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As a comedian you either die funny or live long enough to become a reactionary shit bag.
I don't think he was ever funny. Larry David may have been funny, and Seinfeld was fortunate enough to be involved with the show, but Jerry himself has always been a poor comedian and a tool.
I think Seinfeld was pretty funny in the 80s. His style of observational comedy was fresh back then though. Then there were a million Seinfeld copycats and there wasn't anything special about him anymore.
The same thing happened with Carlin. So he kept reinventing himself and updating his comedy with the times and that's why people loved him until the day he died.
Carlin got better as he got older. His shtick was always tight fast well rehearsed dense sets but he went from mostly irreverent to actually saying something. And he was still able to be so funny while clearly getting so angry.
Carlin was an artist. He could tread that line between offense and enlightening. Like I could sometimes feel my hackles go up watching him, even back in the 90s, but like you said, you really got the feeling like he was trying to communicate something real and important to him. That goes a long way to buying good will and keeping people listening, even as they're feeling slightly defensive.
I guess that's authenticity.
"The show was great, hilarious even, until Jerry opened his mouth and said something." - Me imitating Seinfeld
But seriously. I loved a few of the kooky characters, and would always stop channel surfing on a Kramer scene. But Jerry would always say something dumb and I'd move on.
Ah yes, RIP Cosmo Kramer Michael Richards' career & reputation ever since his incident with the heckler
Well deserved.
He peaked at Bee movie
It was the supporting cast that even gave that movie a chance at being funny. Mathew Broderick, Rip Torn and Patrick Warburton did a lot of heavy lifting.
Absolutely. He always came off as an arrogant prick and none of his shit was funny to me. But I might have missed many a point because I'm not from the USA.
I never liked the show because of him specifically. It's my understanding that they're all supposed to be bad people, but this is the same case with Always Sunny and I find the gang to be very likable. I didn't at first, but they grew on me once I realized they were supposed to be degenerates and sociopaths. But with Seinfeld I have never been able to get over the hump.
Honestly, there are a few memorable episodes but most of it was pretty lame IMO.
The only reason I watched Seinfeld is it was what was on
The episode where George and Jerry pretend to be the names printed on a limo driver's placard in order to get a free ride from the airport and end up getting driven to a white supremacist rally was the peak of the show, but after watching Curb Your Enthusiasm it's pretty obvious whose sense of humor produced that one.
The show was hilarious.
It's just that Seinfeld was the least funny cast member in literally every episode.
He was the least funny and interesting character in “Seinfeld”, too. Even most side characters like George’s parents added more than him.
Seinfeld was hilarious back in his day.
Seinfeld would have had to die in adolescence for that do happen.
What does reactionary mean other than just being an insult?
It means he lacks the ability to reinvent his comedy to fit the times. Instead he just complains.
We all need to continue to reinvent ourselves over time. Things change. We need to retool for the times ahead. Reality is Seinfeld doesn’t need to because he already made his money.
So instead of him getting back on the horse he just sits back and complains like the out of touch old turd that he is. He sucks but just can’t accept it or admit it. It’s easier to whine.
He is a has-been and never will be again.
I agree he's not funny, but that's not really how most people use reactionary
"Reactionary" means regressive conservative/anti-progressive. It originates from, as much political terminology on the regressive vs. progressive divide does (including the terms "left", "right", and "conservative" themselves), the French revolution, where people who favored opposing the revolution (i.e. reacting to the revolution) were called "réactionnaires" in French.
Here's the first known usage of the word in English, from a 1799 English translation of Lazare Carnot's letter on the Conspiracy of the 18th Fructador.
Interesting, but I often see it used not for people who oppose any form of change, but for people who oppose a specific change. And it's intended to be more slanderous than conservative.
Reactionary can be seen as a more extreme version of conservatism.
Conservatives want to keep things as they are and oppose change.
Reactionaries want to turn back to some previous, supposedly better state.