Seinfeld Influences

Has anyone here commented on the comic influences on SEINFELD. Two come to mind: Jackie Gleason & Abbott & Costello.

George is the one who often times goes into Gleason schtick, complete with tone of voice & body movement. You have to be familiar with Gleason to see the similarities.

And as for A&C, well, Jerry has said as much that SEINFELD is based on the old A&C TV show. The adventures of two unemployed entertainers, as it were, with the shows dealing about "nothing" but that they are always getting into & out of trouble. In one SEINFELD episode, they even had a character named Sidney Fields -- the landlord from A&C, remember?

Oh Yeah. When George sarcastically says to Elaine that she had to order the BIG salad - it was classic Gleason! I mentioned that at the time, the voice, inflection, body language were right out of the Honeymooners.

Believe it or not, I once heard Seinfeld mention Don Knotts--specifically playing Barney Fife on the "Andy Griffith Show"--as a macho role model. It was in his standup routine (and I think in Seinlanguage), the way Barney would always hitch up his pants and look so sure of himself. I wonder how much of Barney tht Jerry uses in his "character" when he's about to make a fool of himself...