**** (FOUR STARS)

Greatest. Sitcom. Ever.

I decided to take a short break from reviewing films and rave about my favorite TV show, Seinfeld, the “show about nothing”. This is the only television show that I have watched obsessively, and have therefore seen every single episode. It was so worth it.

Never has one show dug so deeply into the subconscious of the American public than this show, the witty script of the show has become catch phrases in the conversations of the average joes. Such an impact this show has had, that people can yell, “No soup for you!”, laugh about it, tell you it’s from Seinfeld…and then admit that they never actually saw the episode. (I would tell them to make it top priority). But I know you know people like that! People who quote it all of the time, yet you wonder if they have seen it. Seinfeld has dug in that much! Its comedy comes from not only the situations, but from the absurdity of its characters, from the absurdity of simple items.

The Pez, the Puffy Shirt, The Mango. Each one of the items is not simply a prop, but a character in its own right, and has grown to fame by the way it was treated and viewed in the show. We can connect with this show, with these people. Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer, they aren’t really likable people. They’re selfish and rude, and yet they understand us, and we understand them. You can’t watch Seinfeld and not once think, “THAT is SO TRUE!” And it gets under our skin, tickling our funny bone and working its way into our vernacular.

Seinfeld is a stroke of genius, trapped lighting. No other show has come close to not only the hysterical comedy of this brilliant sitcom, but no other show has influenced so many people, whether they know it or not. The Office, the American one, is however making a very noble and outstanding run towards Seinfeld’s mark, who knows where Michael Scott and company may end up…

So, next time you get angry and scream for “Serenity Now!”, or deem someone a “re-gifter”, or perhaps when you are caught “double-dipping”, just remember where it came from.

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