Likely, the first time I saw Jerry Seinfeld was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I thought he was rather funny.
I relate to a bit from his IMDb page: “A recent survey stated that the average person’s greatest fear is having to give a speech in public. Somehow, this ranked even higher than death, which was third on the list. So, you’re telling me that at a funeral, most people would rather be the guy in the coffin than have to stand up and give a eulogy?”
“I’ve learned that “his father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry’s maternal grandparents… were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo).” He got married the same year as I did but on Christmas Day.
I was a fan of the TV show Seinfeld early on. I’m probably an outlier in that I enjoyed the first seasons when it really WAS about “nothing.” The quintessential show was about being unable to find the car in a parking garage. The Chinese Restaurant, The Boyfriend with Keith Hernandez and the “second spitter,” and The Contest are classics.
I suppose I got tired of these people who, as intended by co-creators Seinfeld and Larry David, never really evolved. The episode in which George’s finance died irritated me greatly. The shows about trying to make a sitcom out of their lives might have been too meta for me. Constanza working for Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was funnier in concept for me.
And yet I kept watching, thanks to the VCR, through the unpleasant ending.
Commercials
Oddly, given my general disdain for ads, I liked the American Express commercials that Jerry did. I could relate to failing to open the plastic bag in the produce section or trying to hit the exact dollar amount at the gas pump. And I haven’t watched them since they first aired.
I enjoyed the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series, and I don’t care about cars or coffee. I didn’t catch every episode, but I enjoyed the ones I saw, especially the show with well-known comedian Barack Obama.
If I get a chance, I’d like to watch the film Unfrosted, a fictionalized development of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts.
Happy birthday, Jerry (said in the voice of Newman!)