a high pitched “It’s that guy! That same guy!” which comes from a Seinfeld bit about dogs. We constantly would relive his bit about parakeets or his bit about moving a sofa with his father or his bit about the cost of movie candy. We loved the guy.
We loved the guy so much that, honestly, we both felt this odd pang of unhappiness when he got the TV show and, then again when the TV show got wildly successful. I mean, sure, we were happy for him. And we both loved the show Seinfeld. But, well, everyone loved Seinfeld. You know how it is when, say, a small-time band you love becomes enormous. Suddenly, you have to share the band. And in a weird way, it’s like you lose the band. That, I guess, is how we felt about Seinfeld. We kind of lost him.
Oh well. Seinfeld, the show, was great, and Jerry Seinfeld himself became iconic, and it was great. Then the show ended … and Jerry Seinfeld kind of stepped back. He wasn’t obscure, not hardly. But he wasn’t America’s funny man either. He went back to stand-up comedy — he was part of a comedy documentary that I liked quite a lot. He did that weird Bee Movie that not many people seemed to notice or enjoy. He did those really strange Microsoft commercials with Bill Gates that nobody got. He would write occasional pieces for the New York Times op-ed page or whatever. And he would appear as himself in various places — my favorite being the time he seemed strangely insulted and promptly detonated Larry King for suggesting that Seinfeld was canceled. It’s good and uncomfortable video.
King: It lasted how long?
Seinfeld: Nine years. Hundred and eighty episodes.
King: You gave it up, right?
Seinfeld: I did, yes.
King: So they didn’t cancel you, you canceled them.
(Awkward pause)
Seinfeld: You’re not aware of this?
King: No, I’m asking you.
Seinfeld: You think I got canceled? Are you under the impression I got canceled?
King: Have I hurt you Jerry?
Seinfeld: I thought that was pretty well documented.
King: Don’t most shows go down?
Seinfeld: Is this still CNN?
(Pause)
Seinfeld: I was the No. 1 show on television, Larry. Do you know who I am?
King (laughing): Jewish guy. Brooklyn.
Seinfeld: Yes.
King: OK.
Seinfeld: Seventy-five million viewers, last episode.
King: All right. Don’t take it so bad.
Seinfeld: Well, it’s a big difference between being canceled and being No. 1.
King: OK! I’m sorry. We’ll be right back.
Seinfeld (laughing): Sheez.
King: Bee Movie opens …
Seinfeld: Can we get a resume in here for me?
King: Bee Movie opens tomorrow …
Seinfeld: Something for Larry to go over.
King: Hey, hey. … Psst. … We’ll be right back.
In any case, I was kind of happy to have Seinfeld back to myself. I saw him in concert a couple of times. He was hilarious. I saw him do a comedy round-table out in Las Vegas. He was great. And I have to say, I was kind of looking forward to “The Marriage Ref.” I mean, sure, I didn’t think much of the concept — this idea of having a panel of relatively famous celebrities referee a fight between two real people seems preposterously weak. To me, if you have access to relatively famous celebrities and they are interested in talking about love, well, what you want to do is put them on a cruise ship, with a wise captain, a hip bartender, a horny doctor, a yeoman purser interested in politics and an awesome cruise director. That seems like Showbiz 101 to me.
But, they kept hammering home on the commercials the same theme: “From executive producer Jerry Seinfeld.” And I thought, well, it HAS to be funny then. I mean Seinfeld is executive producing it. This is his project. This is his deal. As people on this blog know, I don’t watch almost any television. I watch The Office. I watch Parks and Rec. And I watch … no, actually, that’s it. But I carved out 30 minutes Sunday night, out of my love for Jerry Seinfeld, to watch The Marriage Ref.
And I want to say this as clearly as possible.
I … hated … that … show.
No, I don’t like to use the word hate. But I can only mean hate. I hated it so much that I wished those guys from Men in Black could come and erase my memory of it. I had just watched 30 minutes of the goofy Olympic Closing Ceremony which was — and I say this with all due respect to my second favorite country on earth — the sort of thing you would see if you gave a third grade teacher $30 million to put on a school play. And that 30 minutes at the Olympics was like heaven, like sheer bliss, like a show co-written by William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Mel Brooks and the author of the 23rd Psalm compared to The Marriage Ref.
