O Captain, my captain

[Miasma]

To what degree would you attribute the Seinfeld Is Unfunny trope to this?

I had to look that up but it's a good possibility.  I do watch Sunny in Philidelphia a lot which takes the idea to an extreme.  I'd like to blame the laugh track but I still watch Fawlty Towers and that has a hideous laugh track.

[WayAbvPar]

I dunno, I can watch Seinfeld all day every day and still find it funny.

My TiVo is set to record and keep up to 10 episodes. I watch one or two almost every night as I am getting ready to go to sleep. I like something familiar that I have seen a lot to help me get to sleep (BlackAdder, Red Dwarf, and BBT also work). I still laugh, and I am constantly amazed at some episodes that have 3 or 4 hilarious subplots all in one ep. The writing was amazing.

[HaemishM]

If you are American and don't like Seinfeld, I don't understand you. I didn't like it at first until I really started watching it and its best moments are really fucking good. Its worst moments are mediocre and can get on your nerves but episodes like the masturbation contest? Just insanely funny. And that episode in particular was as funny as it was because NO ONE would ever even remotely discuss masturbation on TV, much less devote an entire episode to it. The closest I ever remember was smug one-liners about Bud Bundy on Married with Children. Always Sunny has taken that unlikeable characters trope and amped it to a sickness of 11.

And as much as I liked Seinfeld, I cannot stand Curb Your Enthusiasm. 30 minutes of awkard Larry David-ness is just not funny to me. But I could watch Frank Costanza go nuts for days. Humor is subjective.

As for Robin Williams, I remember my older brother buying "Reality... What a Concept" on 8-track and listening to it because I loved Mork and Mindy. I would have been around 8. I can't believe my parents let me listen to it. It's SO GODDAMN BRILLIANT and so much of that humor went over my head at the time. But I still quote lines from that show. My wife will pinch me and I'll say "You touch me like you know me." Just fucking brilliant.

[Maven]

I loved him in Good Will Hunting, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. He did a great job in Dead Poet's Society, Insomnia, and One Hour Photo. He was great when he toned down or turned off the humor. It all makes sense in hindsight, but that's hindsight bias at work.

I can't help but think that the turns Robin's career has taken in recent years contributed to the suicide. He was working on Mrs. Doubtfire 2, and he starred in comedy called *The Crazy Ones* that relied on his particular brand of humor to carry it (and it didn't).

Bill Murray always had a serious side to him -- see Razor's Edge. I'm glad he's been able to transition his career and star in some good movies.

[01101010]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bVgilYncao

David Letterman on Robin Williams. The last part recapping Robin's appearances on Dave's show... ugh.   

[Ingmar]

There are British comedic things which I don't want to admit that I find terribly unfunny - or at least not so funny that it deserved to run that long - and risk having people waste time telling me that I'm wrong.

I'll name one. Are You Being Served? What the hell, Britain?

[HaemishM]

he starred in comedy called *The Crazy Ones* that relied on his particular brand of humor to carry it (and it didn't).

You are crazy. I thought The Crazy Ones was fantastic, though having worked in the advertising business for 17 years, a lot of that struck close to home.

[schild]

Add me to the list of people who was meh on Seinfeld. It was the type of show I might watch briefly if it was on a rerun but I generally got bored and looked for other shows on before the episode finished. That's not to say there weren't things that made me snicker when I'd catch it but overall the show felt...smug and I just never got into it. I don't hate it by any means but I never got the love for it either. I've seen maybe 10 total episodes and don't feel like I've missed much.

The show felt smug because it was supposed to be smug. The last episode(s) had the group getting arrested for watching a fat guy get carjacked and they crack jokes about said fatness. I mean, comeon.

There are cultural elements in relation to Seinfeld, I'm sure.  There are British comedic things which I don't want to admit that I find terribly unfunny - or at least not so funny that it deserved to run that long - and risk having people waste time telling me that I'm wrong.

I'm less of a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan than Seinfeld due to the lack of balance.  You have to really like "Larry David embarrasses himself" humor since there isn't (last I watched) much else going on in the show.  Seinfeld balances that humor with a cast of wacky characters, and so offers more variety.

I expect that the main thing to take away from the Seinfeld discussion is that it is now embedded in culture to a degree such that it is valuable to have a knowledge of the show so that you can participate in some discussions.  If only to get the references that people make, nevermind the influence on later television.

