It's like, you know...3/31

Can we jam Seinfeldisms and former cast members into one episode??

I'm not finding this episode as funny as the pilot. But am enjoying seeing the "Yada, Yada, Yada" girlfriend of George, as one of the newscasters. And the chinese food delivery boy who sued Elaine as none other than, Chinese Restaurant to go person on the phone.

And the "Speed dial" comments. And the "Cut to the chase" comment.

Kato Kalin, of the OJ trial fame on the plane???

Phil

On Wed, 31 Mar 1999 23:31:19 -0800 (PST), [email] (Phil R.) wrote:

Seinfeld people popping up everywhere. I'm sure someone has started a list on this too...

That shocked the hell out of me! It did seem appropriate. Kato is kind of the ultimate ultra-California/slacker/goofball type who would actually be distraught over missing a car chase.

I think the show has shown a great deal of potential so far, and it's the first TV show in a long time that I'm enthusiastic about.

I thought it was funny. The way everyone was shocked when they announced the he lit a cigarette in Spado (spelling). Funny!

James

On Wed, 31 Mar 1999, Phil R. wrote:

In article ,

I've enjoyed watching the first two episodes. It's a blatant, complete Seinfeld ripoff/remake, down to a lot of the details, and in the whole style; but I guess that's the best we can really hope for for now, as long as it's ripped off well and to good effect, as here. It won't really succeed in the long run, I suspect, or really fill Seinfeld's shoes - for that we need something else that is truly innovative, with a style and substance all its own. The last one like that BEFORE Seinfeld, I'd say, was Cheers, before that I guess there are different choices people would argue over - many might say Taxi, and that was really good....Mash....my favorite from the '70's and the one that I think holds up the best (and is most closely related to Seinfeld I think, in its attitude and rhythm) is the Bob Newhart Show.

richforman

I'd agree with all those...but I still say M*A*S*H is the greatest show ever, on my top 10 list anyway (Seinfeld is number 2)...

ever, on my top 10 list anyway (Seinfeld is number 2)...

     I'd say only the early years of MASH were solid.    In fact there's a
rhythm and feel to those episodes very similar to "Seinfeld".   I am convinced
those shows,  along with John Hughes' best work were strong influences on both
Jerry and Larry David,  whether they were conscious of it or not.   The later
quality of MASH dropped so dramatically,  it's often forgotten how good it was
at the start.

    Which is good news for Peter Mehlman and his "It's Like,  You Know... "
because now with a tight pilot,  and a horrible episode #2   (it could have
been the "Suddenly Susan" cast watching that car chase)  he's guilty of an
uneven start.  But that doesn't mean he can't pull it together and get into a
consistent groove.
	However,  he is already off "Seinfeld's"  incredible run.   Jerry may have had
 an occasional scene, or joke,  or element that didn't work,  but never an
entire episode.  Incredibly consistent.  He was an Iron Man.
     Still doesn't mean Mehlman can't achieve things they didn't and evolve in
new directions,  following in the tradition of Seinfeld's scope and style.
	The TV news anchor team was right on the money,  but everything else was
totally off in episode #2 Wednesday night.

Witlow1 wrote:

This is arguable. Very arguable. A few of the ninth season shows were bombs any way you look at them, and several of the first and second season shows had very little to recommend them as well. Agreed that ILYK's second episode wasn't as good as its first, but it was certainly superior to "The Stock Tip".

I loved The Stock Tip, esp George crowing in the diner

Joemovie: "I'd agree with all those...but I still say M*A*S*H is the greatest show ever, on my top 10 list anyway (Seinfeld is number 2)..."

