Junk Mail: The worst ever?

I did not laugh once! I don't remember ever being that bored by an episode! Who wrote this episode? The van part was awful, the Elaine part was pretty bad, the George story came out of nowhere (making Geoge's parents like each other, how horrible)! The only story that made sense was Kramer's! And by the way four stories in 23 minutes does not work! Are they having trouble filling time? It looks more and more like it would be a good time to put an end to the show before it's too late! Watching the old episodes in syndication only reminds me how good it was and how low it has fallen! And I use my exclamation points very carefully!

If there is one word that could descibe this episode it would be "TIRING". I don't even know how the studio audience managed to keep the laughs coming like that (they probably had to administer CPR for a number of folks in the audience!). The jokes and gags were tiring and lame. It's like they were trying to FORCE FEED us laughs.

Justin T.

Patrick Dumas wrote:

[email] wrote:

And another well rounded tour de force of criticism.

No mention of characters or plot...

Keep going JT, one of these days you'll be able to actually write something about the contents of the shows.

d.a.v.e.

Oh, God...

Another newsgroup inundated by Daves... quick, Paisley, get Wright over here!

Corrina

In , "Corrina O. Parry" writes:

Nothing needed to be said. This was easily the worst episode of a season that has been, on the whole, .... lacking. When you don't laugh one time for the whole half hour, something is seriously wrong. I hope, oh how I hope, that things pick up soon.

Michael Janke
Cindy Morgan NET
http://members.aol.com/MSJanke/cindy/index.htm
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Dave,

This episode was so bad my wife said she doesn't want to bother watching the show anymore! Want me to mention characters- Kramer has finally made the transition to a complete CARTOON character! Just pure nonsense...

TW

In article , [email] (Tbill) wrote:

something

the

Kramer should have been bitching about getting J. Peterman catalogs, and getting on Elaine's case. It would have made the episode a lot better.

[email] (Justin Tribble) wrote:

Maybe it's just me, but Justin T's post this week was his worst ever. Those of you think he's still funny and fresh must not understand comedy.

His old posts were so much better and sometimes I look at the old ones and laugh and laugh.

His new shit is tired and boring, and I don't mind saying that! Those people who tell me stop reading Justin T should GET A LIFE.

It's my right to keep reading and commenting on his posts. I BRING BALANCE TO THE NEWSGROUP!

Best wishes,

WT

"if the truth will set you free and knowledge is power, what the hell am I doing watching so much TV?"

Atleast I don't dip to such low levels as to use PROFANITY to get my point across!!!

Justin T.

[email] (WT Pfefferle, Ph.D.) wrote:

[email] (Justin Tribble) wrote:

What's your hangup with profanity? Words only have power if you let them have power. Your argument is silly. Plus, I wasn't using the "dirty" word to get my point across. It was an accurate noun that appropriately captures the worth of your current commentaries.

So, relax on the profanity kick. And maybe lighten up your use of the exclamation points. They're offensive. I can't believe you've resorted to punctuation to get your point across!~!~!~!~!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Living large. Having fun.

Get a smile, okay, Justy.

Best, WT

"if the truth will set you free and knowledge is power, what the hell am I doing watching so much TV?"

On Fri, Oct 31, 1997 01:20 EST, Patrick Dumas wrote:

Spike Feresten. I think he also directed it, but I'm not sure.

I thought it was pretty good, much better than the blood . Kramer with the junk mail was funny and George yelling "I knew Berkowitz didn't do it was hysterical. I laughed when Kramer asked if the 2 miles on the van was highway or city. The post office thing was funny too (maybe because I work for the post office)

In article ,

Yeah, but they don't exactly research the postal service when writing their stories, do they? Cheers had a more realistic protrayal with Cliff.

It is one of the worst that I have seen. The subplots seemed forced and ill-conceived. The whole thing with George's parents was totally out of character and made me want to hurl. This episode lacked ingenuity and freshness that most episodes have.

Jeff Jolma

How could you have not lauged when Jerry said to the person on the phone to come by and see the van and Kramer pops in and says "Yeah I called about the van." There is no way that you saw that coming and I don't see how it wasn't funny to anyone that has ever seen an episode of this show.

I agree! I don't see why all of you thought this episode was so horrible! I lol many times, the Kramer-Newman postal thing, the van part, it wasn't that bad. The George getting with his cousin was kind of a strange thing to do, but you know how George is.

Jason Jasdeen @aol.com

"The Wiz" thing was kinda stupid though.

If you laughed uncontrollably during that episode, then you simply don't *understand* the physics of *good writing*, pal. You'll laugh at anything.

Justin T.

[email] (Jasdeen) wrote:

In article , [email] says...

The physics of good writing??? Sounds like a goddam major from The University of Cal at Berkeley....If something's funny, people laugh...you don't need to analyze the writing style and then decide if it's funny....watch, laugh, remember and laugh again...it's as simple as that, you don't need to pull out the chemistry set to find humor in something...

