Re: Seinfeld

[TVHD <TVHD@aol.com>]

A few thoughts on Seinfeld Finale fallout:

- - I'm forging ahead well into my forties. I've enjoyed 
BOTH Seinfeld AND Sinatra, and found the media hype for
each passing to be overwhelming and overbearing.

- - It's always oh so trendy and cool to dump on things
that enjoy vast popularity...especially when you've not
even sampled the product. Commentarians like John Keller
use it as stock in trade. It's also longstanding typical 
behavior among hardcore political and religious 
conservatives to condemn various forms of amusement 
without having the slightest idea of content. Of what
possible value are "opinions" from people who have no 
idea what it is they're busy telling you they hate?

- - To me, Seinfeld always rose far above the mediocrity 
of the "average" sitcom, and in many instances, 
transcended the genre. It was a wild and clever Rube 
Goldberg contraption of story structure, laced with 
quirky, outrageous characters. It was, by all my 
personal definitions, very funny. It often made me laugh 
out loud...something few sitcoms ever did.

- - NBC, in case you can't tell, operates a Mega-Promo 
Machine. Having personally toiled inside the belly of 
this huge beast, I can attest that it is very effective, 
and works very hard to get results. It can also be the 
most obnoxious, blaring loudmouth on the airwaves. But 
it certainly did its job, elevating the final episode of 
fourth most-watched TV series finale of all time. Not 
bad, when you consider the specific ethnic overtones of 
the show. And in keeping with the network's typical 
tacky behavior, it'll manage to milk another run out of 
the show on the last day of sweeps.

- - With a certain measure of pride, I confess that I'm 
personally responsible to some measure for Seinfeld's
presence on Channel 38. It certainly would have would up
on SOME station in Boston, but I bent the ear of the
Program Manager to bid aggressively, and at my behest -
or so she told me - she did so and got the show, before
Paramount got the station. The United Paramount Network,
in their [bent] wisdom, always criticized her for 
"spending too much money" for the show. However, since
the inception of the UPN netlet, and to this day,
Seinfeld stood out as virtually THE ONLY DECENT RATING
the station gets. You can look at the overnights and
see a spike at 7:30 to often win its time period. The
rest of the day is FLAT. Hash marks, most of it. And now
UPN, in it's infinite wisdom, has let the show contract 
go to Boston's Fox affiliate, beginning in 2001.

- - The "Show About Nothing" gag is just that, a joke. The
show is no more about nothing than most any sitcom. The
idea comes from a specific episode storyline where the 
characters created a sitcom to sell to NBC, based on the
characters within Seinfeld (a show within a show - this 
plot was resurrected in the final episode) and pitched
to the network as a "Show About Nothing". The Promo
people latched onto the gag, and a theme was born.

- - Henry Dane
- -------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Donna wrote:

<< Umm, am I the only person in America who thought Seinfeld was a lot of
hype-- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?>>
- ------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Dan wrote:

<<I don't want to start another round of generational warfare, but I think it
is
an age thing.  Seinfeld was much more popular with people under 40 and if you
are not in that age group it probably isn't a big deal to you.   It's a matter
of perspective.  Frank Sinatra's death is not a big story for most people
under 50, but I bet it will get major coverage on all the news shows tonight
and through the weekend.  In both cases, I think major events in popular
culture are worthy of news coverage.  Also, there was not much local news last
night anyway.  Everyone was watching Seinfeld.  (:-)>>
- ------------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Roger wrote:

<<John Keller (WBZ political commentary) was scathing in   
his
comments about the show, the "flag" incident and the last show "hype".
New story yesterday on WBZ: A reporter asked Janet Reno if the rumor
that she had a cameo part in the last show was true.
Sound bite of Reno, "Who's Sienfeld?"
As for me, in the immortal words of Tom Ellis "I went to the store and   
didn't
get back in time">>
- ------------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Terry wrote:

<<Marty, I'm with you, I have never seen Sienfeld, except in bits and pieces
of the hype and it wasn't funny!  So why waste my valuable time to watch
something that doesn't make you laugh when its supposed to!
I guess now that it's over it won't even be memorable like "I love Lucy"
and Cheers and M*A*S*H !
- ------------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Ed wrote:

<<John Keller is the biggest insulting looser ever to appear on the air. BZ
should be asshamed to have him on.
I will not listen to BZ because of this BOZO.>>
- ------------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Donna wrote:

<<Hey, I may be chronologically an "aging baby boomer", but I still love rock
and roll and I'm still young and cute in my opinion! <g>  Seriously, my
comment was not about the importance of Seinfeld to a generation (I don't
happen to be a fan of sit-coms, no matter what age they are aimed at).  It
was about whether or not 20 minutes of a NEWSCAST should be directed at
reaction, reviews, and rehashing of what is an entertainment feature.  I
have long felt that both TV and Radio news have given over too much time to
entertainment at the expense of reporting on stories that are more important
to us all in the long run.  Just an opinion.>> 
- ------------------------------
In a message dated 98-05-15, Mike wrote:

<<Guess what kiddies, we're going to do it again next week because of a couple
of markets that didnt see it.>>

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