#4: Kissing Cousins?

I hate to come back and reference the show ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT two blogs in a row but after watching all 3 seasons of it in a little over a week along with SEINFELD it is just about one of the only shows on my mind. However while watching it I couldn’t help but find endless similarities both subtle and large. The most obvious of the similarities is the use of what Amy McWilliams calls intersection, this is displayed in just about every episode in fact it what creates most of the comedic affect on the show along with the awkward and socially unacceptable family members, much like those of SEINFELD.
Another great way to compare the two shows is how ridiculous the scenarios created in the show really are. It is a fact that the topics in SIENFELD are a little more realistic considering most of us are more likely to spend time waiting in a Chinese restaurant than travel to Iraq to save your magician brother or have your parents routinely try and stab you in the back but the uniqueness of the show and its characters and their actions like having two cousins have a slight love affair give the shows more similarities than you may think.

#4: FRASIER moves to Seattle

Following the season finale of CHEERS in 1993, NBC decided to create a spin-off sitcom based off of the quirky psychiatrist named Frasier. The sitcom FRASIER is similar to SEINFELD in many ways, specifically in its characters FRASIER portrays as well as the humorous events based around the idea of the minutiae of daily life. In the beginning of the show, the main character, Frasier, had just moved to Seattle to host his own radio show and moves into an upper-class apartment in the city. Frasier’s apartment is one of the main settings for the show, as is the same for SEINFELD, and the place where the other main characters usually congregate. The other characters living close to Frasier are his father, Martin, who actually lives with Frasier, his competitive brother Niles, and his Niles’ love interest Daphne. The relationship Niles and Frasier share can be compared to the relationship between George and Jerry on SEINFELD. Frasier often takes advantage of Niles’ snobbish ways by making Niles the point of his jokes. They have a love-hate relationship that always makes the show enjoyable.
FRASIER also centers its show on the idea of the minutiae of daily life. For example, in the episode “Call Me Irresponsible,” Frasier deals with the dilemma of what to do when he encourages the boyfriend of a woman he is interested in to break up with her. He begins to date the woman when the ex-boyfriend wants to start the relationship again. We are all able to laugh at Frasier because we as the viewers are happy we are not in that situation.

#4: 4 versus 4

In a far-fetched manner, SEINFELD could be compared to the popular animated sitcom of FAMILY GUY. The four main characters, George, Elaine, Kramer, and Jerry could be compared to the click of Peter Griffin and his three friends, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe. Jerry and his three friends are all, as we pointed out, back stabbing and somewhat cruel towards each other. Peter is somewhat negative and derogatory towards his best friends and never seems to be looking out for them or their best interests. Peter’s selfish nature could be compared to George in a sense that these two characters lie to their friends and even their families. Kramer, Jerry’s weird neighbor, could be compared to Quagmire. Quagmire is sex driven and degrades women as if it were his job. The odd personality of Quagmire, as a neighbor, may have been derived from Kramer. The crude humor in FAMILY GUY is also related to the number of sexual innuendos in SEINFELD. Both shows continually make references toward sex and other inappropriate issues. There may be better examples but the relationship between the characters seems interesting because there are several personality matches.

#4: How I Met I Your Seinfeld

When I watch SEINFELD I often think about the sitcom, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. These two shows have several similarities, on and off the screen. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays and they drew from their friendship in creating the show. The main character, Ted, is based on Bays and two other characters, Marshall and Lily are based on Thomas and his wife. This is similar to SEINFELD in the sense that the creators also based characters off their own lives as well.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has many characters that play parallel roles to the characters in SEINFELD. Ted resembles Jerry as he is the main character and has his act together more than anyone else on the show. Robin is similar to Elaine because although she has a stable career, she just can never seem to have a steady relationship. She will date people but then always find a reason to break up with them. Barney can be compared to both George and Kramer. He is like George because he is manipulative, a liar, and very self-centered. But, he is also comparable to Kramer because he is eccentric and viewers never know what he is going to do next.

Although HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER may be a bit more confusing to jump in the middle of, both shows are self-reflexive. There are several flashbacks in most episodes and there are some reflexive comments that are thrown in as well. The show does not really try to teach many moral lessons, it is just a narrative sitcom about a man looking back and telling his kids how he met their mother.