Why did it hit me so badly? I don’t know. I mean, yes, The Marriage Ref is terrible on its own merits. You get couples with the stupidest problems in the history of marriage — this guy wants to keep his dead dog stuffed, that guy wants to put a stripper pole in his house — and then you have an odd collection of people (in this case Kelly Ripa, Alec Baldwin and Jerry Seinfeld himself) discuss the stupidity while the least famous person in the house, a comedian named Tom Papa, decides which way to rule. Yeah, lots of drama. Will he rule for the stripper pole?
Then, for fun, they bring in NBC News’ Natalie Morales’ to offer some “interesting” details such as the exercise value of pole dancing. And as if that isn’t fun enough, Marv Albert comes in at the end to relive the best lines of the show, which were not funny the first time they showed them. You know a show is bad when you find yourself feeling sorry that Marv Albert had to be a part of it.
So yeah. It’s an abomination.
But that does not begin to get at just why I hated that show so much. The show had those awful director’s cuts that make it feel like a poorly made vacation video. But that wasn’t it. There was a live studio audience AND a preposterously annoying laugh track. But that does not quite get at it. There was this horrible “America’s Funniest Home Videos” vibe running through the whole thing — complete with the host who seems WAY to impressed with his own sense of humor. But that does not quite get at it either. There was this horrible, uncomfortable laughter among the participants sparked by Hollywood Squares caliber jokes. But even THAT does not quite get at it.
No. The biggest problem in this Ishtar experience for me was … Jerry Seinfeld. This wasn’t just watching a bad show. There are lots of bad shows. Lots and lots of bad shows. No, for me, this was like watching Willie Mays fall down in the outfield at the end. It was worse than that — it was like watching Willie Mays swing a bat upside down in his last three at-bats and nobody telling him. This was supposedly Seinfeld’s concept, his big pitch. And yet, he could not say one funny thing the entire show. And he laughed hysterically at lines that were not the least bit funny. It was like he had entirely lost his sense of humor. I wanted to take him into a funny clinic and have him tested, show him videos of things — a pie in the face, George Will talking baseball, George Carlin talking baseball, health care reform talk — and have him say “Funny or not funny.”
The show was agony. And yet, I made myself watch it all the way to the end. I felt I owed it to Jerry Seinfeld for all the laughs he gave me through the years. Plus, I kept thinking that maybe at some point Seinfeld might stand up and say, “OK! That was a test to see how long you would stick with a show because I’m the executive producer! That’s not the show. Of course that’s not the show. No, here’s the REAL show.”
It never happened. When The Marriage Ref ended, they showed some of the “highlights” for the upcoming season. I don’t know if there will be an upcoming season. But if there is, they actually have a show coming up where the celebrities will be Ricky Gervais, Larry David and Madonna. Those are three of my favorites. And for a just an instant, I thought: “Aw, I should watch that show, how could those three NOT be funny?” But then I thought that I really don’t want to find out.
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I’m not watching the show for just this same reason…
…though I never thought it could be as bad as you’ve described it.
Here’s resolving never to watch it. I’ll just watch the Seinfeld reruns, pop the top off some muffins, and pretend it’s 1995.
circle me Soup Nazi
so, you’re saying you didn’t really like that show?
almost makes me wish I had a tv . . .
Well I guess now I’m not quite as upset that I missed the premiere of this show tonight. You know, NBC has been really hurting for ratings lately. So they go out and get Jerry Seinfeld to produce a show, and they also have Ron Howard doing the new show ‘Parenthood’. I was thinking, well hell, they’ve really pulled out all the stops, these shows should be good. From the previews, I think I might like Parenthood, but who knows? I’m thinking now that maybe Jerry and Ron and others are conspiring to just finish the job and sink NBC completely.
Also, these pretzels are making me thirsty.
You know I’ve always wanted to pretend to be an architect!
I kinda liked the show. Of course, the couples themselves were actually funnier than the professional entertainers.
And, honestly, the Seinfeld show was like the Jack Morris or Jim Rice of sitcoms – good, but way overrated.
