Seinfeld/Mad about you

The toilet paper episode had some content about phone sex, and last week's Mad About You had something to do with phone sex too...

A coincidence..? Hmm.... :)

Chia Phua ([email]) wrote:

As far as I'm concerned, Mad About You seems to have taken a lot of ideas from Seinfeld, including certain "phrase-stucturing" methods (at least in the earlier episodes). I realize that this sounds vague, but I recall a certain train scene that had dialogue that was delivered in true "Seinfeld" style. I can't for the life of me recall what they were talking about, but it was the episode where they go to Paul Reiser's character's parents' place for thanksgiving.

I was struck by the similarity, and I was also struck by the fact that they didn't pull it off nearly as well as they do on Seinfeld.

Seinfeld is the best comedy show on T.V right now (ever!) so I guess it's not surprising that other shows would try to cash in on its' success.

Didn't pull it off, though.............

	What happened was that NBC went out and found another stand-up
comedian/actor to create a show for them to appeal to Seifeld fans.  Paul
Reiser is a stand up comic and a lesser-known actor whom we've all seen in
Diner, Aliens and Crazy People, etc. etc.
	He's been doing that same "phrase-structuring" and such for years.  I
don't think anybody's been copying Seinfeld.  It might -- gasp -- be
the other way around.  That's just the way Paul Reiser's always been.  It's
what he does best, and since he's the producer
and co-creator of his show, the show reflects that.  It's a nice touch
that NBC linked both programs with an appearance by Kramer in Paul's old
apartment -- Kramer's current apartment.

Mmn, they aren't shooting at the same targets. So, it's hard to compare their successes. I think, maybe, you're presuming they want to copy Seinfeld. I don't think they do.

AGREED

	Well, I don't agree there.  I love Mad About You almost as much as
I do Seinfeld.  Just because its content is canny and urban, like
Seinfeld's, I think you're judging it too quickly.
	The reason I got into it was because of a conversation very much
like this that I had with a friend of mine who always watched Mad About
You instead of the Simpsons.  I couldn't believe my ears.  But now, I see
what he saw in the show all along.
	My wish is to have Seinfeld, Mad About You and Frasier running in
that order, every Thursday. :)

______________________________________________________________________________
"Sound is worth money."	   --D. Byrne

     Mad About You was originally created as a "companion for Seinfeld"
     (quoting some NBC exec as quoted in some TV-listings publication,
     sorry I can't be more specific).

     When Seinfeld was on Wednesdays at 9pm, Mad About You was on at 9:30
     for quite some time.  I watched both religiously; unfortunately I
     don't get to see Mad About You that much anymore.  They did go well
     together.

-Me

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In [email] (edward pond) writes:

I read that Seinfeld and Reiser once had a feud because Reiser stole his material.(I imagine they're over it now) Also, I remember that Paul once used the phrase "deviated septum", which was what George's girlfriend with the nose job had. I think at the very least MAY's writers watch Seinfeld an awful lot.

I'd agree with you except that Reiser's previous show, _My Two Dads_, was completely unlike MAY. I think Reiser has shaped the show, but they've borrowed from Seinfeld. I think there's no doubt that MAY is inspired by Seinfeld. I remember that Reiser joked on Letterman that they wanted to call the show "Jerry's Little Buddy Paul" to capitalize on Seinfeld. Dave

Okay, I'd agree with that. Inspired by Seinfeld, Reiser created the show (well, of course it's not that easy, but in theory anyway), sometimes borrowing from Jerry.

Perhaps I tuned in on a couple of nights that were particularly "borrowed".

I must admit, I haven't given the show much of a chance since then.

But surely it doesn't compare to Seinfeld (or Frasier for that matter, another way-above-average show!).

Frasier and Seinfeld are going after a totally different feel. Mad About You is a relationship piece, and does it exceedingly well. Seinfeld is a wacky friends thing, and does that exceedingly well. Frasier is a family and work thing and does that exceedingly well. Wings is a wacky friends and work thing and does it quite well.

They're apples, oranges, pears and kumquats and shouldn't be compared, especially in a 'this is so much better than that" style. --- [email] "May the good Lord take a likin' to yuh and blow you up Real Soon" - Big Jim McBob & Billy Sol Hurok: Celebrity Farm Film Report

In [email] (The other one) writes:

Except that in the case of Seinfeld and MAY, it's more like oranges and grapefruits (in other words, a lot closer than you'd think). Considering that MAY was rumoured to be pitched as "Seinfeld gets married," I think there's a strong connection. Dave BTW, Wings and Frasier are very similar, because they have the same producers. Frasier is not produced/created by the same people who did Cheers. Dave

[email] (The other one) writes:

What, no mangoes?!

In article David Gregory Platt, [email] writes:

I read once that MAY was inspired by Paul Reiser's recent marriage and that many of the scenes reflect that. Being a fairly recent newlywed myself, I can vouch for the fact that a lot of the show reflects the first few years of marriage, albeit it in an exagerrated way. Sometimes it seems that Reiser has been spying on my wife and me.....

It seems like the thing to do these days is start your own production company and name it after a word that you find funny. The two examples I can think of off hand are:

1. Nuance Productions (Paul Reiser's company). If you've seen the movie Diner, you know how Paul feels about the word nuance.

2. Worldwide Pants (David Letterman's company). If you've ever watched Letterman, you know how much he enjoys using the word 'pants' in a sentence. ie) Hi, I'm your host, Dave Letterman, and I'm not wearing any pants.

I think I'll start a company called Lozenge Productions.

Not to mention Jay [address] PC: Big Dog Productions and Whoopi [address] One Ho. Oprah, of course, has Harpo, but I doubt seriously that she picked it because she thought it was *funny.*

Wes

Wes Simonds writes:

Actually, Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards. :{)

Rob

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Robert S. Brousseau                       Applicon Inc.
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O p i n i o n s   e x p r e s s e d   h e r e   a r e   m y   o w n .

In article , [email] (Pat Inglis) writes:

And look for Slumgullian, Inc. in the future! (A subsidiary of Sphincter International).

-- Brian Moore

I think the similarities between Seinfeld and Mad About You have more to do with sharing writers then they do with Mad About You "copying" Seinfeld. There was an episode of Mad About You last season in which Paul Reiser's charcter decides to sign over the lease on his old bachelor apartment to the "odd fellow" who's subletting it...Kramer. They even had a brief discussion about the "guy who lived across the hall". Tom