Remember when Seinfeld used to have 3 bits of standup comedy every episode. There was one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. But now...we only get one at the beginning.
I believe that there is a correlation between the the reduction of stand-up comedy on the show and the show's decline.
The show used to be what I'll call "idea-based". It used to be funny because of *what* happened. However, now the show seems to be *character-based*. The only jokes we see have to do with the characters.
To put it another way, what was funny about "The Chinese Restaurant" or "the Parking Garage" was what could happen at some place like that that would be funny. But now, all we ever seem to see is Kramer shaking. All the characters seem to be characatures of themselves. The stories seem to involves the characters and not situations in life - little observations which was the basis of Seinfeld's comedy.
The show will return to its past glory, however, once we see Seinfeld giving us 3 standup routines during the show. That will indicate that the creative juices are flowing; That the observational comedy that *made* Seinfeld will save *Seinfeld*.
Darryl Levine McGill University