Please don't. I am thoroughly enjoying your thread and comments. Stick with it through Season 2, I think you'll find a few episodes that will click for you. As a big Seinfeld fan, even I have a hard time watching some of the early episodes, but to me it is more interesting to see how the show gradually evolves.

You mentioned that you disliked the standup portions; those do lessen greatly as the series progresses. Most episodes on the series simply contain a standup portion as the theme song plays and credits roll at the beginning.

I have seen many Seinfield episodes and there are quite few funniest episodes that you probably will like. I'm not fan of Seinfield, but I enjoyed Soup Nazi episode, Kramer's lawyer, the masturbation contest, and few more.

I've all but given up on sitcoms myself, trudging through Seinfeld because of the good reviews but any new sitcoms or really old ones, I'm not giving a chance.

I'd second that I enjoy the notes from a (currently) non-fan. I enjoy literally every moment of the show and I enjoy hearing another viewpoint. I'm most curious to see if you do come around, if you find these earlier episodes funnier the second time.

Have you watched The Chinese Restaurant yet? I'm kinda curious to see what your reaction is to that one. I think it's hilarious.

Count me in as another person who has never seen a whole episode of Seinfeld. Then again I didn't have Tivo when it started and I tend not to watch shows if I miss the first episode.

I agree with this. I used to hate Everybody Loves Raymond but i'm finally starting to warm up to it.

I always liked the early seasons of Seinfeld. I like the Diner conversation type stuff in the earlier seasons better than the wacky plots of the last few seasons.

Very well. I guess since this is my thread and there actually are people out there enjoying the read, I'll continue. To those who are reading and not enjoying: there's plenty of other threads to read.

I only had time for one last night, Monday's will be at least 4 eps:
The Busboy -- I'll just mark this one down as "standard". If you've been playing along, you know what that means.

What is funny is how young all of the actor's look! George is fairly skinny here, Kramer looks rather normal.

I know several people have posted I should skip ahead to season 3, but there's just something in my brain that won't allow me to do that. It's the (comic book) collector's mentality, once I start something I cannot skip any of the story!

As to a previous comment about watching the episodes with somebody, I'm afraid the only other household resident enjoys the show even less than I do. In fact, she's usually snoring on my lap while I'm watching it. That would be my dog, of course. ;)

I've never seen the funny... I also never liked Mad About You, or Friends...

It could be that these types of shows are foreign to me, since they are about yuppies who are based in tightly packed urban centers, and I am a computer/gaming/movie nerd from a suburb in a sprawling, less populated city... :shrug:

You can call the characters in Seinfeld a lot of things, but "yuppies" is certainly not one of them.

Well, not really yuppies....

I've never seen this show either. I watched a few scenes here or there, but none of them have hit me as being amusing. I've thought about renting the season sets and giving it a chance, but I don't know. From what I have seen I don't think I'd like it. And I've seen scenes that, at least people I've talked to, say it's a classic scene (the manuevering spit scene...is that "classic?")

Part of the problem is I went to high school with a kid who thought he was Seinfield. He became such a fan boy his regular way of talking turned into a 24 hour Seinfeld impression. Everytime I hear anything about Seinfeld I think of that annoying kid, and I just can't shake associating him with Seinfeld.

:lol: I think I would hate Seinfeld too if I knew someone like that.

I don't even recall a 'spit' scene. Anyway, you can't judge a show on a single scene. Certain scenes are classic because of how they fit into the series. For example, one of the funniest moments in the series is Kramer slapping down $1000 dollars on Jerry's countertop. Not funny in the least, but add in the context as to why that scene occurs and bamm! One of the most hysterical moments of the show.

I won't give it away because of Chew, but any Seinfeld fan knows which scene I'm referring to.

:up:
I became a fan after the episode above.

The way they talk about their dates, social mores, etc. is identifiable in a way like I've seen on no other show. Not even Friends, which you'd think would be more about that kind of stuff but it isn't. That's good, I suppose, since then it would be a Seinfeld knockoff. Friends is sort of inspired by Seinfeld, in that it was about, well, a group of friends doing a lot of talking. Seinfeld had Monk's, Friends had Central Perk.

They mostly struck a good balance between relatable stories and the wacky stuff. The last two seasons went a little overboard with the wackiness and the references perhaps, but I still think they're very funny. The one where Kramer finds the Merv Griffin set is borderline :)

Just a suggestion that may help you enjoy watching the shows: Don't watch them looking for reasons to laugh. Just watch them and react naturally! :) It may be hard to do, knowing that you've set up this "episode guide with how many times I laughed" but I really think it will improve your experience.

I think the spit scene he was referring to was the JFK-inspired spoof, when they were explaining the magic loogie theory.

Yeah, I think the revamp that started Saturday is not to really address that. I think it annoys the fans a little too much. I'm just going to stick with "impressions" from this point forward.

I was able to get to one more than I was expecting this weekend.

The Baby Shower -- In hindsight, this was a very important episode for me. It turned me from "why am I still watching this?" to "what crazy situations are these idiots going to get into next?" A subtle, yet vital shift. I'd say the funny still isn't really there, but it's not the chore it started out to be. I've been paying close attention to the writers of these scripts and this (as far as I remember) is the first one from Larry Charles.

The Jacket -- This episode proved something else to me: until I warm up to the main characters, the laughs I've gotten stem from the supporting characters. None moreso than Elaine's dad in this episode. Easily the best laugh I've gotten in a while came from George repeating Elaine's dad's line about going to the bathroom. Unfortunately, I think the storyline of the jacket wasn't nearly as fresh as it could of been. I swear there was a pretty similiar jacket story in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The Chinese Restaurant -- I give this one credit for spending the entire time in just the waiting area of a restaurant.

The Phone Message -- I'm still not liking George a whole lot (even though two of the bigger laughs have come from him) and I think this episode showed that. But, I really didn't see the ending coming where his girlfriend thought the messages were all a big joke and that made me laugh.

The Apartment -- I'm beginning to gather that Kramer barely leaves the building (he's only left for one episode) and that his whole purpose is to come up with bizarre schemes? It's making him pretty one dimensional. I hope that changes.

Another thing I've noticed is that the DVD set is so far, not in aired order. I'm not sure that makes much difference?

I think the production order is probably the best way to view them since they may reference previous episodes. Watching in air date order may change that effect.

To most, that is one of the high points of the show. They brought in and created so many memorable characters out of one-off supporting players, and how the four main characters react to that person.

Elaine's dad only appears in that one episode, so don't get your hopes up about seeing him again. Speaking of, the one thing that hasn't been brought up is another thing that helps the show "gel" is when they finalize the cast. Jerry & George's dads are both replaced with far superior actors(for the roles) which makes it easier for the writers to get into a groove.

on the DVDs, do they have the early episodes with Jerry Stiller playing George's dad, or do they have the original actor? They went back and re-filmed earlier scenes for the show when it went into syndication, so I'm wondering which version is included.

At least as far as the ones I've watched, George's dad has yet to appear.

They include both versions on the DVD. :up:

Without giving too much away, I'll just tell you that Kramer was originally to be just like you explained: a bizarre neighbor that never left the apartment building. That does change, and rather soon.

Regarding Kramer, I just wanted to comment that I'm a Seinfeld fan who never really warmed up to him and never quite got his popularity. He always seemed the most sitcomy of the bunch, and I normally hate traditional sitcoms. Okay, I guess I did warm up to him a little, eventually, but it is possible to enjoy the show and not be a Kramer fan. Or a fan of the stand up bits - I never liked the stand ups. I mostly watched for George and Elaine.