Thanks for watching that show so I didn’t – and don’t – have to. The promos reminded me of “Around The Horn” somehow. There’s enough screaming on TV and radio as it is.
This is why I come to this blog. Not because you reviewed a terrible show and called it terrible, but because you reviewed it in a fresh way.
If you actually watch the show “Seinfeld,” is there any question that Jason Alexander as George Costanza carried the show? Seinfeld never was the funniest person on his own show. In fact, you could argue his character was the weakest of the main four. And I’m sure there are Seinfeld fanatics who could answer this, but how much did Larry David have to do with the success of the show?
What I’m saying is, I think it’s very possible that Jerry Seinfeld is a horribly overrated comic who was lucky to partner up with Larry David, and assemble a cast as strong as the “Seinfeld” cast was. And so for The Marriage Ref to be a terrible show…yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.
“It was worse than that — it was like watching Willie Mays swing a bat upside down in his last three at-bats and nobody telling him.”
One of the greatest lines in the history of a television review. So many people would stop with the “Willy Mays falling down in centerfield” reference (which is horribly cliche at this point), and then you take it one step further. Brilliant.
sounds like the old Gene Siskel theory is in play here.
Siskel used to judge a movie with a big-name cast by asking: is this movie more interesting than a documentary of these same actors having lunch?
usually, it wasn’t.
NBC continues to show that it has no class. I was watching the Vancouver Olympics closing ceremonies when Al Michaels, as if surprised by his director, blurted out that NBC would be switching to the Marriage Ref, without so much as a wrap-up, or announcement that the rest of the closing ceremonies would be broadcast after the 11:00 news (which it was) I then sat through 30 minutes of the most inane TV I have seen in a long time. It was clear that the vast majority of this “spontaneous” program was heavily scripted, apparently by Saturday Night Live writers, or someone equally inept to write comedy.
GE should can every stuffed shirt at NBC and just start over. The guys they currently have can’t find good programming because they apparently don’t have a clue as to what constitutes good programming.
In regards to the closing ceremonies, I was so completely satisfied by the first few minutes with the mime/clown repairman being there to “answer” for the mishap from the opening ceremonies and then bringing out the athlete that missed her chance to light the cauldron, that everything after that was really just bonus.
And how could you not love Costas commentary on the inflatable beaver and inflatable moose?
Marriage Ref was mildly amusing, but NBC is still screwed going in the Spring season.
I am sure the show will be a huge bust BUT I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Seeing THE FONZ the first time I was laughing so hard I had to hit pause on my dvr. Then to see him behind the two in a different pose at the live interview was hysterical. THE FONZ definitely outdid Jerry last night.
Tough crowd.
To me the revelation is how funny Alec Baldwin is. I continue to be impressed with him, no matter what he does, and he did not disappoint again last night. Kelly Ripa, usually enormously smart/funny, was ok. Seinfeld was a bit player, which I think was kind of the point.
I had a few laugh out-loud moments, 4 or 5, I think almost all related to Baldwin.
[...] And for some reason I find Jerry Seinfeld getting pissed at Larry King to be hilarious (as pointed out by posnanski): [...]
Tom @11: “…GE should can every stuffed shirt at NBC and just start over. The guys they currently have can’t find good programming because they apparently don’t have a clue as to what constitutes good programming.”
As someone who worked for a GE subsidiary for quite a few years before being sold with the rest of my company to the highest bidder, I can confirm that if GE runs NBC the way it runs most of its companies then it’s entirely possible that they put people in charge who have no television experience of any kind. And it shows.
I think it’s become increasingly clear since Larry David left Seinfeld (the show) that David was Lennon to Seinfeld’s McCartney. Both reigned in the extremes of the other. In this case David’s cynicism and Seinfeld’s cuteness. One absent the other doesn’t work as well for many people. Personally though, I gravitate to the Lennon/David side of this equation.
I liked the part where the marraige ref ruled against the husband and sentenced him to be Jerry’s butler.
You summed up my own feeling on this show very well, Joe. I thought it was a dumb idea going in, then I saw all the people that would be involved, so… I gave it a shot. Man, did it not work. The biggest problem, I though, was that it felt very, very artificial. I was painfully aware that everything was scripted beforehand. Without a sense of spontaneity, the whole thing just falls on its face. I’ll probably watch the David/Gervais episode, but that’s it.
