Bonuses in the back include a nice glossary of famous words and catch-phrases made popular by the show (and there are a LOT) as well as a complete episode guide.Īs far as I can tell, this is really the best book about Seinfeld out there. The book was published in 2006 and so is able to also examine Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm and its thematic and humorous similarities to Seinfeld. The book, as the authors point out, is really the only serious book available that examines Seinfeld as a work of art and as a cultural phenomenon, as opposed to being a puffy insider trivia book about the show. I enjoyed reading this a lot more than I expected (especially seeing, at the outset, that some of the essays had insufferable titles such as "Seinfeld as Intertextual Comedy," etc.). These scholars really know their Seinfeld. Plus, for fans, it's fun (and somewhat nostalgic) to read all the references to scenes in the show. There is a chapter contrasting various press critics' reactions to the show some favorable and some not.
#SEINFELD MASTER OF MY DOMAIN EPISODE TV#
Geoffrey O'Brien's essay, "The Republic of Seinfeld," is particularly masterly, taking in a sweeping history of TV sitcoms as well as an analysis of the show and the place of entertainment in a post-modern, post-industrial America.Įven the academic pieces (except for one very short one) are relatively free of pretentious jargon, but all the pieces herein are well supported and thoughtful. There's even an essay comparing and contrasting Seinfeld to the novels of Jane Austen!
Those views range from gay subtext readings to those that dispute such a reading, to essays that examine the creative processes involved in the show's development, essays on morality and manhood, arguments about the innovative nature of the comedic elements of the show and its structure and attitudes and its rejection of traditional audience expectations, explorations of alienation and relationships in the 1990s, the "Jewishness" of the show, and a whole lot more. This collection of essays about Seinfeld includes original pieces as well as material culled from a wide and diverse range of sources-academic journals, popular magazines, newspapers, books, etc.-and the views provided by the authors are just as eclectic. But, if a book perfectly achieves what it sets out to do, I see no reason to hold back.
It probably sometimes looks as though I give out five-star ratings too liberally. (Now, on to my originally posted review of the book):
#SEINFELD MASTER OF MY DOMAIN EPISODE PC#
PC sensibilities were outraged, of course. When Jerry's friend, George (who arrives at the bubble boy's house first) encounters the bubble boy, he isn't Tiny Tim from Dickens. Elaine is moved to crying by the story of the bubble boy, as voiced by the bubble boy's father.īut, folks, this is Seinfeld. There was, maybe once, an iota of sentiment, a concession to decency, and that was in an episode called "The Bubble Boy," where Elaine chides an emotionless Jerry that it is more important to visit and entertain a homebound, bubble-encased kid with an immune deficiency than it is for Jerry to proceed with his long-planned vacation. The show would never violate the "no hugging, no learning" rule set down by producers Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, along with their aim to do everything differently than all other sitcoms. There was never once a "Very Special Seinfeld." No pandering to phony sentiment. I won't go into the myriad reasons why I think Seinfeld is the best sitcom, but there is one particular quality about it that separates it from the rest of the pack, something that allowed it to NEVER jump the shark. In the meantime, I've gotten hold of several seasons worth of DVDs of the show and really hunkered down to watch them. Would I have said that with such certainty only a few short months ago? Was Seinfeld, as the subtitle of this book posits, the greatest sitcom ever?
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