No way. Seinfeld is definitely number one. With some Normal Lear stuff as number 2 (Allin the Family or maybe Maude); Mash 3. I love Newhart but the show itself didnt seem that innovative to me. I just love Newhart himself. (Talk about people who learned from Benny)

Before I began watching M*A*S*H, Seinfeld was number one on my list, but once I began watching M*A*S*H, Seinfeld was bumped to number two. That doesn't mean it's worst than M*A*S*H, I'd say one scene makes M*A*S*H better than Seinfeld in my oppinion, and that's when Radar reports on Henry Blake's death, I still cry everytime. Yes, Seinfeld is the greatest sitcom of all time, but M*A*S*H is the greatest show all around of all time, that's including dramas, comedies, and action/adventures...and anything else that has ever been on television. M*A*S*H had it all, drama, action, adventure, comedy...while on a greatest sitcom's of all time list Seinfeld would clearly be number one, when you do a list of every show ever made, M*A*S*H is the best for the job of number one...

Oh, and one my Greatest Shows Of All Time List, I also include All In The Family, Sanford and Son, and six other classic shows many people would agree with...

Can't watch it, Jennifer Grey's nose-not-nose was freaking me out!

Donna C.

James Thomas Guzman wrote:

I think the 'ideas' are good but they were all performed from the living room couch. Cutting to the hari krishna in the park instead of walking through the park and seeing them for some reason consistent with a plot line. The show is good in its ideas but weak in its construction. The car chase should have been a common thread and interact with each principal player in some way. The car chase should have affected Art's life through the interaction of the others. And as I said last week they can't sustain the show with knocking LA every week. If the LA culture was put in the background and the undercurrent of it being there while other more interesting things were happening it could be great.

That is how NYC was handled in Seinfeld. The city was a minor character that affected the main characters in some way. But Seinfeld was not a show about NYC. Its Like You Know seems to be about LA. After two shows I say enough already.

I checked the IMDB to see if there was any info there and sure enough the first comment is:

                          anonymous
                          Pasadena, Ca

                          Date: 13 December 1998
                          Summary: It's like gonna last about one episode.

                               I have seen the first and twelfth episodes of
this series. Did I laugh? No. Did anyone
                               else in the audience laugh? Not really. If you
want to get a bunch of unhappy, unfunny,
                               New York writers together to complain about
how they think everything and everyone
                               in L.A. is shallow that's fine. But don't tape
it in L.A. and expect anyone to enjoy it.
                               Do I sound bitter? Not as bitter as whoever
came up with this show.

I guess that is why the laugh track is so blatant. No real laughs from the audience.

What is the IMDB?

[email] (goatboy) Re: It's like, you know...3/31 I checked the IMDB What is the IMDB?

goatboy wrote in message ...

Internet Movie DataBase: http://us.imdb.com/search

A great site, which I use to check mistakes & continuity errors in films I`m about to watch... (yes, I *am* that sad <g>). The Titanic entry is particularly impressive.

Flat Eric Appreciation Society

The question is, should we?

Here's my take:

I watched it. I disliked it. A lot.

I knew beforehand that given the number of ex-Seinfeld producers/directors/crew members that are involved with this show, that there would be similarities that couldn't be avoided, but what I saw Wednesday night annoyed me.

Talk about similarites, that one episode alone reminded me of Seinfeld at least a dozen times.

During the opening credits, I noticed Peter Mehlman, Suzie Mamann-Greenberg and Jon Hayman (voice of the bubble boy), and the closing credits went by so fast, I only caught production assistants Jed Elinoff (namesake of "The New Yorker" cartoon editor) and Vicki Sirotta-Perez, Christine Nyhart (Seinfeld's script coordinator), Wayne Keenan (Seinfeld's Directory of Photography) and Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting (guess what *they* did for Seinfeld.) Yup. Casting.

Which helps explain the cast. Did I really see FOUR ex-Seinfeld actors on that show?

Zack Phifer ("Phil") played Bob, the guy who tried to hit on Ethan in front of Jerry in "The Wig Master"

Jeff Miller ("the Shopkeeper") played the guard who wouldn't let Jean-Paul into the marathon late in "The Hot Tub".

The newscaster was George's "Yada yada" girlfriend, and the Chinese restaurant maitre d' was Ping Wu (The Chinese food delivery boy in "The Tape" and "the Virgin". Talk about typecasting.)

