'Seinfeld' might be the greatest sitcom of all-time, but 25 years after it ended, it can be looked at with a different lens.
In the history of television, few shows have had the pop culture impact that Seinfeld did. At its peak in the late 1990s, it was the biggest thing on TV. Every week it seemed like the series created new catchphrases that then became part of the lexicon, from "Yada yada yada" to "No soup for you!" and "Not there's anything wrong with that." When Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) left NBC airwaves in 1998, the series and its importance didn't really fade due to syndication and DVD releases, and now with its streaming run on Netflix.
Our world has been altered in so many ways from 1990s. Part of that is out of the control of Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, or anyone else that wrote for the series. Their view of New York, where the Seinfeld Four lived their self-centered lives, was a carefree place where the biggest concerns shown were dating, movies, baseball, and soup. Even though most of Seinfeld was filmed in Los Angeles and not New York, it looked and felt like New York. You can't help but watch the show now and see a pre 9/11 world, where everything still somewhat made sense, and there wasn't fear around every corner.
Seinfeld doesn't have any scenes that take place in the World Trade Center, but one episode unintentionally hits too close to home in a now uncomfortable moment. In Season 8's "The Nap," George Costanza is working for the New York Yankees. Wanting to find a way to take a nap during the day without being noticed, he has an area built under his desk where he can disappear for some afternoon slumber. When his boss, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, comes looking for George in his office, only to find it presumably empty, he decides to wait for George to return. Unbeknownst to him, Costanza is under his desk and is now unable to come out without being noticed.
To escape and get Steinbrenner out of the office, George calls Jerry and whispers that he needs him to call in a bomb threat. That'll get everyone, including Steinbrenner, away. Steinbrenner gets the call from Jerry, who is pretending to be a terrorist bomber. When Steinbrenner hears a clock ticking under George's desk, he runs out of the office yelling about a bomb. He then caves to Jerry's terrorist demands, which end up being that he wants the Yankees to have a Fitted Hat Day. It's peak Seinfeld absurdity, and while still funny, to watch it now makes one squirm a little bit.The biggest criticism about Friends now is how almost every single person, from the main cast to the smallest role, is white. Seinfeld has similar issues when looking at it in 2023, but it doesn't quite get the grief that Friends does. That's because it's creators, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, are both Jewish. On top of that, their religion is not hidden but discussed in several episodes. Though Jerry's character is the only Jewish one of the main four, all the main actors (Seinfeld, Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards) are Jewish. Several other characters throughout its run are Jewish as well.
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