Suddenly...Susan?

I'm really not sure about this whole Susan death thing. People die, sure, but can we really find these characters charming and endearing (as I certainly always have) after seeing them react so glibly to someone ...anyone, dying? I mean, they all knew her.

Every character on the show is basically a selfish, paranoid freak. The only thing that makes them work is that underneath you get the sense that they are like real people. Like people you would like to hang out with. Dont know about you, but I try to avoid people who are so totally insensitive. They just arent that much fun.

I realize these are not real people. Thats not the point. The point is that the show has become an institution for the fans who follow it. I hope for all our sakes that the producers are pulling our legs a little and that this will all have a "happy ending."

-Just a thought.

[email] (TamaleBob) writes:

I'm really not sure about this whole Susan death thing. People die, sure, but can we really find these characters charming and endearing (as I certainly always have) after seeing them react so glibly to someone ...anyone, dying? I mean, they all knew her.

Every character on the show is basically a selfish, paranoid freak. The only thing that makes them work is that underneath you get the sense that they are like real people. Like people you would like to hang out with. Dont know about you, but I try to avoid people who are so totally insensitive. They just arent that much fun.

I think this has been a big problem with the show's success. The characters have _always_ been selfish and paranoid, each with hints of darker traits that would turn most people off. Those who caught on to the show in the early years seem to be better able to accept the foursome like this. However, as the show's popularity picked up, the audience started to include more and more people who had hidden expectations that the characters were supposed to be like "normal" people ("normal" in the happy ending sitcom world), and when they were finally hit in the face with the reality of these characters, they couldn't deal with it. If Susan's death had taken place during the second or third season (before the show became really popular), it would have been celebrated as audaciously dark comedy. With a different audience now, that episode is instead viewed as tasteless, a typical reaction when gallows humour is exposed to a wider audience.

I realize these are not real people. Thats not the point. The point is that the show has become an institution for the fans who follow it.

Sorry, but the fans are not all of one mind. A lot of us actually got the joke.

I hope for all our sakes that the producers are pulling our legs a little and that this will all have a "happy ending."

Your sake, maybe, but certainly not mine. If what you suggest were to happen, the show would ultimately be remembered for caving in. What I've heard rumoured about the premiere would qualify as a warped "happy ending" (though maybe not for those who just can't accept that Susan is dead) - George will discover that had he married Susan, he would have inherited millions of dollars, which of course, now he'll never see. It should satisfy those who can't stand to see "evil" go "unpunished", but not those who would prefer Susan be resurrected.

I think it is great that Susan died off the show. Because I am callous and love human tragedy? No, of course not. She was intruding on the characters. And all these characters are selfish, but aren't most people. The finale last year was great, because of the complete non-reaction to her death by everyone. We must recall that she didn't really like George's friends after going to the movies with them, and Kramer wasn't going to be allowed in the wedding.

Also, this puts Jerry in a bind, because he now has to get out of his relationship this season, after following through with the deal he made with George. Susan's death, while horrible to some, is music to the ears to all true Seinfeld fans. It goes completely with the context of the show. All fans should cringe if the make recompense for her death.

Yes, but she's coming back...whether as a ghost to torment poor George, or as an "It-was-all-a-dream-Bobby" DALLAS-type thing, she's coming back, just watch...

"R.W. Rasband" wrote:

It is definitely NOT a "Dallas dream thing." Have you checked your TV guide. The season opener has Susan dead for three months.

Yes, yes ... we have all checked our TV Guides. Relax.

3 months dream couldn't pass in a dream? How long was _Newhart_?

Or maybe not...

I'm not saying that they're going to go that route, but Susan *could* have faked her death, for all we know. Probably she did get a case of poisoning from the envelopes, but didn't die, and decided, lying in the hospital, that she'd finally had enough of George, paid off the doctor, and moved to L.A., where a network contact had arranged a low-profile job with NBC-headquarters:L.A.

On Wed, 09 Oct 1996 09:48:07 -0500, "Sorceror (Chris Kenworthy" wrote:

I like the way you think

[email] wrote:

Yeah, I like this too. At first I thought, "Why would she hurt her parents like that?" but maybe they're in on it. And she'd also get far away from them -- they _are_ pretty weird (I'd sure want an excuse to move away), tho not as bad as George's parents.