You fooled me, Jerry!
I will not have you badmouthing Ishtar. It’s pretty good. The Marriage Ref is obviously just a showcase for celebrities to come on and be funny. The premise is terrible, and the arguments they present are even worse. As far as celebrities appearing as themselves on TV, it’s just fine. Much better for all involved than a Dancing with the Stars (sub-A listers doing things they should not) or a Charlie Rose (funny people not being funny.) I’m sure I will tune in from time to time. I will cringe, I will mock, but hopefully I will chuckle once in a while. When it eventually get cancelled, we can all breathe a little easier.
“like watching Willie Mays fall down in the outfield at the end”
The sun was in his eyes. The sun was in a lot of OF’s eyes in that series.
Perhaps the same can be said of Jerry.
I saw the promos and couldn’t decide if it was worth watching or not…I had the Olympics coverage on (and yes it was getting pretty boring at that point) but I was totally shocked to hear Al Michaels say they were breaking away so you could watch this new show and then they’d return with more wrap up coverage…seemed very strange to stop Olympic coverage for a new show and then return…that just didn’t feel good to me and I changed stations…glad I did…now I know my gut was right…thanks Joe
Excellent review. I liked this line of yours though:
“You know how it is when, say, a small-time band you love becomes enormous. Suddenly, you have to share the band. And in a weird way, it’s like you lose the band. That, I guess, is how we felt about Seinfeld.”
That’s exactly how I feel about you, Joe. You used to be a small-time writer in Kansas City. Then you started a blog and a Twitter account and writing for SI. Now you’re shared amongst too many people.
[...] The Seinfeld Ref – There was this horrible, uncomfortable laughter among the participants sparked by Hollywood Squares caliber jokes. [...]
“You know how it is when, say, a small-time band you love becomes enormous. Suddenly, you have to share the band. And in a weird way, it’s like you lose the band. That, I guess, is how we felt about Seinfeld. We kind of lost him.”
My brother and I have this long-standing debate over small-time bands. I want the small-time bands I love to go on to fame and fortune, while my brother wants them to stay small so he can have them to himself. And it’s not like I’m any less pretentious, I want the band to become big so I have “I was there first” rights.
There’s also the seemingly immutable truth of pop culture that a small entertainer’s Breakthrough will be among the worst things that artist have ever done. Call it the REM Rule. REM made some of the all-time great albums of indie rock (seriously Joe, go check out “Reckoning”) and they become massive stars behind the song… “Stand”. Followed up by “Shiny Happy People”. The universe is unfair.
This is a long way of saying Pavement is playing Central Park this summer. Central Park! And Pavement is sort of my personal Beatles (or Springsteen, or Rolling Stones, or whatever band you personally love). Pavement is, IMO, The Greatest Band Ever. They broke up about ten years ago and are now doing an ill-advised reunion tour, kicked off by playing Central Friggin’ Park. The show is sold out. The band hasn’t played together in a decade, and they were a mediocre live band at their peak, which means this show (and the inevitable double live CD) will likely suck out loud. I have no idea how I feel about this, but I think my brother is winning our debate.
You didn’t care, but I had to rant, and this seemed like an appropriate place. Sorry about that. If Stephen Malkmus shows up on a show as terrible as The Marriage Ref, I’m buying a gun.
I think NBC put this show on the air solely to make Jay Leno look better. It was wretched.
I always felt Jerry was the weak link on his own show. I’ve never seen his act, so maybe he’s funny there, but yeah, I’m with they person who posted post number 9. I’d go even farther and say the show wasn’t all that funny, it just managed to present some topics and have great lines that could be repeated in the culture at large.
As for the marriage ref, I always wonder how low USA culture/tv shows can go…..just part of the plan to dumb down the US and keep the elites in power….
It’s not really fair to compare the show Seinfeld with the Marriage Ref and question Jerry’s genius with it. You cannot compare a taped and edited sitcom with a live unscripted show. The editing process lets you refine the script, try things out, take out what doesn’t work. Live is live and things have to flow.
