Someone asked in another thread if there were any Beatles references in Seinfeld episodes, and surprisingly (at least to me), no one's been able to come up with any. Since the Seinfeld and Beatles universes apparently don't intersect, it got me thinking about paralels between the two:
Beatles: "Something" Seinfeld: Nothing
Beatles: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Seinfeld: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper Seinfeld: Lt. Bookman
Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour Seinfeld: Kramer's Reality Tour
Beatles: Live at Shea Stadium Seinfeld: (George) Works at Yankee Stadium
Just a few off the top of my head....everyone feel free to add some of your own.
Which Beatlles would match up to Jerry, - George, - Elaine, - Kramer -
I have some other views as to why there are no Beatle references in Seinfeld.
It was probably not done consciously. But they just did not fit. As "Art" says
their universes don't intersect. But I think it is so much more than that.
There are so many other references to 60's and 70's celebrities, sports,
political and entertainment events that the lack of Beatles could not be an
accident. In discussing it with a literary friend who sees deep structures in
Seinfeld she would suggest; the references in Seinfeld are very "nineties" and
"manhattan-centric" and I would add, "ameri-centric". That is OK because that
is what the show is about. I would suggest that when non-manhattan or
non-american references are made they are usually deprecating - the images of
Los Angeles in The Trip, (we don't even have to mention Florida), and the
reference to Seattle as "a pesto city" etc. reinforce the power and superiority
of New York City. The same is true of other countries - the Yugoslavs don't
bath [The Shower Head] ... who are the Dutch? ... Canadian football is weird
... Columbus is Eurotrash [The Library]... and so was the designer dress [The
Pie] ... Scandinavian countries have funny money ... Brits are bounders [The
Soup] ... Aussies overstay their welcome [The Busboy] ... Russians are cable
thieves [The Baby Shower]... and on and on. Hence any reference to the
British Beatles would have had to have been in a negative vein. However that
would not have been offensive to the audience as so many of us see the Beatles
beyond the confines of the show in an almost religious light. Disrespecting
the Beatles would have been an unacceptable act. Petula Clark's "Downtown" was
dissected into ridicule - we could not do that to the Beatles. Hence they
could not be mentioned. There is also the breaking away from the images of the
60's to a new order of the 90's - an image, lifestyle and mood that defined
or was defined by Seinfeld. The Beatles do not fit in that world but the
Beach Boys do - I am not an expert on music but the songs and tunes used in
Seinfeld seem to be very much more American than not. And that is fitting.
Hence, for all of those reasons the Beatles don't exist in Jerry's world.
Which Beatlles would match up to Jerry, - George, - Elaine, - Kramer -
I have some other views as to why there are no Beatle references in Seinfeld. It was probably not done consciously. But they just did not fit. As "Art" says
their universes don't intersect. But I think it is so much more than that. There are so many other references to 60's and 70's celebrities, sports, political and entertainment events that the lack of Beatles could not be an accident. In discussing it with a literary friend who sees deep structures in Seinfeld she would suggest; the references in Seinfeld are very "nineties" and
"manhattan-centric" and I would add, "ameri-centric". That is OK because that
is what the show is about. I would suggest that when non-manhattan or non-american references are made they are usually deprecating - the images of Los Angeles in The Trip, (we don't even have to mention Florida), and the reference to Seattle as "a pesto city" etc. reinforce the power and superiority
of New York City. The same is true of other countries - the Yugoslavs don't bath [The Shower Head] ... who are the Dutch? ... Canadian football is weird ... Columbus is Eurotrash [The Library]... and so was the designer dress [The Pie] ... Scandinavian countries have funny money ... Brits are bounders [The Soup] ... Aussies overstay their welcome [The Busboy] ... Russians are cable thieves [The Baby Shower]... and on and on. Hence any reference to the British Beatles would have had to have been in a negative vein. However that would have been offensive to the audience as so many of us see the Beatles beyond the confines of the show in an almost religious light. Disrespecting the Beatles would have been an unacceptable act. Petula Clark's "Downtown" was
dissected into ridicule - they could not do that to "Yesterday". Hence the Beatles could not be mentioned. There is also the breaking away from the images of the
60's to a new order of the 90's - an image, lifestyle and mood that defined or was defined by Seinfeld. The Beatles do not fit in that world but the Beach Boys do - I am not an expert on music but the songs and tunes used in Seinfeld seem to be very much more American than not. And that is fitting. Hence, for all of those reasons the Beatles don't exist in Jerry's world.
