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Seinfeld: Still a Classic?

Two critics battle over the show about nothing

By Kate Rockwood, Newser Staff

Posted May 4, 2008 7:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Does the sitcom "about nothing” still evoke something—like laughs? Two TV critics revisited Seinfeld and emerged with different takes on the nutty New Yorkers. David Noonan argues that great actors—including an awesome string of small-part oddballs—still make the comedy sparkle. "They add a deep and essential layer of psychosis to the show," he writes in Newsweek.

But Marc Peyser looks back in shock at what once seemed funny. He claims that the show’s major conceit—four whiny adults devoid of ambition—reduces each episode to a mere punchline. Characters in great shows develop; Jerry and company just had issues. Peyser writes that "after a while, it all has started to sound like a whole lotta yadda yadda yadda."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

The irony-soaked foursome at the heart of "Seinfeld." (KRT Photos)

Jason Alexander attempts to telephone Jerry Seinfeld as he and co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus of television's "Seinfeld" accept a Screen Actors Guild Award on March 8, 1998, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael J. Caulfield)

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Jerry Seinfeld with his dad, one of the many awesome oddballs that made this show so great, says David Noonan. (SeinfeldTV)

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Seinfeld: Still a Classic?