Seinfeld: 'Extreme Left, PC Crap' Killing TV Comedy

[Cow Poke]

He's not the first to make this claim, but he is one of the better known comedians...

Seinfeld: 'Extreme Left, PC Crap' Killing TV Comedy

"This is the result of the extreme left, PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," he continued. "Now they're going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we're off-track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.

"But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, Here's our thought about this joke. Well, that's the end of your comedy."

The committee process might be a secondary reason itself. Comedy writers have worked in teams since the Golden Age of Television, but those didn't operate as committees as much as collaborations. Now, though, they act as enforcers of the 'extreme Left PC crap' Seinfeld rightly castigates, but the mechanism of committee review itself probably saps some of the humor as well.

[rogue06]

He's not the first to make this claim, but he is one of the better known comedians...

Seinfeld: 'Extreme Left, PC Crap' Killing TV Comedy

"This is the result of the extreme left, PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," he continued. "Now they're going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we're off-track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.

"But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, Here's our thought about this joke. Well, that's the end of your comedy."

The committee process might be a secondary reason itself. Comedy writers have worked in teams since the Golden Age of Television, but those didn't operate as committees as much as collaborations. Now, though, they act as enforcers of the 'extreme Left PC crap' Seinfeld rightly castigates, but the mechanism of committee review itself probably saps some of the humor as well.

He has been saying this for awhile now (here he is in 2015).

[Ronson]

John Cleese has complained about pc/wokeness infecting comedy as well. All anyone has to do is look at modern SNL to see how unfunny the disease has made the show
.

[Mountain Man]

I'm reminded of the famous observation that Blazing Saddles could never be made today.

[Cow Poke]

I'm reminded of the famous observation that Blazing Saddles could never be made today.

Among many other 'fun' movies and TV shows. How bout Archie Bunker's All in the Family?

[rogue06]

I'm reminded of the famous observation that Blazing Saddles could never be made today.

Or the joke about how one of the networks ran the movie on their channel. After the edits it aired from 8:00 to 8:05, including credits.

[rogue06]

John Cleese has complained about pc/wokeness infecting comedy as well. All anyone has to do is look at modern SNL to see how unfunny the disease has made the show
.

Let's not forget Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappelle

[Sparko]

Seinfeld was one of the last great sitcoms on TV.

[Cow Poke]

Isn't it interesting that the cancel culture is being battled by comedians who feel the need to take a stand?

[Sparko]

Isn't it interesting that the cancel culture is being battled by comedians who feel the need to take a stand?

take a... stand-up?

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Among many other 'fun' movies and TV shows. How bout Archie Bunker's All in the Family?

The BBC could certainly not make the original series from which Archie Bunker was copied.

I do not think anyone would tolerate Alf Garnett's various comments any more.

[rogue06]

Seinfeld was one of the last great sitcoms on TV.

I never understood the attraction.

[Cow Poke]

I never understood the attraction.

It was the Soup Nazi. That's all it was.

[Sam]

He's not the first to make this claim, but he is one of the better known comedians...

Seinfeld: 'Extreme Left, PC Crap' Killing TV Comedy

"This is the result of the extreme left, PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," he continued. "Now they're going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we're off-track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.

"But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, Here's our thought about this joke. Well, that's the end of your comedy."

The committee process might be a secondary reason itself. Comedy writers have worked in teams since the Golden Age of Television, but those didn't operate as committees as much as collaborations. Now, though, they act as enforcers of the 'extreme Left PC crap' Seinfeld rightly castigates, but the mechanism of committee review itself probably saps some of the humor as well.

Sure, Jerry.

Source: Curb Your Enthusiasm. Wikipedia. Accessed 2024.04.30

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom created by Larry David that aired on HBO from October 15, 2000, to April 7, 2024. David stars as a fictionalized version of himself and it follows his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and, for one season, New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager and best friend Jeff Greene, Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie, and J. B. Smoove as Larry's housemate Leon Black. It often features celebrity guest stars, many of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves, including Ted Danson, Richard Lewis, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jon Hamm.

The series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. It was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras and a crew. The series, while not in documentary form, was shot in a somewhat similar cinéma vérité-like style.^[2] As with Seinfeld, which David co-created, the humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm often revolves around the minutiae of everyday social life. Each episode's plot and subplot is established in an outline written by David, and the actors largely improvise the dialogue,^[2] a technique known as retroscripting.

Curb Your Enthusiasm received high critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. It has been nominated for 47 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series for ten of its twelve seasons. It won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.^[3] It aired for eight mostly consecutive seasons until 2011, and resumed with a ninth season in 2017. The tenth season aired in 2020 and the eleventh in 2021. The series was renewed for a twelfth and final season that premiered on February 4, 2024, and the series finale aired on April 7, 2024.

© Copyright Original Source

-Sam

[CivilDiscourse]

Sure, Jerry.

Source: Curb Your Enthusiasm. Wikipedia. Accessed 2024.04.30

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom created by Larry David that aired on HBO from October 15, 2000, to April 7, 2024. David stars as a fictionalized version of himself and it follows his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and, for one season, New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager and best friend Jeff Greene, Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie, and J. B. Smoove as Larry's housemate Leon Black. It often features celebrity guest stars, many of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves, including Ted Danson, Richard Lewis, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jon Hamm.

The series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. It was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras and a crew. The series, while not in documentary form, was shot in a somewhat similar cinéma vérité-like style.^[2] As with Seinfeld, which David co-created, the humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm often revolves around the minutiae of everyday social life. Each episode's plot and subplot is established in an outline written by David, and the actors largely improvise the dialogue,^[2] a technique known as retroscripting.

Curb Your Enthusiasm received high critical acclaim and has grown in popularity since its debut. It has been nominated for 47 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series for ten of its twelve seasons. It won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.^[3] It aired for eight mostly consecutive seasons until 2011, and resumed with a ninth season in 2017. The tenth season aired in 2020 and the eleventh in 2021. The series was renewed for a twelfth and final season that premiered on February 4, 2024, and the series finale aired on April 7, 2024.

© Copyright Original Source

-Sam

This doesn't work as a good counter point to Jerry's statement. Curb your enthusiasm is black/cringe comedy, but you'll note that it's also largely improvised. At best this shows that some shows aren't built by committee, and therefore wouldn't be impacted by the process that Jerry describes.

I do believe Jerry is doing "the old man talks about the good old days" thing now. But CYE isn't a good counter. I'd look for other sitcoms (Young Sheldon, Abbott Elementary, The Connors, etc) to server as a counter point. Of which I think almost anything by Seth McFarlan, Rick and Morty, South Park, etc probably show that Jerry is probably off on his mark.