There is an interesting article in the TV section of this weeks (18th Nov) Time Out. It looks at why people in the UK just don't seem to connect with the programme while 80m people watched the last episode in the USA.
The first explanation was that the BBC kept moving the programme around and has now ended up in an 11.15pm slot. However, it is also pointed out that even when it is given a prime-time slot, what Seinfeld fans have been crying out for, it still doesn't attract a large audience.
This occured when Sky One bought the last season and showed it at 8.30pm leading into Friends and then ER. The audience figures, however, were disappointing - 150,000 for Seinfeld up against 1 million for Friends, and it was pulled after 6 weeks.
What is interesting is that Sky then commissioned some research into why people don't seem to watch the programme - they found that people just didn't get the programme. They didn't get the characters, the plots, basically the whole programme. What is worse is that they found that people would rather watch Keeping Up Appearences than Seinfeld.
I would like to know what other people think about this - why do people in the UK either like or dislike the show?
On Fri, 20 Nov 1998 14:23:02 -0000, "Stuart Lee" wrote:
I haven't seen the TO article, but it can't help if the BBC keep messing around with the timings. There's never been a chance for the show to attract a loyal audience by being on for week after week on a certain day at a certain time. The BBC seem to delight in taking it off the air for weeks or months at a time so they can show snooker or something like that.
I think the show needs longer than 6 weeks for people to understand what's going on and what the characters are really all about. It's often said that the show is about "nothing" but that couldn't be further from the truth. The characters are complex and interesting and the storylines last for more than one episode. Come on Sky or BBC, give the show a decent run!
Crikey! That *surely* says something about being British at the end of the 20th century...
I *really* like Seinfeld. As I've said above, you've got to give the show a chance to grow on you. What I like best are the characters - George is my favourite - and the way the plots are so beautifully constructed. There's hardly a line wasted and you just *know* it'll all come together in the end in hilarious way. Sure, some of the episodes are weaker than others - last week's "The Secretary" wasn't up to much - but the good episodes have me screaming with laughter. There's an episode called "The Microbiologist" which, for me, has to be one of the funniest sitcom episodes ever. The interaction of the characters and plot is way beyond anything British sitcoms have to offer, except perhaps for Fawltey Towers.
Seinfeld's greatest assets are twofold -All the characters are basically unlikable. They are all selfish, self obsessed,greedy people. Like Friends but with honesty. You just dont get characters like these normally, certainly not without others. Its like they together make an everyman of all humanities worst traits.
-It is pure situation comedy. Jokes build up to a cresendo through a whole show, coming from the most unlikely of beginnings. Such as George saving a whale from choking when Kramer gets a load of golf balls and drives them into the ocean. The Master of their Domain episode (the greatest 30 minutes of wanking jokes every seen on American TV) left me gasping.
obsessed,greedy people. Like Friends but with honesty. You just dont get characters like these normally, certainly not without others. Its like they together make an everyman of all humanities worst
The honesty part is right, but certainly not the rest of it. There are countless examples of the characters' well intentioned help that somehow winds up hurting in the end. I think this is part of the humor. Jerry puts up with the red demon in Kramer's apartment, insomnia, just to help save this guy's job, but winds up causing him to lose it by inadvertently shaking out his rat hat in the place (to mention a recent repeat). HIs efforts to help Babu never worked, tho he tried to help. Many many examples of this. I like the characters and I think a lot of other people do too, but youre right about the honesty. They ADMIT a lot of little things that people THINK but never say and these things make them appear like awful people to some but others of us are sort of relieved to hear things said that matter to people but which people never ADMIT to. Sometimes small things like nose picking. Superficial attitudes to dating. I dont have to be LIKE these characters in every aspect or like every character in order to like the whole of them, the good with the bad.
AS for the lack of popularity in UK this fascinates me. Is it a different type of humor, or is it really just a matter of scheduling. I know that can really ruin a show. It is subtle and deep and so much happens in a short space of time that if you aren't really watching carefully, you can miss. That's why they get so much better with repeats. Whenver I visit my mom and she is subjected to having to watch the show with me, she always says it's better the second time around because she gets it then. This is really rare in TV shows. But I think of the UK as being very into subtle, intelligent humor. That's what puzzles me. Unless the TYPE of subtle intelligent humor is different.
One thing, there are so many satires, I miss lots of them from not knowing something. If they don't know about what is satirized, maybe that could take away, but even so, people who dont know the satires still find the episodes humorous.
Maybe American life is so different from UK life that it is not relevant. That's what really fascinates me.
But the creativity of weaving together the plot lines, i would think that would be appealing.
Well I understand the prog, & find it fairly funny, but I could never understand why is was so popular in the US!! it just seems like an average US sitcom to me, I find Frasier much funnier, even the S1 repeats I've seen loads of times. Ratbat
On Fri, 20 Nov 1998, Stuart Lee stated this considered view. To keep the thread going, I replied -
I find I just can't empathise with the characters, like I can with shows like Friends, Frasier etc. The characters just don't have any appeal to me, and without that element, the comedy just falls flat to me.
When the Paramount Comedy channel started showing the early seasons, I TRIED to watch them, but after a few shows I found I just didn't care whether I missed it or not.
Nobody I know actually watches Seinfeld, even though I tell them they should. Thankfully, Paramount are now showing the whole series from episode 1 (although they`ve just started repeating episodes this week (gives me a chance to record the 3 eps I missed due to dodgy video recorder though <g>) ), Sky 1 are showing season 9, and the BBC is stuck somewhere in the mid-range....
If you're referring to Stewart Lee of 'Fist of Fun' fame, etc then no - that's not me.
This Stuart Lee is gay, unemployed and probably spends too much time on the Internet.
However, almost to prove the scheduling point, the BBC decided not to show Seinfeld this week and according to the latest TV listings, not next week either. So that's 4 episodes before a break - I wish the BBC would go back to showing it 3 late nights a week as they once did.
Just wondered. Not that there`s anything wrong with that <g>
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I know! Its the bloody snooker yet again, It must be *really* popular for it to effect so many programmes....
Snooker. Who, actually, would sit down and watch the whole thing? Are they mad? Will I suddenly develop a liking for snooker on my 50th birthday, or something...? Anyway, I`m getting irate....
It's worth mentioning that there are *no* American shows getting big ratings in the UK (as far as I know?... feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)... even the likes of ER and Friends have very small audiences compared with the big shows on BBC1 and ITV. Maybe it's patriotism, cynicism about American things... Whatever it is, it's probably the same kind of reason why there are no British shows on prime-time network TV in America.