#4: Everybody Loves SEINFELD

Seinfeld is not the only sitcom that focuses on the minutiae of everyday life; Everybody Loves Raymond also deals with life's little hiccups. The two shows apparently have different over all structures, especially in that Seinfeld focuses on a group of friends whereas Everybody Loves Raymond concentrates on family, however, both still poke fun at the annoyances of everyday. For instance, in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond Ray has to stay home all day and wait for his wife's curtains to be delivered, instead of golfing like he wanted. Throughout the episode Ray continuously complains and moans to his brother Robert about his frustrations. Another example of this play on everyday minutiae in Everybody Loves Raymond is when Debra gets into an argument with other parents about bringing the "appropriate" snacks to their children's T-ball game. As we have seen, Seinfeld also has the same focus. In "The Chinese Restaurant" the characters spend the episode impatiently waiting to get a table at the restaurant. Clearly both of these loved sitcoms look into how we tend to "sweat the small stuff" as the characters play out the situations of daily life in a comical way. This comical aspect creates an environment for the viewers of Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond to not only relate to the characters, but to be able to laugh at the things we sometimes see as dramatic.

#3: Impatient George!

George Costanza has many character traits but to me the one that stands out the most is his impatience. In almost every episode his impatience and short temper is displayed in some way or another. Whether he is quick to snap at people or annoyed with others incompetence, it is almost always apparent the George is an impatient man. This is shown in many episodes including "The Bubble Boy" and "The Chinese Restaurant." In "The Bubble Boy," when George is playing Trivial Pursuit with the kid in the plastic bubble he quickly becomes impatient and attacks the kid over a wrong answer. In "The Chinese Restaurant" the subplot where George is waiting for the telephone, he again becomes extremely impatient. Once complaining about the first man who used the telephone for 10 minutes, he expected to be the next in line. Little did he know a lady grabbed it before he got to it. This led him to be even more impatient. The whole subplot he was complaining about how he should have gotten to use it first. An example of an impatient character in a more recent sitcom is Doug Heffernan from "King of Queens." He is constantly getting testy and impatient with his wife, Carrie, and her father Arthur. Just like George it only takes minutes for him start to fuss.

#4: Not All That Straight

Seinfeld (1989-1998) and Will & Grace (1998-2006), sitcoms set in New York City, center around four unrelated characters who are good friends. Both sitcoms were unique for their time period, Seinfeld dealing with the minutiae of daily life while Will & Grace was based on homosexuality. Jerry's apartment and the one shared by Will and Grace are the primary stage for the drama.

While Seinfeld revolves around the lives of three straight men – Jerry, George, Kramer and one woman - Elaine, in contrast, Will & Grace takes you in to the lives of two gay men – Will and Jack and two straight women – Grace and Karen. Jerry and Will emerge as the most stable members in their own quartets.

The parallels drawn between Elaine and Grace are that both are successful professionals but just cannot seem to have long-lasting relationships. George and Karen for their part come across as self-obsessed and narcissistic individuals. Completing the ensemble are Jack and Kramer – two very different characters but with certain common traits to their personalities – both are eccentric, impulsive and are misfits to an extent.

Seinfeld deals with ordinary, everyday life and the presentation is what sets it apart. It seamlessly draws the viewer in and although events from previous episodes are referred to, it really does not matter that you may have missed a few. Will & Grace on the other hand is more staged and its characters and plots are contrived – not all that straight!!

As I watch one of my favorite shows, SEX IN THE CITY (1998-2004), I can’t help but correlate this show to SEINFELD (1989-1998). Both shows have very similar storytelling techniques and have both been very successful in their time.

Every episode of SEINFELD opens up with a comic monologue from Jerry, a stand up comedian both on and off the show. In the same manner, SEX IN THE CITY starts with and is continued to be narrated by Carrie Bradshaw, a columnist for the fictional newspaper, THE NEW YORK STAR. While SEINFELD covered the daily minutiae of Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine in New York City, SEX IN THE CITY talked about the daily sex life of four women as they went through various stages of love and romance, wild, passionate affairs, impotent husbands, steamy one night flings, and the lack of any sexual activity and how each situation drove them mad.

In both shows, characters are represented in a way Americans perceive themselves. This technique is what made both so successful.

#4: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

Some of the things that were so ground breaking about SEINFELD have become staples of the modern sitcom arsenal. DRAWN TOGETHER is a good example of a show that is heavily influenced by SEINFELD.

SEINFELD was careful to poke fun at everybody and make fun of PC'ness, a trait it shares with DRAWN TOGETHER. No topic is off limits and everyone shares in the dishing out and receiving of some pretty rough jokes. The main targets of their jokes are even very similar with the emphasis on race, religion, and sexuality. In fact of the main characters one is an extremely flamboyant homosexual, one is a in the closet bisexual, and the women openly engage in bisexual behavior as well.

The techniques from SCEINFELD have been lovingly caried over into DRAWN TOGETHER as well. DRAWN TOGETHER has adopted the self referential humor and ongoing jokes of its more tame predecessor well. DRAWN TOGETHER uses multiplicity in almost every episode.