Secondly, a lot of people seem to be overvaluing the “Executive Producer” title. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. He is there and part of it, but just because he is EP doesn’t mean he is controlling everything. He could have the EP credit for calling celebrities to be on the show. It’s one of those titles that sounds impressive, but doesn’t really mean anything.
Most network TV is drivel and dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. How shows like American Idol, Survivor, etc are still on the air is beyond me.
“You know how it is when, say, a small-time band you love becomes enormous. Suddenly, you have to share the band. And in a weird way, it’s like you lose the band. That, I guess, is how we felt about Seinfeld. We kind of lost him.”
I think this is a fairly universal feeling among those of us that are big music fans (or comedy fans, in this case), especially because there isn’t much of a happy medium. There are usually only two outcomes:
Your belief in the greatness of the band is confirmed when they become popular and you now have to stand by and watch, while people whose musical taste is generally lousy suddenly “discover” this band and talk about them as if they were brand new…and to top it off, you have a hard time getting tickets when they come around.
Or, perhaps worse, the band isn’t able to catch a break and is forced to break up after too short a time, leaving an incomplete legacy and you’re forced to survive with the limited catalog of albums they recorded (I’m thinking of Jellyfish here, among others).
Neither outcome is great, but I guess I’d prefer the former, because at least then you can squeeze more than two albums out of the band. I agree with Poseur that “Reckoning” REM’s best album, but in spite of “Stand” being annoying, the band still cranked out more great songs after “Green” broke them into the mainstream. If “Reckoning” has been their last album, wouldn’t you be dying for more?
Joe, you gotta start watching “The Modern Family” on ABC. It’s great.
There is a bit of coolness knowing you found the band/comedy before anybody else.
also, aziz ansari is hilarious.
the post show Jerry has perfected smug humor. he’s got that look that says “look, you know I’m rich, I know im rich” And it works for him because he’s doing ok for himself. From the commericals it looks like Tom Papa is doing the same thing, only nobody knows who the hell he is.
Baldwin is hilarious. 30 rock is great but nothing has made me laugh more than when in the departed he hugged everybody yelling “patriot act, patriot act”
Somebody has to bill james these olympic medal totals. I keep hearing how the US won, and we did (US 37 Canada 256 Germany 30) but this has to be wieghted much more. Canada had 14 golds, US has 9. I’m willing to say we beat, Germany because although they had one more gold than us, we had a lot more medals. But we only had 64% of golds as Canada. Surely, that should be weighted in the whole “winnign the olympics” conversation.
Uhh, Canada had 26 medals, not 256. My bad.
Seinfeld has never made me laugh once. And I laugh rather easily. Heck, I’ve got more giggles from this blog than I do Seinfeld.
I love going to a comedy dive bar and I marvel at how many of the kids performing are funny yet never make any loot.
And then I look at a momo like Seinfeld or moreover Dane Cook and I ask myself- How? Why?
I think I got the “How” part figured out — Oh throw Ray Romano on the pile of multi millionaire humorists who never made me so much as chuckle. Anyway — back to the “How.” I think these guys simply put their time in. After about twenty years of playing in front of 100 unhappy customers they throw you on the TV.
So if you have thirty minutes of remotely funny stuff and are willing to perform in front of dead rooms and stay in $25 a night motels from coast to coast you might have a brighter future than you think.
And Oh — agreed 100% that it is way cool to see a band or a comedian perform way before they blow up.
And I want to give a plug to my favorite bar on the planet for seeing such acts — The Bitter End in NYC. The Bitter End , somehow, someway, manages to consistently book the best young talent in the city.
@ Gary Don’t take this the wrong way, but I just have to say. You’re a complete idiot — on all counts. Seinfeld (the show) ruled. The Marriage Ref, including if not especially Seinfeld (the comedian), drooled.
I have struggled with the issue of favorite bands becoming popular my entire adult life. It really comes down to whether or not they keep making music you like or they start changing into something you don’t like. 2 examples: R.E.M. and Sonic Youth. R.E.M. made a noticeable shift from making amazing, dark, hauntingly catchy songs to power pop gunk that sounded like it fit mainstream radio but completely turned me off. Sonic Youth made a string of better-produced but still awesome major label records, took a step back into their noisier roots, and continued to churn out pretty good stuff to this day.