I have to agree with the statement, "I didn't laugh once." I told a friend the same thing.

It seems like SEINFELD is doing exactly the same thing that CHEERS did in its final season: nobody cares and they're all just in it for the money. It's almost like they're saying, "We didn't want to stay; you begged us to stay; so we'll make you beg us to go."

Specifics? Most of them have been said, but I'll mention a couple. First: INCEST?????? Where the hell does this come from? It seems like they were trying a variation on the "menage a trois" gimmick from a few seasons back. But where that was FUNNY, this was sick and poorly done by all concerned.

Second: It seems like the writers just think they can graft new personalities on the characters from episode to episode. Where did the unbridled lust between George's parents come from? This was totally inconsistent with everything we know about Frank and Estelle Costanza.

Third: Kramer has gone from being a lovable eccentric to a full-fledged psychotic. His over-reaction to the Pottery Barn catalogs was inane. Again, it seems like they wanted to do a variation on a previous gimmick ("The Chicken Roaster"), but, whereas that flowed organically, this was a cut-and-paste job.

Fourth: The ominous "X-Files" sendup could've been amusing had they gone all the way with it (brought in a Cigarette Smoking Man, or have Newman's supervisor look like Skinner--Newman as Mulder could've been a scream), but they copped out with Wilfred Brimley (who nevertheless came off looking good, a la his role in "The Firm").

I could go on and on, but why bother? Contrast this absolutely tasteless and abysmally unfunny episode with the excellent FRASIER from two nights earlier, and it's clear to see where witty writing and acting on NBC has migrated to.

It also makes one wonder: Thursday night at 9:00 PM has been dominated for the better part of two decades by CHEERS and SEINFELD, much like the 49ers have had Montana and Young for roughly the same period of time. I don't see a show on the NBC scehdule that has the potential to anchor that franchise time slot, other than FRASIER (which anchors Tuesday night). Certainly not the unwatchable VERONICA'S CLOSET. Wonder what NBC will do when SEINFELD finally folds its tent in the Spring of '98?

In article , Lee Salem wrote:

...opinions deleted to save space

Yes, why bother. I guess that was your last post to the group, and the last episode you'll watch.

Heck, why bother to come and lurk, so you'll probably not read, let alone respond, to this.

d.a.v.e. wrote:

<<Oh, please. I like Frasier a lot, but it's been declining lately. The whole costume party with the misheard/overheard lines was lifted straight from sitcom 101. The plot was reminiscent of Three's Company more than anything else. Apart from Roz in leather as "O" - a highly redeeming visual element, the show was embarrassingly obvious.>>

I dunno...misheard/overheard lines are the essence of excellent farce comedy and appear to be a lot easier to write than they actually are (try it sometime). One of the things I liked about the episode is that it didn't condescend to the lowest common denominator, as so many NBC sitcoms do. I mean, how often do you see references to Chaucer, Cyrano and James Fenimore Cooper in the same show?

I also really enjoy how they can tastefully poke fun at Gil Chesterton's "out there" homosexuality in good humor without worrying about being p.c. When Marty asked him who he was supposed to be and Gil responded, "Chingachgook. I'm the Last Of The Mohicans," Marty's aside, "Well, that clears up THAT little mystery!" had me ROFL.

Not only is SEINFELD off this season but the whole NBC schedule is pretty lame.

I only enjoy 3 NBC shows now. FRIENDS, FRASIER, NEWSRADIO. Of the 3 I'd bet on FRIENDS for the SEINFELD slot next year.

Please note, the following is just my very humble opinion:

I have seen and taped every episode of Seinfeld (Am I obsessed with Jerry and the gang? Of course I am. Do I think it's the best sitcom ever? I don't see why not.) and I am very disappointed with this season. Quite frankly, for the most part it has been really bad (except for the intern episode), with Junk Mail being the worst episode ever. I laughed a couple of times at the beginning, but towards the end I was like "What the #%#$ is this crap?" I was actually glad when the episode ended.

I have to say that George is really beginning to freak me out. (I am FREAKIN' out!). First his food fetish in The Blood, and now his incestuous "relationship" - George has now crossed the line from lovable loser to complete moron. And what was with Frank and Estelle actually expressing affection for one another? :)

Anyway, this was my first post to this newsgroup; I wish I could have been here 4 or 5 years ago (that's a shame, huh?). Hopefully the boys and girls pull out the big guns during sweeps month - they'll need'em.

Patrick Dumas wrote:

This whole season has been a waste. The writers have run out of gas and they are grasping for anything. The Costanzas are not funny anymore and the writers keep inserting them into every plot. I agree that the junk mail episode was not very good but I think the "shiksa godess" episode earlier this year was even worse. Sometimes a great show has to be put to rest. John Cleese did this with Fawlty Towers and Gleason did it with the Honeymooners. It's time for "Seinfeld" to retire before they ruin it any more.