I loved the series but I've found is hasn't aged well for some reason

To what degree would you attribute the Seinfeld Is Unfunny trope to this?

My problem with British comedy isn't that its unfunny. A lot of it IS unfunny, but that's not my main concern. My main concern with british TV is that they put a lot of people on TV that are literally too ugly to be entertaining. Offensively ugly television. Also, they're gonna chase that Monty Python dragon forever and well, they peaked Britain a little too early. I would say Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant single-handedly saved British Television, but they really didn't. They're just the cream of a very awkward crop. That said, I don't see a world where you like Gervais and Merchant and not Seinfeld. They're nearly 100% the same brand of elitist, smart humor. Gervais simply took it out of the 90s and gave it modernity. So much so that there are entire episodes of The Office and An Idiot Abroad that could have been Seinfeld episodes.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is less... compelling. Larry David is the funnier writer (of the pair, being Larry and Jerry), but he's way worse in terms of delivery and on-screen presence.

Seinfeld hasn't aged well because there's very few things uglier than clothes and New York in the 90s. See the Gervais comments above.

[WayAbvPar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bVgilYncao

David Letterman on Robin Williams. The last part recapping Robin's appearances on Dave's show... ugh.  

Thanks for this. It reminded me of why I always loved Letterman (even though I haven't watched his show is a decade or more). Him and Robin together were very funny, because they cracked each other up. That is the key to knowing if someone is really funny or not- if they can make other funny people laugh. I love that dynamic.

Not sure I am up for a Robin Williams movie just yet, but I am going to make it a point to watch Dave at least a few times before he goes away too.


e- I think the reason I like Curb is because it is so amazingly obvious that Larry David (or a large portion of Larry David at least), IS George Costanza.

[Ingmar]

I like Curb, but it's so uncomfortable in its humor that I can only watch like one episode a month at most.

[Numtini]

I liked him much more for his acting/dramatic work.  His comedy routine saturated my brain pretty quickly.  Way too hyper.

I was the opposite. I don't want to sentence anyone to a life of addiction, but I lost interest when he dumped coke. I think the only thing I really love past then is Vietnam, which more or less creates a character with the similar type of hyper humor.

[TheWalrus]

he starred in comedy called *The Crazy Ones* that relied on his particular brand of humor to carry it (and it didn't).

You are crazy. I thought The Crazy Ones was fantastic, though having worked in the advertising business for 17 years, a lot of that struck close to home.

Seconded.

[DraconianOne]

There are British comedic things which I don't want to admit that I find terribly unfunny - or at least not so funny that it deserved to run that long - and risk having people waste time telling me that I'm wrong.

I'll name one. Are You Being Served? What the hell, Britain?

I was going to say that programme was hardly representative of British comedy but actually it's reminded me that, basically, all BBC light entertainment was like that and I hated every fucking minute - from "Hi-de-hi" to "Only Fools & Horses" by way of "Last of the Summer Wine" etc.  Never understood why they were so popular or considered funny.

On the other hand, some of those were very much "of the time" (that time being mid to late seventies) and wouldn't stand up now at all.  That's as much a lame defense as I'm going to offer.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, none of that shit is funny.

And I fucking lived here and lived through it.

"Allo Allo."  Fuck Me.

Fucking Chronic.  It's like watching people die in mass graves.  It is the Anti-Amusement.

Bear in mind for every Good Show, we must have spit out about 200 utter, utter fucking chronically dross ones.

Last of the Summer Wine was a hilarious show about OAPs dying.  Winner.

[Ironwood]

...Ricky Gervais ...

.... is an unfunny cunt.

[schild]

k

[schild]

I like you too much to give you a K Gif. But don't think for a second it didn't cross my mind.

[TheWalrus]

Ironwood, he gets it. You don't like him.

[Paelos]

I agree with Ironwood on Gervais.

Still think Seinfeld was funny. I guess there are people out there that don't, but most of them fall into hipster bullshit category about it.

[Engels]

Oh, come on, that new show Derek is amazing.

[Ironwood]

I like you too much to give you a K Gif. But don't think for a second it didn't cross my mind.

Tastes vary and whatnot.  He's one chap I'm kinda glad we exported.

And no, Engels, I didn't find Derek particularly funny either.  It's entirely possible that I'm broken, so if it helps to think that, go right ahead. 

