Seinfeld or Curb your enthusiasm?

Curb. The humor is a bit dryer and the lack of the laugh track makes it feel more like real life. It is also more adult in terms of content. The pubic hair stuck in the back of the throat was classic.

Seinfeld does have the advantage of Kramer.

 

I have never gone back and rewatched Curb to see if it works the second time through. I frequently catch Seinfeld episodes that I have seen over and over again and they are still funny. The depth of Jason Alexander as an actor is impressive.

 

I've re-watched Curb episodes a few times and they still crack me up. Love Seinfeld, but love Curb even more. Curb has more Brooklyn humor because it's all Larry's baby, and that makes me laugh more.

 

Curb by a mile!

Can't wait for the new series if it happens.

 

Seinfeld. Curb is Seinfeld on acid, but it's not always a good trip with some of David's antics.

 

Curb. I can watch and enjoy it. Never bonded with that other show.

 

I never really bothered with Seinfeld when it was first broadcast. Recently a local channel has been running it nightly. It is amazing how well the show holds up.

Just watching the Joel Rifkin episode (Elaine is dating a guy with the same name as a NYC Serial Killer). Elaine suggests he might change his name - she even suggests O.J. I just checked the production date fro this episode 1993. Eerie.

 

CYE relied a bit too much on improvisation (like Portlandia). It often worked well, but I prefer a more scripted approach.

 

Hate to do this but I can't think of a better analogy:

Seinfeld is The Beatles and Curb is like solo Lennon. Both great but very different.

Gotta go with Seinfeld.

 

They are essentially the same show, but the mask comes off with CYE. Costanza was really Larry all along. Larry was the comedic genius behind all of it, and Jerry's more palatable delivery put a prettier face on the humor. If you really like this brand of humor, which is quite painful to watch, you ultimately have to choose CYE. It is like Seinfeld on steroids. So much more powerful and unapologetic.

 

I absolutely love Curb Your Enthusiasm, but Seinfeld is still my favorite sitcom of all-time, so I voted for it.

 

Would have to say Curb for three reasons:

1) They often reuse Seinfeld jokes/scenarios and they're still funny (which is impressive)
2) Seinfeld first couple of seasons were only ok...Curb was great right out of the gate.
3) Seinfeld is leading the voting now and like an underdog

However, one is 24 or so episodes per season and the other is like 10 so it's not a fair comparison when you have to write 2.5X's as much material for one show.

They're two of the funniest shows ever though.

 

Curb has Susie Essman. Curb wins.

 

Seinfeld has Frankie C. Nuff said.

 

I don't know which is more shocking:

1) The fact that only 102 people (of this writing) have voted in over a years time regarding two of the greatest shows in TV history.
2) Seinfeld isn't ahead by a more significant amount in the popular vote. Maybe Curb is trying for an electoral win.

And Seinfeld for me. Seinfeld in its prime years blows away Curb. (Although Curb was/is still a great show.)

 

Can't fault you for your preference, but I don't see how you can say Seinfeld blows away Curb. Both shows have more similarities than differences in inception; it's more a question of how you prefer they execute. Either the made-for-primetime TV audience, complete with laugh track, clean front-man and no four-letter words. Or with the gloves off.

 

JB Smoove...

 

He brings-da-ruckus!

 

I understand your point. However, Seinfeld is just so ingrained into my personal lexicon, that hardly a day goes by, especially at work, in which I either use or hear a Seinfeld-ism.

Plus Seinfeld is one of the few shows that I can watch over-and-over-and-over and not get sick of. It seems like anytime I can't find anything on the tube, I queue Seinfeld on Hulu and watch away. (Also Hulu, get your crap together and start offering COMPLETE SEASONS for every show you have.)

Nothing against Curb, again I think it is a great show. Seinfeld was there first, and all those reruns later, it is "the pick" for me.

 

Obviously Seinfeld had to work within more network boundaries than Curb, but to me that's what made it brilliant. The Contest is one of the best examples of this, having an episode about something that was never actually named, and yet the writing was so good it didn't have to be.

 

This post is in reference to your second point. Curb Your Enthusiasm was 'great out of the gate' because of the success that was built with Seinfeld. You couldn’t have had Curb without Seinfeld, because, more chances than not, people wouldn't know who Larry David is if it weren’t for Seinfeld and they only became familiar with him through his co-creating, writing, and appearances on Seinfeld. It took Seinfeld awhile to finally pick-up and that’s because it was groundbreaking and innovative, to use your phrase again, ‘right out of the gate’.

 

Yep, but since Larry David wrote both shows, doesn't that make it a wash? I recently used "Palestinian chicken" in a somewhat random response and lots of people knew the significance. Same with pen*s tent. Since the gloves were off in CYE, you can really get yourself into trouble. Larry had a ton of hugely quotable phrases in both shows, but those in CYE will be a problem to use in most situations. I agree, at the time things like low-talker, man-hands etc. seemed the pinnacle of situation comedy, but after watching CYE, it sort of pales in comparison.

Both shows have that element, I think, because Larry is a comedic genius and comes up with situations that are in themselves the punchline because of how he develops the show. The best example in either CYE or Seinfeld is actually from the end of an episode in CYE. Marshal the dog, which has been developed throughout that episode as racist and trained to bark at black people, begins barking ferociously at Rosie O'Donnell. A look of recognition creeps over Larry's face. Not a word needed to be said--the implication was clear. The dog is homophobic, not racist. Cue up the music. Roll the credits. This is the kind of humor goes so far beyond typical situation comedy you will find yourself thinking and laughing about it years later. In this example, it impacts every single person who Marshal barked at and forces you to reconsider them and their interactions on the show. It also makes you laugh at the absurdity of training a dog to be homophobic, how farcical it is and how it reflects on the dog's previous owner, as well as Larry. The humor in Seinfeld was comparable but I don't think it was quite as multidimensional because they had to dial down how offensive/controversial they could be. For that reason I think CYE has an edge in repeat viewing.

 

I'm going with CYE, it's just a personal preference as both shows are stellar. For some reason I was very late to the Seinfeld party and I only saw the last couple of seasons as live broadcasts. While I eventually was able to go back and see most of the previous seasons I missed out on the fun of watching them weekly and talking to friends at work about "last night's episode." I was in for CYE from the get go so I got to see the stories unfold.

 

Seinfeld for me. I love both shows. The writing is terrific on both, the cast is the difference. That combo of Jerry, Julia, Michael, and Jason was pure magic.