It also only matters to you and whether or not you feel the need to announce your feelings about a particular band to the world and how you worry what other will make of these feelings you have. I say just like what you like and leave all that other nonsense in your own head.
I loved the last Shins album and was mortified to hear friends say they were “too popular” and that’s why they won’t even give it a chance. Well, they missed out on a great record. I am having trouble getting excited for Broken Bells, however. I don’t know why…
This is why nobody watches NBC. They don’t have ONE show on the air that is worth watching. Hell, even The Office is a ripoff of the British show.
The execs at NBC must need their diapers changed.
I thought the Larry King “episode” was outstanding. Jerry was just mixing surprise with comedy. It’s not a big deal, but to be a TV interviewer of Larry King’s status – or really any journalist doing a piece on someone – and not know such an obvious and large detail and asking about and confusing that detail with the exact opposite situation is laughably idiotic and show Larry King to be almost comedically uninformed. All Seinfeld did was rip him a bit. Kudos to him for doing it.
If I was sitting with my friends and someone made the same comment, mixed w/ some hyperbole, we’d verbally jab at his brain and balls.
@25 – I’m not sure it’s true that a band’s breakthrough record is typically a creative step backward. Sometimes it is, sure, but sometimes it isn’t.
Three extremely high-profile examples: Nirvana, U2, and Bruce Springsteen.
And while I of course agree that Stand is a ridiculous song, don’t forget that REM’s first hit song was The One I Love from Document, and Document is a pretty damn good record, even if it’s not as good as Reckoning.
I think I’m probably about as big a Pavement fan as you are and I have to tell you I can’t wait for those shows in Central Park. You kinda have to just take it for what it is: a fun night outdoors with one of your favorite bands ever and a chance for some guys who never made as much money as they should have to make some cash. I have no problem with that at all. Don’t sap the fun out of it by overthinking it.
The whole debate around obscure bands becoming successful meant a lot more to me when I was younger. Now I just want artists that I like to make money and be comfortable. A couple years ago I heard that Peter Holsapple from the dBs was making deliveries for a florist in New Orleans. This bummed me out beyond belief. Peter Holsapple should be rich. If Stephen Malkmus wants to pay for his house with a Pavement reunion tour, god bless him.
I bet the show would have been funnier if it was Jerry, Kramer, George and Elaine discussing some married couple’s problems.
I’ve never understood the whole “i want to keep them to myself” attitude toward bands. I want the world to be a happier, better place. If a band is good/great, I want more people to hear them. That only makes the world a better place, doesn’t it?
The fact that some then change their music? I think most would change their music over time any way. Now, they may change more, but it is what it is. I remember how many of my friends stopped listening to the Talking Heads when they became somewhat popular….and I still don’t get why anyone would want to keep the joy of great music to themselves.
Oh, I understand the attitude. I just don’t ascribe to it anymore.
The first time I saw The Hold Steady was in a basement bar after a Yankee playoff game with maybe 25 people tops in the room. Those are priceless experiences.
The last time I saw them was in a big club with over a thousand people and a ton of idiots in the house. That was kind of a drag.
But my desire to see those guys quit their day jobs and tour in comfort and have some cash to blow on booze outweighs my selfish interest in having them to myself.
It sure seems that being rich sucks the funny out of comedians.
Oh, don’t worry. I’m totally going. I have tickets and everything. Booked a flight, have the hotel, and I’m super excited. It’s going to be an absolute blast. And I am excited that the guys in Pavement will be able to buy a house, and I’m more than willing to plunk down a few hundred bucks to their retirement fund. I’m still coming out ahead.
I’ve already donated to the retirement funds of the Pixies and Mission of Burma, and have no regrets, particularly with Burma (and I got to see the Pixies receive the gold record for Surfa Rosa, a mere 20 years after it came out). But it is a shame that their moment in the sun comes long after they are any good (Burma was awesome though). I would’ve loved for them to be living in mansions off of their best work, not the nostalgia circuit.
