Going out with class

You have to admire Jerry Seinfeld's decision to leave weekly series TV while his show still represented creative quality, instead of hanging on for another year just for the cash. That showed respect for his audience.

Now he's bowing out of live performance, for a while, with a similar display of class. He's turning his final sold- out series of 10 Broadway appearances as a live stand-up into benefit shows for New York City's public high school students, especially those studying the performing and creative arts.

We'll all be sorry to see him go, at least for a while (he'll be spending a year writing and retooling his stand- up act and brainstorming other future projects for stage and TV before we see him again)...but it's good to see him say farewell, this well...hope we'll see him again before too long.

The tabloids say CBS is worried about Letterman's slide and is looking for a possible replacement after his current contract runs out (and we know Letterman's ser- iously thinking already about not renewing anyway). CBS would be well advised to contact Jerry to see if he's in- terested in coming out of his forthcoming temporary retire- ment in the fall of 1999, by joining their nightly schedule. He's the one guy out there right now with the potential to be the real successor to the also much-missed Johnny Carson...

Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY

You want class? You want taste? Get your coat, we're going to Schnitzer's. I'll show you something about class.

    And you're absolutely right about Jerry.   I mean to turn down the kind of
money that NBC held up for just one more year -incredible.   Unprecedented.  I
can't think of anything else like it-  maybe when John F. Kennedy donated his
entire presidential salary to charity every year he was in office. (but not
quite-  despite the nobility of the gesture,  that was a token sum compared to
what that family held-  what would one more year have done to Mr. Seinfeld's
net worth-  doubled it or so?)
  And then instead of running breathlessly like an obedient dog to the big
screen like EVERY other notable t.v. performer since the first cast of SNL
-Jerry announces he's looking into t.v. adverstising as his next possible area
of artistic pursuit.  He tells the self important big screen to kiss his ass
too!   Most stars half as big as Jerry consider themselves far above even
appearing in a t.v. ad.    Jerry smiles.
   A true rebel.  A true genius.  Nobody else even comes close to Mr. Seinfeld.
  Every step of the way pure unselfish genius and a razor sharp eye.  And the
final proof of his genius-  those he surrounded himself with, starting with
Larry David on down to the smallest bit player.   Never has there been anything
like it on the American screen.

He should've left a week sooner.....

[email] wrote:

Another cheap shot by a disgruntled 'finale hater'.  Get over it
already.
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I don't think that's a "cheap shot." I think the point is that if Jerry wanted to leave at the top of his game (which is what this thread refers to) then "The Puerto Rican Day" was much more of what Seinfeld was about than the Finale. The PRDay was a great episode filled with character situations and humor regarding life's frustrations--IMHO, very Seinfeldesque in presentation. Larry David tried to go too grand for the finale and ended up with too many old jokes, story lines, and characters. I think it would have worked better with more new material and less rehash. BUT, we still enjoyed watching it and bidding Seinfeld adieu (sp). That the Finale may not have been all we hoped did not take away from Jerry, the final season, or the series run.

[email] wrote:

I agree, Larry David misread the audience and the need NOT to do a finale in the finale. With the number of reruns available ( we have three stations in this area running them), the 'pleasure' of seeing the old characters in cameo roles was not all that exciting (Terri Hatcher excepted) The premise was good but not executed as brilliantly as Larry would have done four years earlier.

I also think Jerry Seinfeld would not be a good late night host. Jerry's humour comes from his iconoclastic wit and trivial observations of life coupled with an aloof (or shy) personality. Johnny Carson, the greatest, relied on his humble midwest charm to treat every guest with respect. Jerry would sit there thinking of insults and not be able to say them. Although the would be funny in a stand up act we would be uncomfortable with his cutting wit as he attacked someone face to face.

I have mixed feelings. He would do great at the monologue. He does seem like Johnny Carson in his calm and smooth presentation in front of alive audience.He also projects that touch of class that Carson had. It took a few years before Johnny relaxed as an excellent interviewer. My guess is Jerry would require time to get comfortable as an interviewer. In the beginning I am sure it will be hard for him to show interest in some of the more air-headed guests that are always popping up on talk shows.. But Carson learned--Jerry will as well. It wouldn't surprise me if he does assume the Letterman Show when the time is right. alt showbiz gossip