DRAWN TOGETHER's cast is similar to SEINFELD's as well. Both are made up of characters who lie, cheat, steal, compete, and scheme. This was a break on the norm, which seemed to dictate a majority of the cast be "likeable" In the case of SEINFELD and DRAWN TOGETHER, the main characters are far from likeable. They are the people we love to hate.

#4: SEINFELD dressed in SCRUBS

SEINFELD has been an influential sitcom through the 1980's and 90's. Many ideas and techniques related to story structure, characters, and cinematography have crowned SEINFELD as one of the most unique sitcoms created. Because of this, many other sitcoms have copied, ever so slightly, some of the things that make SEINFELD unique.


One sitcom that comes to mind when mentioning SEINFELD techniques is SCRUBS. SCRUBS, at its core, is about a small group of friends that have been together through college and are on the road to becoming doctors. This is similar to SEINFELD in that the characters are a tightly knitted groups of friends who joke with and make fun of one another.


Another similarity between the two sitcoms, is the re-occurrence of minor characters. For instance, SEINFELD's Crazy Joe Davola shows up in a few episodes and is part of some of the jokes; SCRUBS's Dan Dorian is JD's brother and comes in at times throughout the series and takes part in plenty of the humorous sketches.


Additionally, SCRUBS is similar to SEINFELD in that it refers to previous jokes that have happened in earlier episodes and seasons. For example, SCRUBS refers to JD and Turk's jokes the "floating head doctor" and the "world's most giant doctor, in which JD dreams he his body is separated from his head and they act as different entities, and when JD and Turk stand on top of each other and have a giant lab coat and stethoscope.

#4: SEIN-QUEENS

Everytime when I watch an episode of SEINFELD I always associate to the sitcom called KING OF QUEENS. I know that I only make the association not only because of Jerry Stiller who is George's and Carrie's father and both shows SEINFELD and KING OF QUEENS but also because they make the two fat guys George Costanza(Jason Alexander) and Doug Heffernan(Kevin James) look the funniest characters at least for me is like that.
I think that KING OF QUEENS also uses a lot of the Narrative and plot structure as SEINFELD does such as Intersection between subplots. This happen on the episode " Bubble boy" in SEINFELD and happen also in the episode where Doug was rushing with his cousin to prove which one of them was the best deliveryboy.

#4: Seinfeld Meets World

The sitcom that comes to mind when I think of Seinfeld's characters, generic expectations, settings, narrative structure and such would have to be Boy Meets World. Another show that comes to mind that aired from 2000 to 2007 is Gilmore Girls. The reason why Gilmore Girls came to mind is because it is set in a town in Connecticut that is highly populates with an eclectic mix of everyday folks and plenty of lunatics as there are in Seinfeld, which is based in New York. It is also a humorous series about friendship, family and the ties that bind, which is certainly not what Seinfeld is about as it portrays a unique mother-daughter team supported by the Family Friendly Forum's script development fund. So, now I will discuss Boy Meets World.

I grew up watching this gentle, yet surreal sitcom and now that I think about it, there are a few similarities that I can relate back to Seinfeld. Boy Meets World aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000. It chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, who grows up from a pre-teen to a married man. Boy Meets World presents minutiae of daily life as does Seinfeld. One episode that comes to mind is when Eric and Topanga have gone on a diet together, but are keeping it a secret. I can think of a few of my friends that have tried doing a diet together and have tried to keep it a secret from me. In Seinfeld, however the use of minutiae of daily life is frequently more evident for example, the milk going bad or not being able to find the remote control. The two television series are very different, but have a few similar qualities.

The settings for both shows are similar in that they usually film each episode all in one or only a couple rooms or environments. Some of the episodes on Seinfeld, such as "The Restaurant" are filmed entirley in one setting, while others from Boy Meets World are filmed entirely in the classroom.

Foursomes and Family

A couple sitcoms that I noticed sharing similarities with Seinfeld are Sex and the City and Everybody loves Raymond.

Both Seinfeld and Sex and the City are located in New York and play it up. In Seinfeld we see the group of Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine going places like a diner on the street corner, the subway, and sky-rise buildings. In Sex and the City we see another foursome of singles: Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. They attend classy parties, go to their jobs in big New York buildings, and have lunch in an assortment of restaurants in every episode. Both sitcoms take place in New York but we see two very different views of it.

In Everybody Loves Raymond Ray Barone is a comparable to George in his whiny and needy character. Ray is always running to his mom for help with home life, work, or food. George will go to anyone who will listen to him, usually Jerry, to complain about his latest troubles with a woman or some issue he is having at work. Both Ray and George are constantly in need of advice or someone to talk to. However, Everybody Loves Raymond is a show centered around family so Ray turns to his family, but because of Seinfeld's rule of "no hugging no learning" George is left to turn to his friends.