But isn't the above a representation of some Americans views on the outside world in general. I know it must be hard to actively be informed about what's going on outside a very large and powerful country, but 'who are the Dutch?' - I was very surprised at this, although I've seen a Candid Camera type show asking some Americans where New Zealand was and the people asked either thought it was part of Australia or had no idea where it was.
I am not sure what you mean that you were surprised at this. This is a line from one of the shows when George and Jerry are discussing Holland being The Netherlands ... they add ... then who are the Dutch?
And I agree that the ethnocentric views of many americans is the reason so many references to other countries and cultures are portrayed in a negative way. But that's okay - they did it with great humour and in meaningful context. My point is of course that they could not get away with treating the Beatles that way - it would not be accepted.
Yes, I've seen the episode - that's why I posted that quote. What I mean is that it surprised me that many Americans don't know that 'the Dutch' are people from Holland, or if you prefer, the Netherlands. I can almost understand them thinking NZ was part of Oz, because the lands 'down under' are referred to so often, but many Americans basic understanding of the rest of the world amazes me.
BTW: I've purposely mentioned 'some' or 'most' Americans, because I don't want to offend those who do know what's going on outside the 'States.
Hey Mark, nice seeing you in another place than RSRU ;-)
The common thing heard about The Netherlands in America is something like "Isn't that the capital of Copenhagen?"
In The Netherlands there used to be a tv show, where 70-year-old Dutch, spending their winter in Spain, were given a map of the World asked to point at the place where they were now and at The Netherlands. Surely, the viewers were shown a compilation of the worst of them all, but the places they pointed out included New Zealand, the North Pole and places in the middle of the Ocean, because they didn't know that blue indicated sea.
Talking about Yugoslavs never taking a bath, it might be of interest that a Croat friend told me not too long ago that showers are completely unknown all over the Balkan. They only have baths. So long for Kramer's shower head.
Well, along with a shield match or the ABs, watching the greatest sit-com ever isn't bad. And hey, it's a chance to escape Bobs - he's like Bania, only not funny ;-)
interesting post. i'm trying to think of non-manhattan related people or things on the show shown in a good light and i can't come up with any. i can agree that the beatles couldn't be in the seinfeld universe, but i can't see the beach boys fitting either. seinfeld was so new york, that anything related to california or even "america" wouldn't fit. remember when kramer changed his apartment into "anytown usa?"
Yes. New York City was The Fifth Character on the show. So much of what they did was on that stage. This international magic city that could be friendly, dangerous, so rich in culture, history and activity. The cabbies, the shop people, the Broadway plays, the commercial center, the interplay of cultures from all over the world all used in episode after episode - THE NEXUS OF THE UNIVERSE - they said it didn't they?
Could you imagine a Kenny Kramer reality tour anywhere else?
It would not fit in their personal culture, true. They used the Beach Boys music twice. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in The Hamptons and "California Girls" in The Trip. The Beach Boys are Americana and of course and do fit in the milieu of Seinfeld and if they wanted to poke fun at the music they could.
(FWIW: I think Brian Wilson's music was absolute genius - each song is a different masterpiece - the intro to Cal. Girls alone would make him notable and add; Get Around, all the carburetor love songs - 409, deuce coup, shut down, fun fun fun, ... all the surfing songs, ... THEN he goes and does Good Vibrations - WOW! ...think I'll put on the CD while I type ... )