very nyc or too nyc: you make the call...

i know that the show is very new york city, but does anyone think it is TOO NEW YORK CITY??? in other words, are some of the jokes/antics only or primarily funny to new yorkers or those that know of its ills???

example: lack of parking -- true that some san franciscans would see this problem's universality, but i think only new yorkers pay $500/month for parking or buy a single space for $20000.

other examples: getting a decent apartment (elaine's big beef) riding subways (kramer style ) foreign cab drivers meeting friends at coffee shops driving friends to the airport

i realize that everyone everywhere has similar experiences, but do the jokes bend extremely to the nyc angle? or am i pressing for too much?

ys

[email] (young-sup lee) writes:

I live near Boston which is _tiny_ compared to NYC, but it has lousy parking, a horrible subway system, and an inaccessible airport, so I can relate with Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George.

Whoa! I just realized that "Kramer" is a last name! What the hell is Kramer's first name?

In article [email] (Fran Litterio) writes:

Funny you should mention that. I just saw Seinfeld at the Providence Performing Arts center last week. At the very end, he fields questions from the audience, and someone asked, "What is Kramer's last name?" Seinfeld, spoken in such a way to give the impression that Seinfeld thought the guy was a few cards short of a full deck, responed, "Kramer's first name is...Kramer."

I saw Seinfeld in concert in Wash, DC and he did the Q & A bit at the end as well. Some women actually ran up to the stage and gave him some gifts -- one was a space pen that writes upside down, etc.. -- I think a reference to one of the episodes.

Someone asked him his favorite baseball player, who Jerr said is the guy who was on his show (Jose Consaykoe? What the hell, I don't watch baseball)

Anyway, to anyone else who has seen him in concert, what are some of the questions he answered there?

I saw Jerry in Portland, OR last fall right about the time they had just switched his show back to Wednesday (for about the third time). Someone in the audience asked wht they keep moving his show around, to which he replied in the most sarcastic tone possible:

   "Well there have been rumors that the show might be developing a
    following so they decided to keep moving it around to discourage
    the audience"

That was probably one of the best jokes he told all night, and I'm still chuckling as I type this......

• Mark

In article , [email] (Doug Sheppard) writes:

Yep, it was the one where Jerry and Elaine visit his parents in Florida to attend a dinner in honour of his father, the out-going President of the Condo Association. Jerry admires a NASA pen owned by a neighbour (played by Sandy Baron) who then gives it to Jerry, but with grief attached. Another neighbour, played by the woman who was the next-door-neighbour to the Petries, Jerry the dentist's wife, tells Jerry's mother that the word is spreading that Jerry took the guy's favourite pen. The same show as the lack of a/c, the daybed from hell, and "STELLA!". Etc., etc.

Oooh... I gotta get a life!

(The episode happen to be one of my favourites, since most of the lines and situations remind me of *my* parents!).

It was Keith Hernandez ("Jerry... It's a *guy*!"), who used to play for the Mets. I believe Jose Canseco is (was?) a Dodger.

Sorry, Jose Canseco is with the Oakland Athletics (and always has been I think).

In article , [email] (Doug Sheppard) writes:

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I saw him in Ft. Worth last summer and my best friend asked him if there were any movie plans. Jerry (Mr. Seinfeld to the rest of you) answered that he had no plans to making a movie, that he would just stick to the TV show. He couldn't see performing in a movie like Dana Carvey did.

Cheerio,

Pedro

Name:	  Pedro C. Luna	                      |
E-mail:   [email]                 |
Org:      Bell-Northern Research              |

"Pico de gallo, you oughta give it a try-o even if you're from Ohio, it'll get you by-o. Don't get it in your eye-o unless you want to cry-o so come on, don't be shy-o, eat some pico de gallo!"

--- Trout Fishing in America

In article [email] (an

end Op

,

k

ts.

Oh Christ! He plays for the A's. I'd be amazed if anyone outside of CA thought of him as their favorite player! Has an ego bigger than Mt. Everest, his own 900 number ...etc.

Incidentally, I thought the "STELLA" thing with Elaine was quite annoying and UNfunny. The rest of that episode was nearly perfect, however.

-Mark

For enquiring minds...

Michael Richards was featured in "Brady's Bits" (the inside back page of Sunday's Parade Magazine) a month or two ago... He's in his early-40s, divorced, with a 20-year-old daughter (can you imagine having him for a father??).

When I saw him on Letterman, he seemed just a little TOO weirded-out - I didn't think he was as funny as he *could've* been...

Anita Magenheim DEC, Research Triangle Park, N.C

He said much the same thing after the show here in Denver.

He also had a good reply to another question - "Can I have your love child?" someone yells out, and he says "if you can FIND him, sure..." without missing a beat.

BTW, as for being 'too New York', I doubt if there's many people out there who have watched very much standup comedy and still don't recognize the jokes. How many of us who've never been to LA still know the traffic is bad there? Because half the standup comedians out there tell jokes about it. Same with the New York stuff Seinfeld does. I've never been there either but (well, I have lived in Chicago, but it's not quite the same) I never got the impression he was doing any location specific jokes until I began reading this group.

.                            <<<<Infinite K>>>>

Well said. There may be some smaller allusions to nyc that others miss, but overall the enjoyment is not diminished. After moving to LA (ugh), I did catch more of Carson's and now Leno's monologues, but the main points are pretty well known to everybody.

Another interesting point - since the show did so well early on in St. Louis, Seinfeld chose St. Louis over a lot of offers in larger markets for his New Year's Eve show this year.

John

This is one of the things that have mystified my wife and me about the show; we both lived most of our lives in New York, and find the New York stuff, especially all the apartment finding anxiety, hysterically funny. What we can't figure out is how or why anyone else would even understand half the references.

