I've seen several posts from Seinfeld fans hoping or anticipating for new shows to appear with the likes of Michael Richards, or Julia Louis Dryfus, or Jason Alexander. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but, as good as the actors are, it was the characters they played that we loved. Except for Jerry . . . the George, Elaine, Kramer, Newman characters are gone.
Ted Danson, as Sam Malone on Cheers, was dynamite. In "Ink" and "Becker" he is/was terrible. Bill Cosby owned Thursday nights with the Dr. Huxtable character. However, does anyone even know what night of the week his new show is on?
Kelsey Grammer took the Frasier character from Cheers and made a nice transition with the same character in a different locale (with very talented co-stars and first class writers).
I've seen Michael Richards playing non-Kramer characters in a couple of movies. In "Trial & Error" he was mediocre because I kept looking for Kramer. And whenever I see Jason Alexander, I'm tempted to tell him to put on "George's" glasses so I'll recognize him.
Wayne Knight as the cop on "3rd Rock" is not half as funny as Newman. Jerry Stiller, however, has so identified himself as a Frank Costanza-type character that he'd be funny if he played the Pope . . . Pope Costanza the first !
I can think of only a talented few can who have retained their appeal as they made the transition from one sit-com to another, playing a different character. Mary Tyler Moore successfully went from the Dick Van Dyke show to the "Mary Tyler Moore" show. But she couldn't do it a third time.
And Bob Newhart went from the "Bob Newhart" show to "Newhart" where he essentially played the same character in a different setting. He bombed, however, when he tried the "Bob" show and again with "George & Leo."
If memory serves me, Lucy is the only one with a handful of sitcoms, all of which were almost as good as the original "I Love Lucy." Lucy knew to be successful, all she had to do was to play "Lucy" and no one played it better than she.
As with the Beatles, so, too, the cast of Seinfeld allows one to make the statement : "The total is greater than the sum of the parts." That combination of cast, characters, writers comes together only once in a generation.
So, like Norman Desmond, I may have to be content watching Seinfeld reruns until the next "comedy of the decade" appears after the year 2000.
Just thinking out loud.
JG