Since Nevermind was Nirvana’s second of only three albums, they don’t really fit the dynamic of longtime obscure band goes huge. And I could really live without all of U2’s post-Joshua Tree stuff. Do I keep buying it? Of course I do. I keep buying Red Hot Chili Peppers albums too, all because I loved Mother’s Milk in high school. There are worse bands making even more money, and I like that Flea has spent a lifetime trying to promote obscure bands to his fanbase. I watched the Minutemen documentary, and it was sort of sad to see everybody living in rather crappy apartments while Flea was interviewed in his grotto. But at least he was trying to say how awesome D Boon was.
I’d rather my small-time band make it big and buy a house. I am happy for their success, and I’d never refuse to buy an album “because they got big”. I think it’s funny yet sad there is an indie rock backlash against the Hold Steady for getting too big, and they aren’t exactly household names.
NBC finally has a highly rated show (the Olympics), and what do they do? Break away from the closing ceremonies to The Marriage Ref. And the local news. And by the time they got back to Vancouver they had Canadian has-been acts (Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, etc) lip-synching. Amateurs.
And beware, when the Marriage Ref starts for real on Thursday I believe it’s an hour-long show.
Whenever a heavily-promoted new show premieres it’s instructive to look at the ratings within the premiere episode.
Last night the first 15 minutes of the Marraige Ref did a 10.6 rating, and the second 15 minutes did a 9.2. That’s 13% of the audience bailing out, and that’s not very good. It doesn’t portend very well for Thursday.
NBC will make a lot of noise about last night’s number but I promise you that they’re disappointed in that progression.
@Jimmuh
Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re an ass. Seinfeld is the most overrated program in television history. Occassionally funny, yes, but not at all brilliant.
Ah, I too love those times you can see a great band in a small place. As for the Hold Steady, many of my friends are singers. I LOVE the Hold Steady’s music, but man, I struggle to listen to the “singing”. Too bad, because the tunes and lyrics are great….
Jerry Seinfeld lost his sense of humor a long time ago. Especially about himself. The whole episode with his wife’s cookbook was disgusting. He will be as pompous as Jerry Lewis in a few more years. Sans telethon, of course.
Also, as a Seinfeld aficionado and appreciator of many things Seinfeld I only needed to see the preview for this show 2-3 times to be absolutely sure it would be an instant disaster and a huge pot mark on the face of Seinfeld’ comedic legacy. That shouldn’t mean anything to me, but as a person who is too young to have seen much of Seinfeld, the show, when it originally aired or his career leading up to the show such as any of his early stand-up or late night primetime show guest spots, I loved that Seinfeld still has an enormous following even in the under-30 crowd. The show is on so much and it’s still better than almost anything on TV now or since and people love it.
I need Seinfeld reruns and this country needs people enjoying shows like Seinfeld. The Marriage Ref reflects poorly on me (because of my love for the show), Seinfeld, and thus the comedic future of this society. Why, Jerry? Why?
I take the failure and the atrocity of The Marriage Ref way too seriously.
@49 – I hope that isn’t true. Please… no… tell me it’s not.
Holy Shit—Pavement just announced they’re playing in Kansas City on September 11th:
http://www.lawrence.com/events/2010/sep/11/37733/
Tickets go on sale March 6th.
I believe Psalm 23 is a psalm of David (the king of Israel, not Larry)
The show might turn out to be all right IF they (1) dump the stupid laugh track (why in the world do you have a studio audience AND a laugh track??), and (2) hire new video editors (the editing was terrible and several times it seemed obvious that the celeb’s reaction shot was not the actual reaction that followed the prior comment in real time. I saw better video editing from fellow students in mid-level college video production courses. They also need to pick “fights” that aren’t so obviously one-sided. Seriously, who’s going to side with the stripper pole or the stuffed dog?? It would have been better if they actually had legitimate spousal arguments that the celebs could provide either (1) legit advice or (2) some much needed levity for the couple. Last night’s “disputes” certainly didn’t need a marriage ref. They also should have gotten Ricky Gervais as the “Ref” rather than the unknown Tom Papa.
BTW, I agree that the closing ceremonies seemed a bit amateurish but I actually welcomed it and found it refreshing that Canada had no problem poking fun at itself. It’s no wonder they have produced so many amazing comedians. The worst part of the closing ceremonies was the boring, formal Sochi, Russia portion. Uuuuugh. That will be one boring opening/closing in 4 years.
[...] The Seinfeld Ref - Joe Posnanski [...]