Apparently the acting and the lines still play well to non-New Yorkers...

Another show that was (is?) heavily into New York angst was "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd". We figured it did not last on prime time because it was so New York....

Andrew

In [email] (Andrew M. Cohill) writes:

They do. The show is one of our favourites, even though neither me nor my wife has ever even visited New York. Far from it.

I have never been to New York either, and Seinfeld is one of only two shows that I make it a point to watch every week (the other is Northern Exposure). I think the reason that the "new york" humor in Seinfeld appeals to so wide an audience, is because so much of the tv and movies today are based in NYC. It seems as though most of the sit-coms are based either in NY or in southern California. Consequently, in our media exposure to these places, we learn a lot about them. I wont go as far as saying that I get all of the new york humor in Seinfeld, but I get most of it.

[email] (Phillip Wade Yarrington) writes:

Alot of people I've met who aren't from NYC tend to be put off by the sarcasm unless their above average as far as education. Re: alot of beer swilling types don't find Dennis Miller funny in the least and he is *very* New York, almost off the meter when it comes to sarcasm.

-jack-

Via TV and movies, I think we _all_ get to see how the other half lives. This includes New Yorkers learning about life on the farm as well as farmers learning about life in NY. (Disclaimer: I_ know_ not everyone living outside of New York isn't a farmer. Honest.)

Sheesh, references to apartment difficulties in NY were in the movie "Barefoot In The Park". I think people living outside of big cities can grasp the concept...

FWIW, understanding city life probably keeps a lot of non-city folks _being_ non-city folks! ;-)

Sorry if some of this seems mildly flamish, but some of this thread has had a "We New Yorkers are _so_ _in_, you people in the flyover just _can't_ be getting _all_ the jokes".

Don

[email] (Don Meyer) writes:

No apologies needed, you're entitled to take the thread the way you want. Having spent 20 years growing up in New York and 15 living elsewhere around the states I can say that I've met more than my share of non-urban dwellers who flat out cringe at the words "New York". A large part of my opinion is formed from the concrete stereotypes that these people have of New York, L.A. or Chicago and the inhabitants thereof.

Hell, one hayseed from Kansas, who other than being terminally naive about most of the world around him and basically a nice guy, was thoroughly convinced that all New Yorkers are able to mortally wound someone with their bare hands in several ways. This from the conclusion that anyone who can survive on the streets of Manhatten after sundown without being beaten senseless or robbed must be able to take care of themselves.

Of course, I've met some equally clueless city dwellers as well. The best was one kid from Brooklyn that was quite sure that Long Island was not geographically attached to Queens and Brooklyn by anything other than a bridge or tunnel.

It just shows that you don't have to leave your own neighborhood to prove any point you choose to.

-jack-

Having been born and raised in NYC (the Bronx, to be exact) I know there are more things I find humourous in the show than some of my colleagues at work. I had to explain to one guy how popular Drake's Coffee Cakes were when I was growing up.

The episode on the NYC Subway was a hoot, if you've ever ridden on it. When the woman starts talking to Elaine about the lesbian wedding Elaine's the best "person" at and says, "Twenty years and I don't talk to anyone, now this!" (or something like that...

BTW, Jerry Seinfeld isn't from NYC proper, but, rather, from Massapequa, Long Island. His stand-up routine is great, having seen him twice - no cursing, just real funny stuff.

Anita "Gandhi *LOVED* Triscuits�" Magenheim

	I lived in NYC all of my life until 1988. This show is a truly
accurate view of the way things are. I live in Huntsville, Alabama now
and people here love the show so it must not be too NYC to understand
the jokes. Of course, if you have experienced subway rides, taking taxis,
parallel parking (By the way, the man who pulled in behind George was
correct. You can't hesitate. George should have blocked the spot and
waited for clear sailing), phone booths, keys, etc. you will
have a inside angle.
	I did want to mention that the restaurant shown in the show is
or was Tom's Restaurant, located at 112th street and Broadway. The view
down the block to the right is St. John the Divine.
	I hope people use this group to ask questions about specific
NYC situations.

Stuart Locker

Now wait a minute, you can't parallel park by pulling in head first. :->

[email] (Bob Warznak) writes:

Hey, you're from north Jersey, you've never crossed the Hudon and seen this happen for yourself? ;-)

My fondest memories was driving my beat-up Datsun and *looking* for a brand new Mercedes, BMW or car with non-TriState area license plates and eat them for lunch! ;-)

Defensive driving is such a bore after having been on the offense for so long...

-jack-

In article , [email] (Stuart Locker) writes...

Stuart (and anyone else who cares). Tom's is still there and incidently is also the title of a Susanne Vega song. You know when I saw Seinfeld the first time I cracked up after seeing the shot of Tom's. I used to hang out there alot when I was in NYC. Correct me if i'm wrong though, the inside shots are not supposed to *be* Tom's are they?

SCott

[email] (Scott D McGinnis) writes:

Prolly safe to assume that, like Cheers, the restaurant is in H'wood...

-jack-

[email] (Scott D McGinnis) writes:

I don't know the answer to that, but my guess is "no". Hollywood does the same thing (shows real-life exteriors but artificial interiors) for the Cheers bar (in Boston) and the airport in Wings (Nevers Field on the island of Nantucket).

What's so exotic about any of the local references that would make the show difficult to understand? We're talking National Geographic here? Out here in the hinterlands we don't eat at coffee shops, lose our cars in vast parking lots, or have to get buzzed-in to buildings with security locks?

On another note: Jerry and Elaine not getting together? Unbelieveable.