The end is near for the Sein... I hope

I hope next year is the last for Seinfeld. Seeing the new shows every Thursday night alongside reruns from 2, 3 and 4 seasons ago, I notice a consistent drop in quality. (Notwithstanding Soup Nazi and one or two others). The problem for any sitcom once it gets to the six or seven year mark is in keeping it fresh. M*A*S*H managed it by reinventing the characters somewhat, and infusing the scripts with drama - it may have been more drama than comedy in its last few seasons. And that would NEVER work for Seinfeld. OTOH, Cheers *DIDN'T* manage it, instead lamely trying to outdo itself in extremes. That is, Cliff got more and more wacko, Sam got stupider, Rebecca got more neurotic, etc. In effect the writers were trying to rework the same trusted but stale formula by simply piling on MORE of everything and everybody. IMO the signs of decay are there in Seinfeld, notably the Susan's death season closer. Reading this NG I find it's purt-near unanimous that the episode just wasn't funny. I caught the whiff of Cheers Syndrome: "let's make them even MORE insensitive and selfish and it'll be even funnier." Wrong. It's the law of diminishing returns. I just groaned when George called up Marisa Tomei at the end: "After the funeral I have no plans." What's next? He finally breaks down and kills his mother, perhaps clubbing her to death with that doll of Susan's that looks just like her? Better to go out on top than lapse into self-parody.

i agree. i was really let down by george's character too. it seems like he's been trying to "good", to be more grownup, less selfish (e.g. steady job, on his own, getting engaged, moving in with susan, helping out the security guard, etc.) i can see him getting cold feet again, but he completely reverted and crashed-n-burned on that last episode. and then seinfeld's whole marriage thing, what a joke. it's to the point where i want baboo to follow through with his vow.

KEvin

I never thought of that as the Cheers Syndrome...it does seem that a lot of sitcoms do it now, though...Friends, the Simpsons, The Nanny, etc. The first thing they do is make the off-beat characters stupid, then make them stupider until they are retarded.

I also thought the season finale was in poor taste.

Gwen

My feeling on this topic is that the show has dropped in humor the last season, but has also had some FANTASTIC episodes (The Bottle Deposit, The Wig Master, The Shower Head). The characters keep going up and down in their amount of humor. I think that Elaine has gotten more irritating each season. Look at her character in the first couple of seasons and look at her now. Now comparison. Meanwhile George and Kramer have gotten better and better (exception being George's insensitivity in season finale). I look forward to this next season having new writers and interested in seeing changes because of Larry David's exit. So overall, I disagree, I think the show will continue being outstanding.

When has George ever shown any sensitivity? I saw his reaction to Susan's death a mile away. He values "independent George" over anybody's life.

In David Marsh writes:

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I agree pretty much David, but I think most of the difficulties with tv
sitcoms that go on and on lie with us.  No matter how funny and great a
show is, after we have seen more-or-less the same thing for several
years, it just lacks that punch that it first had.  We have seen the
personalities, and though George's obnoxious behavior at first was
hilarious, not it's slowing down some.  What works for me sometimes is
just to stop watching for awhile, and maybe then pick up what I'd
missed during the summer re-runs.  Then I go "yeah,, this is great, why
did I ever stop watching"?  Keeps fresher longer that way.
    Well, I'm just rambling now, so I think I'll go...
    (another:) David