'We Wouldn't Do That Joke': Jerry Seinfeld Names One Scene His Sitcom Couldn't Do Today
Seinfeld wouldn’t be the same if the show were to be introduced in 2024. Series co-creator and star Jerry Seinfeld can think of at least one scene he would’ve done differently than compared to back in the 1990s.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Seinfeld shared his belief that political correctness has had a major effect for the worse on comedy, particularly with sitcoms. He noted how there were no new sitcoms picked up on the fall season for “all four networks,” observing how it’s much more challenging to find success in that format given how comedy has changed. Seinfeld mentioned how Curb Your Enthusiasm was only able to get away with pushing the boundaries with its later seasons because the show had been around since when its type of comedy was more acceptable.
Jerry Seinfeld Tuxedo
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“Larry [David] was grandfathered in,” Seinfeld said. “He’s old enough so that—’I don’t have to observe those rules, because I started before you made those rules.’ […] If Larry was thirty-five, he couldn’t get away with the watermelon stuff and Palestinian chicken. […] HBO knows that’s what people come here for, but they’re not smart enough to figure out, ‘How do we do this now? Do we take the heat, or just not be funny?’ And what they’ve decided to be is, ‘Well, we’re not going to do comedies anymore.'”
Jerry Seinfeld Names a Seinfeld Scene That Hasn’t Aged Well
Seinfeld continued, “We did an episode of the series in the nineties where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway.’ Do you think I could get that episode on the air today? […] We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke.”
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Seinfeld was created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. The show followed the lives of Seinfeld, playing a fictionalized version of himself, along with his four friends, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). The series ran for nine seasons between 1989 and 1998. It is widely considered to be among the very best comedy shows of all time and remains very popular with fans with its availability on streaming.
Seinfeld is streaming on Netflix while Seinfeld’s new film, Unfrosted, will debut on the streaming platform on May 3, 2024.
Source: The New Yorker
Seinfeld TV Show Poster
Seinfeld
The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
Release DateJuly 5, 1989CastMichael Richards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, Jerry SeinfeldMain GenreComedyGenresComedyRatingTV-PGSeasons9CreatorLarry David, Jerry Seinfeld