Television history is strewn with the names failed talk shows whose hosts were well-known personalities...Joey Bishop, Pat Sajak, David Brenner, Joan Rivers, Sinbad, Whoopie Goldberg, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson (though still on the air, if ever there was a failed talk show, The Magic Hour certainly fits the category). In fact, with the notable exception of Rosie O"Donnell, I cannot think of a star who was famous for their work elsewhere (acting, singing, sports), finding success behind the desk. (I think Jay Leno was mostly known to the viewing public as a frequent guest or replacement host on The Tonight Show prior to his being named host) Given that, I do not think Jerry wold be a good fit in the roll as a Letterman replacement for a couple of reasons: (1) Personally, I tune into a talk show to hear what the Guests have to say...when the host is a bigger star than the guest , this is often lost (2) Jerry's image (at least in my mind), based on how we saw him every week for nine years, is that of a self-obsorbed, immature man who enjoys seeing his friends fail...funny to watch in a sitcom, but do we want to see such a person in a "real" setting (though Letterman certainly isn't Mr. Nice Guy)

I guess my bottom line is that I wouldn't want to see Jerry try a talk show because with the odds of failure so high, I don't want to have the image of Seinfeld on TV (creating and starring in one of the best sitcoms ever) to be tarnished.

But that's only my opinion...I could be wrong. Now, who wants pie?

         Here is what is going to happen:
   Craig Kilborn from Comedy Central's  The Daily Show is the only man in
American television with the youth and assets to replace Letterman.
   They are already positioning him to do so- and I wouldn't be surprised if
Dave had a hand in Kilborn's invitation to come to CBS.

Kilborn is even a little more naturally venomous than Dave was in his early
years on late night t.v.  -but Kilborn definitely has his own distinctive and
authentic style (although I'm sure Dave was an influence.
    Conan O'Brien (a brilliant comedy writer) is dead flat as an on-camera
personality.  He is not funny.   His interviews are subpar.  Most of the time
he appears to be attempting to imitate Letterman trademarks and style- right
down to his awkward mannerisms.  It looks phony.
   However, Conan is well entrenched now and will replace Jay Leno on the
Tonight Show  (Leno- a formerly brilliant and funny stand up comedian who is
absolutely flat and unfunny as a nightly host, and wholly unskilled as an
interviewer.  Jay rarely even sounds genuinely interested during interviews -he
has nothing he wants to ask apparently -unlike Dave who seems to possess a
genuine curiosity.  Jay just goes through the motions. )
   Having said that,  Conan will probably do well in the ratings when Jay hands
off to him-  just as Leno himself has done.  (NBC will continue to pack in the
stars as guests-  but the show will continue to be unfunny.  True comedy fans
will move from Dave to Kilborn.

If only Kilborn would give up that silly Daily Show and go back to ESPN
SportsCenter where he belongs.  Sigh.
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In article ,

But in one of his interviews, Seinfeld says he doesn't see his comedy as a stepping stone to being a talk show host or a movie actor. he just wants to do comedy.

Iconoclastic, sure...and Carson, Paar and all the best late night hosts have shared that to a large degree. So that's an asset, as is his ability to find humor and significance even in the trivial. But aloofness and shyness don't seem to me to describe him well...there is a relaxed and laid-back element to the real Jerry, but again that's more of an asset than a liability.

Can't see how Jerry would be much different from Johnny in that respect..one misgiving he has about talk TV as a career move, is the fact that he'd not want to put down any of his guests. But there is a way around that, too...to do what Paar used to do in booking his NBC shows, both the late night one from '57 to '62 and his later Saturday prime time show from '63 to '68. Jack Paar had his share of celebrities, but he bypassed any big name he thought wouldn't be interesting or might lend himself too much to ridicule, and instead sought out up-and-coming people on the basis of talent, quirkiness and entertainment value regardless of their current celebrity or lack thereof. He MADE stars out of people like Woody Allen. In his early years before leaving New York, Carson did the same, and if his later shows had any fault, it was the degree to which he "went Hollywood." Since Jerry says he would not want to leave NYC to do any future TV show, that wouldn't be a problem. All he'd have to do is check out what Paar did (he probably remembers it from childhood, and probably knows Jack Paar personally as well) and borrow a page from his book in that regard. He could interview people not for name value but for entertainment value, and help create the next generation of star stage, comedy and musical performers. Hey, he incorporated elements of Jack Benny's old format for TV situation comedy and worked them over into something new...why can't he do the same thing using some of the best elements of classic talk TV as well?

Jerry, I don't know if you ever read this newsgroup, but if you do, you can have this concept and format idea for free...just drop me a note, and give me a radio interview by phone, if/when you decide to do it. ;-)

Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY

[email] wrote:

I don't want to get into this discussion, but I'll just say that if it wasn't a cheap shot, it might have been followed by something other than '.....'.

He should've left a week sooner.....IMHO if he wanted to go out with type of class that emanated from classic Seinfeld humor rather than the over-gussied up Finale which I still enjoyed watching and bidding adieu to.

I meant it only as my opinion in reference to the type of Seinfeld humor we came to love; not as a universally known fact that "Jerry should've left sooner."

Regards, Philip