Let's see now, they ordered the Hunan platter. (the Chinese restaurant in "The Chinese Restaurant" was called Hunan 5th Avenue.)

Then there was the chase scene. Two words. Steve Gendeson.

And how did they find out about the chase? Someone was listening on the police scanner. Like Kramer in "The Secret Code".

The Wit's End catalog = the Peterman catalog.

Rabbi Brock = Rabbi Glickman

Hilo Beckworthy = Bob Sacamano? The jury's still out on this one.

The whole "Why didn't Germany change their name after WWII?" bit was pure Seinfeld, as was the "A Chiropractor is not a real doctor" bit.

You know, when I started writing this, I said I was annoyed. Actually, I'm disgusted. Nothing personal against those involved, but I would like to see this show crash and burn. I'd rather watch a half-hour of mindless prefab fill-in-the-blanks template sitcom than one that tries to glom off of my enjoyment of Seinfeld. Unfortunately, it finished 33rd in the Neilson ratings, so it'll probably stick around for a while.

Sigh.

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Dave wrote:

Great post Dave. Boy, you know the show!

I remember reading a book on Zen along time ago and there was a paragraph talking about 'copying' things. It went something like this..

           "It was like a tapestry rug turned around.  You could see the
threads and the pattern was there
             but none of the brilliant colour and magic of the proper side."
(paraphrase)

That is what 'You know..' is. They think they have the Seinfeld formula but it has no magic or flavour - like Wal Mart Cola - It ain't 'The Real Thing'.

PS - Did you read my post about The Nose Job episode and Jennifer Grey's two nose jobs? Think Peter Mehlman was bopping Jennifer when he wrote that episode?

On Sun, 04 Apr 1999 10:29:28 -0400, "The News Guy(Mike)" wrote:

Living in the UK, I've not had the chance to see "It's like...you know". It seems to have received a pretty mixed reaction in this group, so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Anyone care to post a quick description of what it's about? (The word "Nothing" would be an acceptable summary. :)

As to shows that might try to use the "Seinfeld formula", I think this is doomed to failure. I think what really made Seinfeld work so well was the combination of the scripts and the actors. They just fitted together perfectly. Even if another show came up with the same quality of character dialogue, they'd have to have a set of actors that fit the characters as well as JS, JA, MR, JLD etc. did. Because a show like Seinfeld is about "nothing" it can't rely on the situations to carry it along -- it's all down to the players. And Seinfeld had very good quality players. I doubt we'll see anything else as good for a long time, but I'd certainly be happy to be proved wrong.

All MHO, of course.

Malc92 wrote:

Sure, I'll try. ============== The show is about four characters (like the Wizard of Oz and all other great epochs..)

The central character ,Art, is a New York magazine writer who was sent to LA to write a story. Most of the humour comes from his observing the cultural differences between Los Angeles and (the rest of the world) New York.

LA people are made out to be stereotypicaly shallow, concerned with image, and with the slower moving 'easy' life style.

Art is living in a guest house with an old friend, Robbie, from college who became very rich through some silly TV scheme. "Pray for View" - Jewish High Holiday services on TV instead of the synagogue. He does not flaunt his money and lives the easy life in Shrug's guest house. Shrug, a short slow-witted bald man, has a large trust fund and also does not have to work.

They have a neighbour, Jennifer, who is an actress. Jennifer Grey plays herself and is making a big deal about her real life experience of not getting much work after Dirty Dancing since her nose made her look too Jewish. So she got a nose job and then she looked prettier but no one believed she played Baby in Dirty dancing. This is real and it is part of the show.

There is a second woman in the show but I can't figure out her minor character yet.

The show seems to revolve around these four talking in Robbie's living room. Much like a copy of Seindfeld (a poor copy I hasten to add). The events of the show lend themselves to guest stars and cameo appearences of LA actors and notable personalities.

I do not think, after two episodes, the show was very good but it only needs a small % following to make money for the network and the producers.

