The Flaws of _Seinfeld_

• Not enough snap to the dialogue -- there used to be a lot more sparkle per sentence. See the opening scene of "The Fix Up."

2. Tendency toward physical over abstract comedy, begun some time ago with Joe
   Divolla and climaxing in "The Barber."  A lot of Kramer's style has always
   been physical, of course, but even that is getting multiplied a bit much.

• Lower ratio of Larry David scripts. "There is no substitute."

• Presence of Newman. The man just isn't funny (except in "The Boyfriend").

5. Reduction in number of club bits by Jerry.  Originally there were three --
   last night there was one, and not a very funny one.  In fact the only bit
   this season I really enjoyed was the "morning guy/night guy" sequence.

6. Reduction in Jewish flavor of show.  It seems to me to be getting a bit more
   white-bread, which is a shame since Jewish comedy is harder to come by on
   TV these days.

Generally: an inability to build stories which the audience is likely to identify with. I daresay there are more people who have been fixed-up on blind dates than chased by sociopathic barbers. I liked the opening of "The Barber" but I really didn't think it had the polish of "The Tape," for example.

Wes

I have to admit that you have a point there with the physical comedy stuff. Some of it is overused, such as Kramer's frantic entrances into Jerry's apartment. Right now they're about as funny as someone shouting `Norm!'.

Also, `The Barber' contained some of the worst acting ever. Specifically, the younger of the barbers, whose fake Italian accent and gestures were truly pathethic, beyond even satirical.

But what I see as the real problem with Seinfeld this year is that they're trying to squeeze in too many characters. Newman can be funny at times, but this year the guy is used too much. Stick to them that got you there.

No sig.