Bo

I

I love this!!!!!!! You should be writing for the show.

In article , [email] (Melanie) wrote:

Actually, it's CBS. Susan appeared on "Touched With An Angel" last night as a hard-bitten secret service agent who gives up a kidney and her career for a fishin' buddy.

"R.W. Rasband" wrote:

How right you are. I just don't know why George just didn't say no. He could have said that it would be too hard emoionally to handle being on the board. But it doesn't make for as good of a show.

BLo wrote in article ...

audaciously

viewed as

Talk about hitting the nail on the head. I thought the reaction of all the characters to Susan's death went right along with the way the characters have developed over the years. They've never been disturbed by these things. Jerry killed Fulton and didn't react. At the funeral of Gary Fogul (is that name right?) he and Elaine discussed her wardrobe and Jerry was more concerned about the Hi he got from Alec Berg. This is one of the things I love about Seinfeld. The worst thing a sit-com can do is "A very special" episode. I never watched Blossom but it seemed like every other weeks promo was "Tonight on a very special Blossom." Mad about you fell into the same trap at the end of last season. It was almost unbareable to watch. I think it's safe to say you we will never see a very special Seinfeld, and I respect them for that

Most of the people who were upset over Susan's death and the callousness of the characters' reactions to it didn't seem to grasp the dynamics of George and Susan's relationship. I sensed nothing but contempt on her part for George. She didn't particularly like any of his friends (except possibly Jerry). I would conjecture (based on spoilers for this season's premiere) that she only wanted to marry George so that she could come into her inheritance. My guess is, she probably still preferred the intimacy of women.

The complaints about the characters' insufficient display of grief cheapens the whole notion of grief. You can't grieve for what you never loved. And let's face it, there was no love lost between Susan and the rest of the cast.

That said, I thought the episode was a great comedic treatment of grief, guilt, and the inevitable changes in life which singles must go through when "those wedding bells" break up the old gang.

In [email] (TamaleBob) writes:

sure,

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hope

This actually isnt a new reaction in seinfeld, though it hasnt been so central to the plot before. When Elaine and Jerry are at the funeral of the guy who pretended to have cancer, they could hardly care less, and in the bosco episode, we see the same thing, as well as when George goes to a funeral and tries to get a discount on the plane tickets (some might remember this as the "you double-dipped the chip!" episode). This show is quite different from a lot of previous sitcoms because it ONLY makes you laugh...other more family oriented shows try to get you to laugh, cry, cheer but dont always succeed...thats why seinfeld is so refreshing... ________

Lidia LoPinto wrote:

Didn't the producers of Seinfeld have a rule when the show started? Somthing like, no hugging, no crying, no "very special episodes"? That's PRECISELY why we watch, isn't it? It's why I watch, anyway.

In article , Heidi L Sackerson wrote:

I remember it being "No hugging, no learning." Meaning learning from mistakes.... :)

Eb

Heidi L Sackerson ([email]) wrote:

Great rule. I had to replace 3 televisions due to throwing them out the window when the announcer said "Next, on a very special "Blossom'...".

In article , [email] wrote:

: :Great rule. I had to replace 3 televisions due to throwing them out the :window when the announcer said "Next, on a very special "Blossom'...". :-- :William Homer|[email]|ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/wi/william1/weh.html

Ugh, I hate those. "On a powerful Home Improvement" or "On a heart-warming Roseanne". Give me a break! These are comedy shows? Hello?

What if the Susan dying was a mistake:

The doctor comes out and asks "Are you the husband?"

George: "Well, the fiance."

The doctor then tells George that she is dead.

What if the doctor went to the wrong person?

What if Susan lives and told the doctor to tell George this so that SHE could get out of the marriage and then in a later episode they bump into each other.

Of course, if it were a soap opera, she could just come back from the dead.

Sam Callan wrote:

Check your TV guide -- the season opener has Susan dead for three months. They must have buried the wrong person too.