@7 – Of course it’s all subjective, but how is Seinfeld overrated? What comedies were better? In the 80s and 90s nothing was better or even worthy of comparison. There have been some decent shows from the late 90s to the present but I’d still take Seinfeld over them.
If you’re going to knock something that is considered excellent or the best, you should provide more analysis or examples of why it isn’t as good as generally thought.
What will Russia’s opening ceremonies consist of? I’m thinking a bunch of malnourished translucent Russian strippers passing out communist pamphlets surrounding by a massive hoard of seemingly stoic middled-aged Russian men drinking KBAC and Tapxyh.
For all of those who are bashing NBC watch 30 Rock.
It’s a really really funny show. My roommates and I quote it everyday.
Bonus points for being original and not a knock off of a British show.
While the closing ceremonies were an atrocious horse-beating of played-out Canadian stereotypes, how stereotypically American it is to cut away from something in another nation to show a pathetic half-hour American TV show…
Larry King must have pictures of CNN execs with sheep in the back of the barn. How he remains on that network is beyond me. Larry King is SO BAD that I would have thought that NBC would have snared him for double what he is making at CNN to go play with peacock over at 30 Rock.
Maybe Seinfeld will come out next week and tell everyone (who cares) that last week’s opening show was an abomination. He’ll ask for forgiveness, tear up his check from NBC and walk out the door. Now THAT would be good television!
[...] Shared The Seinfeld Ref. [...]
Something can be both excellent and overrated. I will give you an example. If many people believe that Seinfeld is the greatest sitcom of all time, then it is likely that it is overrated. It might only be the 5th best sitcom.
Regardless, arguing over something as subjective as whether a sitcom is overrated is foolish. At least with baseball you have stats to determine value.
When I was a kid, generations ago, and trotting off to Sunday School every second week (I had a deal with my parents), I came across Psalm 23 quite a bit.
Beginning with how a word that started with P could be pronounced close to “Sam”, I had real difficulty getting my head around it.
“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want”.
This guy’s looking after our sheep but we don’t want him? And this was New Zealand in the 1950s – 2½ million people, 60 million sheep. We knew plenty about sheep . . . and shepherds. This guy’s not up to scratch?
“He maketh me lie down in green pastures”.
I have to sleep outside, on the bare ground?
“He leadeth me beside the still waters”.
Even as a kid I knew that running water was best. This God fella is showing us the worst real estate on his books.
The next couple of bits were okay, except for the “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” line. No way I’m going there. I’ll wait for my old man to come and pick me up. Mum will make him.
“Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies”.
Are you kidding me? I’m being made to eat with my enemies? They’ll poison me, for sure. Or just slit my throat. If I have to be set up with a meal, make it in the presence of my friends, will ya. Show a bit of thought here.
And then there’s oil on my head and my cup runnething over. What sort of a joint is this?
I’m pretty sure that P-salm started me, at the age of eleven, on the path to atheism.
I thought “Shiny Happy People” wasn’t supposed to be a serious song…it was a satire that took off and became popular?
When Jerry was on Larry King Live, he was clearly mocking Larry. I don’t know why it was uncomfortable. I thought it was pretty funny.
The only reason I will watch the show ever ever again is to watch Ricky Gervais.
agreed. This is the worst show i’ve ever seen.
[...] The Marriage Ref may have actually gotten worse in its second episode. We weren’t the only ones excoriating it, of course. Some of our favorites were at The A.V. Club and from Joe Posnanski. [...]
I loved Seinfeld. The four main characters were so hilariously dysfunctional. The supporting actors, like George’s parents and Newman, were all brilliant. It is true that Jerry wasn’t as accomplished an actor as the other three main characters, but he wasn’t an actor by trade…he was a writer and comedian. Jerry was honored with an award by HBO a couple of years ago and he compared the difference between writers and actors. Here is a clip of that speech where he makes fun of actors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsoEJquVrDw The entire speech is available on youtube as well, but the quality is poor, but the speech is hilarious.
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[...] » Blog Archive » The Seinfeld RefPosted: February 28th, 2010 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 5 Comments »I have been a Jerry Seinfeld fan for a long time. My best friend in college, Joe Habina, and I were [...]