BTW I started my tape collection of the show...just in case.

On Sun, 04 Apr 1999 19:37:27 -0400, "The News Guy(Mike)" wrote:

[Snip]

Thanks.

It _does_ sound very Seinfeld-inspired.

Maybe it'll pick up and find it's own niche. The Seinfeld similarities may disappear as the show finds its own "voice". Maybe.

Malc92 wrote:

Maybe it'll pick up and find it's own niche. The Seinfeld

When Seinfeld was brand new, there were those who said it was a ripoff of Woody Allen, much the same way people are saying ILYK is a ripoff of Seinfeld. Two episodes is really way too quick to be condemning a show.

Keith typed:

>Two episodes is really way too quick

I do plan on watching more of ILYK, i was merely commenting how "not funny" the second episode was compared to the pilot. It still has promise. And i totally agree with you about that it has only aired two eps so far, give it a chance. I certainly will.

Phil

Phil R. wrote:

I agree. I was mainly speaking to those who are demanding ILYK's immediate cancellation.

JA said in the early eps he looked at the George character and it seemed like Woody Allen to him so that is the way he played it but then learned it was based on Larry David and then played it that way. Unfortunately, in the end the character evolved into a screamer.

Paul

Sein999999 wrote:

Which is just one sign of the decline of the writing. George should have been had much less to scream about, considering that his life was far better than it was the first few seasons: he had great jobs, lived in a very nice apartment, and dated beautiful women on a regular basis.

Keith Davenport wrote:

But Keith, these are materialistically superficial things.  The successful
quest for transient financial gain does not manifest true happiness nor
lasting contentment.   It is the spiritual well-being of a person that
yields the true harmony of the spirit.  Consider, then, all the underlying
gnawing guilt George was carrying for being in some way responsible for his
loss and the death of Susan.   Now she had REAL money!!!   :-)

In article , "The News Guy(Mike)" wrote:

I'd say the screaming he did in the movie theater (where he thought his worlds were colliding because Susan was hanging out with Jerry and Elaine) outdoes "The Dealership". At least he wasn't thrown out in the latter.

[email] wrote:

Possibly, but I was mainly talking about how frequently he was screaming in the final season, as opposed to how much he had screamed in earlier years, when he seemingly had much more to scream about. "The Dealership" wasn't the only episode in the ninth season which became a George screamfest- also "The Apology" and "The Merv Griffin Show".

Agreed, but The Apology was more of a joke about George's excessive screaming, and I thought was one of the better George eps of the last season

Over the last year or two, George became a caricature of himself, losing much of the texture his character had in earlier years. He simply wasn't as interesting, and only Jason Alexander's skill made the later George watchable.

BTW, I believe many of those later scripts were written by members of the "Harvard mafia" Peter Mehlman so lambasted on "It's Like, You Know"'s third episode.

"There is no such thing as accident. It is Fate--misnamed." --title card, Erich Von Stroheim's "The Wedding March," 1928

The News Guy writes:

--------------------- The best part of the show: The 'other girl' mentioned above ( a massuese) who is an absolute delight.

Problems: Two of the main characters are practically indistinguishable. Average height, fairly good looking, dark hair. Seinfeld had three very different peole: the tall one, the normal one and the short one. The other male is totally bald and so ugly as to be almost grotesqe.

I don't see anything to recommend the show.

Malc92 wrote:

Anyone care to post a quick description of what it's about? ------------------------------------------------------- It is a lot like Seinfeld. One difference is the city of L.A. is a character instead of being a backdrop as NY is a backdrop for Seinfeld. A couple of characters were having a conversation about a certain type of guy that make the world better but the type of guys they are don't. I don't remember the exact conversation but it sounded like a Sein conversation but the actors didn't play it as well as Jerry and George would have. The character called Shrug seems to be a cross between George and Kramer but not as good. The material might be fine but not as fine as Seinfeld and the actors can't make the script come alive as the actors on Seinfeld can.

Paul Valenti