A Frosty Reception

Jerry Seinfeld has been getting the fruit goo beaten out of him this week, probably not what he wants while trying to launch a film written, directed, and starring Jerry Seinfeld. The kerfuffle began when, in an interview with the New Yorker Radio Hour, the newly-crowned-septuagenarian blamed “the extreme left and PC crap” for destroying the television sit-com.

Naturally, folks had some thoughts.

“I think that’s bullshit,” said Rob McElhenny, co-creator It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which has been flagrantly un-PC since its premiere in 2005. (Oh my God, 2005???)

Comic Skyler Higby took a swipe at Seinfeld for being out of touch, imagining Seinfeld as he “climbs out of a bathtub of rare snow leopard’s milk before being dried off by castrated servants” before intoning, “The problem is woke culture.”

Andy Kindler practically devoted his own Twitter feed to Seinfeld the past week, writing, among many variations on the following theme, “Seinfeld used to say it’s always the comic’s fault if they bomb, until the ‘swine’ wouldn’t howl with laughter at his gay French king ‘pearl.’”

I don’t know the bit. I’ve never been much of a fan of Seinfeld’s, although I happen to think he’s one of the most important comedians of the last fifty years. It was Seinfeld, more than anybody, who defined two decades of comedy. It was Seinfeld who learned to pick apart the absurdities of modern life and turn them into the faux befuddlement/mild outrage that became the hallmark of not only his comedy, but the comedy of an entire generation of performers including Jay Leno, Elayne Boosler, Ray Romano, Paul Provenza, Brian Reagan, Rita Rudner, and hundreds of others.

Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards on the red carpet for Unfrosted.

It was Seinfeld, with Larry David, who mainstreamed misanthropy with his eponymous sit-com. As with his stand-up, I was never a fan of Seinfeld, but I appreciated it for what it was. That show ended almost 25 years ago, and, in my estimation, the comedy culture has only gotten better since.

Keep in mind, the anti-PC crowd Seinfeld crows about now was already out in full force back in 1998. The king of false equivalency, Bill Maher, began his show Politically Incorrect way back in 1993! So it’s not like Seinfeld is expressing a new thought. He’s also not expressing an accurate one.

Where is the “cancel culture” that reactionaries believe exists in the comedy world? Who, exactly, has been canceled for doing anything other than, say drugging women and raping them? Louis CK won a Grammy a couple years ago and is playing large, sold-out theaters. Dave Chapelle has released something like a 150 Netflix specials in the last six months. Shane Gillis, who has the most legitimate gripe against cancel culture, has never been more popular; I would argue that his firing from SNL over jokes he made during a podcast is the reason for his success.

On the other hand, since Seinfeld’s heyday, comedy has become far more representative, especially for female comedians. Plus, we’re seeing unparalleled success for Asian, Muslim, Hispanic, gay, and trans comics. The diversity has never been greater, not just in terms of who is making comedy, but also the kinds of comedy they’re making. While the traditional live audience sit-com may be going the way of Michael Richards’ career, the opportunities and platforms for comics to express themselves have never been greater.

What’s funny to me, personally, about Seinfeld’s comments is that he has always been the most vanilla comic out there. I’m not knocking him; the world needs vanilla comedians. While his show took some more risqué detours than Seinfeld the comedian would take, there’s nothing that I can think of from that show that couldn’t survive in today’s environment. I’m sure somebody might find an exception or two, but even Seinfeld acknowledges that comedy should evolve with the mores of the day.

So, what the hell is he talking about?

I think he’s correct that there will always be an overly-vocal minority of do-gooders protesting every off-color remark they hear. Those voices will naturally get more attention than they deserve. But they’re not determinative. Yes, they may push comics to be more thoughtful with the jokes that they tell, but in my book, that’s a good thing.

Comedy, in general, has gotten smarter. It's no longer enough to call somebody a fag from the stage to get a laugh. (I’m not saying Seinfeld himself ever did that, but you could walk into any club twenty years ago and hear some version on that theme.) There will always be a market for the dumb and the boorish, but that’s a good thing.

There should be a market for stupidity and offensiveness and all the rest of it. Does that mean a network owes you the courtesy of putting your bullshit on television? Of course not. But you can put out podcasts and YouTube specials and build your audience in clubs. Nobody is stopping anybody from doing whatever material they wish to do.

Jay Leno, looking well.

Yes, people will find exceptions of clubs bowing to pressure from outside groups who object to who they book for whatever reason. But that’s the club’s prerogative. They’re running a business and are free to make whatever choices they think are in their own best interests.

So I disagree with SFGate, who published an article this week entitled, “You Ever Notice that Jerry Seinfeld is a Talentless Prick?” It’s a clickbaity, but untrue headline. Seinfeld is extremely talented and thoughtful, if perhaps hyperbolic, about comedy’s (and, by extension, his) importance. But is he funny? Not so much to me, but I don’t deny his appeal.

The backlash against Seinfeld is, of course, more than about what he said. There’s also his vocal support for Israel at a time when vocal support for Israel is deeply unpopular among the PC crowd. There’s also his age and his wealth, which make him an easy target. And those criticizing his current statements are happy to dredge up the Manhattan-esque relationship he had with Shoshanna Lonstein when she was a 17-year-old high schooler senior and he was a 38-year-old sit-com star.

Is that what’s he talking about when he refers to not being able to get away with stuff today?

Plus, he’s not doing himself any favors when he says things like “We really wanted to make this the opposite of Barbie,” regarding Unfrosted, his new film about the most Seinfeldian topic imaginable, Pop-Tarts.

Reviews have been mostly unkind. The film critic Richard Roeper wrote Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted is “an astonishingly unfunny, deeply weird, live-action cartoon that is so clear-the-room dreadful it almost play like a horror movie.”

So… yeah. Jerry’s having a rough week. But I have to say, there is some irony in the fact that, by overinflating the power of the so-called social justice warriors, he’s accidentally rediscovered the formula to his former success: he’s making a huge deal out of nothing.

NOTE: I wanted to take a moment to thank everybody who upgraded their subscriptions yesterday after I sent out this appeal letter from yesterday. It means a lot to me. So much so that I’ve extended the offer! Upgrade your subscription today and I promise to throw in ALL OF THE BENEFITS I offered yesterday at no extra charge!!!