I do like Stephen Merchant though, possibly because he's a genuinely funny and clever chap. 

[Ironwood]

Ironwood, he gets it. You don't like him.

Good ad.

[Khaldun]

I appreciated Seinfeld (and Curb Your Enthusiasm) though I wouldn't call them my absolute favorite comedies ever.

I appreciated The Office (British version) but Gervais is such an asshole in other stuff that he does that I can't get over a feeling of dislike for him.

[Yegolev]

I enjoy Gervais products more than Gervais himself.  Meaning Karl Pilkington via the podcast and that travel show, but mostly the podcast which is probably due to Merchant in a large part.

[Paelos]

Gervais just always comes off as smarmy and unlikeable. I'm not a fan of the "awkward humor" movement though like the Office.

[01101010]

I am in the shameful group of people that finds Gervais' laugh hilarious. I know many find it grating - but something about it gets me rolling.

My eyebrows are not high enough to not enjoy him or Seinfeld or any comedian. You either allow yourself to enjoy their brand/style of comedy or not. Most of my buddies HATE Izzard with a passion for his tangents and delivery. I find most of his stuff funny and some of it not so much. I laugh at the parts I enjoy and smile through the rest.

Back to the topic, I wasn't a big fan of Robin Williams the standup comedian. Like Izzard, some of it was funny as hell, some was just chaos and too much of a chore for me to find the funny. But the actor, I liked pretty much all his portrayals.

[HaemishM]

I love Ricky Gervais, but I can see how some wouldn't. His humor is definitely not for everyone. I'd imagine he probably is smarmy and unlikeable, but you could probably describe me that way too. 

[WayAbvPar]

He is a smug cock, which is why I love him. His masterful trolling of the religious on Twitter is pure  

[NowhereMan]

Yeah put me in the camp that really doesn't like smugness in my comedians. Unlikeable is fine, petulant, mean or even downright nasty but smugness really turns me off with comedians. Also the whole 'new atheist' thing but I guess that's very, very tangentially related through Gervais.

[Khaldun]

Nasty and mean are fine when it's also about self-loathing. When the comedian and some favored subset of pals/supporters/etc. are exempt from the hatred, the best thing you can say is that it's smug. If it's worse, it's something like Andrew Clay--ideology posing as comedy.

So Seinfeld was often funny because there was some self-loathing going on. The misanthropy was total. This is what I like about Louis CK: his view of the world turns inward as much as outward, and sees in both directions with the same brutal and funny view.

Gervais doesn't really do that most of the time.

[Yegolev]

That's a pretty good summary of my thoughts.  His self-loathing can be pretty good, though.

[schild]

Gervais was at his best talking on the phone to Karl Pilkington after subjugating him to terrible vacations.

That said, as far as one-liners go, I prefer Gervais to just about anyone. He's so fucking smart it's annoying.

[Signe]

I love Ricky Gervais, too.  I thought The Office was brilliant and he was definitely the star.  Gareth came in a close second.  I'm totally hooked on An Idiot Abroad, too.  I like uncomfortable humour so I guess that's why.  I'm also a big Brian Limond fan.  If you've not seen his show, Limmy's Show!, you should, as well as some of his other stuff.  I think he might be insane in real life, though so catch him while you can.  I also used to watch Seinfeld, which I thought was mostly very funny.  Again, uncomfortable humour. 

Out of all of them, I like I love Limmy best and would love to pinch his cheeks.  Unless Reggie Watts shows up first. 

Robin Williams, though, he was sweet and funny and crazy and a little dirty and never made me uncomfortable and I adored him.  I'm still very sad every time I think about what happened to him.  And me... I don't usually mind when celebs pop their clogs, even the young ones, because they do it so often.  Robin Williams hit me hard, though.  I'm still surprised it bother me so much.

[01101010]

One of the main things that gets to me about this is the fact he was in rehab on several occasions. He took the initiative and did what we believe is what you are supposed to do. I also can't imagine he wasn't in therapy for depression - I mean if the man goes to rehab to get clean, he is cognizant enough to know when there is a problem. So in my mind, and this is only based on what I have read obviously, he took corrective action when he needed it in his life. And yet, he still found life too unbearable to get through - and juxtaposing that with his on stage/screen persona of the lovable comedic clown? Well if someone like like couldn't cope...

[Lantyssa]

Depression is fickle.  The help means he was probably with us a lot longer than had he not received it.