George costanza master of my domain2/26/2023 ![]() Where “Friends” gave us unrealistic expectations of life in our 20s – a sort of hyperreality – “Seinfeld” was just real. And what about its many contributions to the American lexicon? Do you ever say “yada, yada, yada?” Do you celebrate “Festivus?” Thanks, “Seinfeld.” In the 21 years since its finale, few, if any, shows have ever been able to replicate that same level of magic and ardent fandom. Where “Friends” suffered from simplistic and generic storylines, “Seinfeld” remains one of the smartest and most unique sitcoms. Both shows follow the lives of a group of friends living and working in New York. Perhaps it’s easiest to start with how the two shows are similar, since, arguably, their list of similarities is shorter than George’s resume. And indeed, just this week, pop culture devotees took to Twitter to debate one of the great questions of our generation: Is “Seinfeld” or “Friends” the better TV show?Ĭolumbia TriStar Television/Everett Collection “Friends” is celebrating its 25th anniversary next month. ![]() But it’s not the only cultural touchstone of an earlier time – my time, as it happens – that you can still find every night on TV, and that is having an anniversary. “Seinfeld” fever is still going strong, propelled even now by its wide syndication. In fact, when I think of “Seinfeld,” I think of family dinner where we laughed at the time Elaine Benes gained weight from mismarked frozen yogurt, or the time the whole gang – Kramer, Elaine, George and Jerry – spent 22 minutes trying to find their car in a parking garage. It was also the one that I watched with my family every night and the one that never fails to remind me of my father, who died in 2003 – a few years after the show ended. It was the show I’d watch in the evening and then talk about with my friends in school the next day, because they had all watched, too. Simply put, the show was genius.Īnd it meant everything to my teenage self. ![]() Though it was the show about nothing, it was also the show about the everyday experiences and conversations that animate our lives. In reality, “Seinfeld” – which is celebrating its 30th anniversary – helped define a generation, quickly becoming a cultural touchstone. But the joke is on those fictional TV executives, because this telling episode is the exact opposite of art imitating life. ![]() It’s the quintessential self-referential moment of the NBC sitcom, which ran from 1989 to 1998, and, in that poignant scene, poked fun at itself for its absurdist premise. ![]()
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