#4: Mr. Seinfeld, meet Mr. Griffin

While most people will look at a show like Family Guy and say that they take a page from a show like The Simpsons, or just the ADD mind of creator Seth MacFarlane, but there are many aspects of Family Guy that feed of aspects of Seinfeld. While Family Guy is animated, it is still called a sitcom, and much like Seinfeld, rarely follows the sitcom story arc. Family Guy basis it's show on making fun of aspects of daily life nobody thinks about, and compares it to issues in the world that they can parody. This seems like a page out of the book of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Not only do they very rarely follow a typical sitcom arc, there are rarely lessons to be learned from episodes of Family Guy. In episode 24, "He's Too Sexy for His Fat", the last lines of the episode consist of Lois Griffin saying "Well I bet you learned a lesson from all of this", to which Peter Griffin retorts, "Nope." Another aspect of Family Guy that is a page out of Seinfeld's book is the fact that not only do they repeat jokes multiple times throughout the episode, but refer back to them in later episodes, as seen by the joke about the old fashioned toy Ball-in-a-cup referenced for the first time in episode 67, "The Fat Guy Strangler", and referenced in later episodes as well. While many aspects of Family Guy do not seem anything like Seinfeld, it is quite certain that some of these aspects, that were not present in sitcoms prior to Seinfeld, came from one of the classic shows of the twentieth century.

#4: The Seinfeldian Office

While many people tend to view SEINFELD as a sitcom in a league of its own in terms of originality, the U.S. version of THE OFFICE mirrors the comedic styling, certain characterizations, and plot structures of SEINFELD. Jerry Seinfeld is known for his work as a comedian in the real world and he gets to play himself in his own television series “about nothing”. THE OFFICE’s Michael Scott played by Steve Carell is another representation of Jerry Seinfeld in comedic cut scenes at different points in the show.

THE OFFICE’s plot structure in the “Office Olympics” episode is that of intersection which closely resembles that of “The Marine Biologist” in SEINFELD. They both contain two key subplots that break apart in the beginning and then wrap up at the end of the episode.

It’s common knowledge that Michael Scott is vastly different from George Constanza and Newman physically, but he definitely matches George Constanza and Newman in their explosive qualities and overall quirkiness. Whenever he gets frustrated with another character, commonly Dwight or Toby, he will burst into gibberish. His mannerisms often rely on physical comedy such as when he brings a blow up doll into work during a day devoted to sexual harassment awareness. Both shows are often shown in real time with very little variation in setting.

These are the most common ways in which SEINFELD relates to THE OFFICE. Certain characters are almost as equally unlikeable as those in SEINFELD like Angela, case in point.

#4 Seinfeldian South Park

Like SEINFELD, SOUTHPARK is a show many people watch for pure entertainment or just for laughs. From cheesy poofs to Stan and Kyle's friendship, SOUTHPARK repeatedly focuses on the minutiae day to day aspects of life. With four close friends going through life, it is really a "show about nothing." As for characters, Stan and Kyle's friendship is similar to that of Jerry and George. Despite random annoyances with each other, both pairs of boys uphold their friendship above all else. Cartman, a character who brings much comedic laughs and quirkiness to SOUTHPARK, can be compared to Cramer of SEINFELD. Both Cartman and Cramer provide a bit of "awkward comedy" among group of friends. Although Cartment's humor is less welcomed than Cramer's, both shows would cease to be without these essential characters. Since SOUTHPARK lacks a female among their "four-some" group of friends, Stan's love interest Wendy will represent Elaine from SEINFELD. Along with the common aspect of love between Stan and Wendy and Jerry and Elaine, Wendy's character provides a strong feminist movement in SOUTHPARK. Elaine, a strong willed woman among the group in SEINFELD,also represents a strong female presence.
Despite the shows focuses on "nothingness," both SOUTHPARK and SEINFELD have attracted many viewers over the years. Celebrity guests both in cartoon form and real life only add to the popularity of the shows. Based on appearances, it would be hard to recognize the parallels between the two shows, yet common narrative structure and characters make it easy to see why SOUTHPARK is simular to SEINFELD.

#4 The Two-Way Mirror of SCRUBS and SEINFELD

Following SEINFELD there were lots of shows modeling the same structure of the popular sitcom. However, one that sticks out is SCRUBS; the goofy spoof on the hospital television shows. JD is the main character and has a hilarious personality to keep the audience interested. Along side JD is his trusty sidekick Turk. Although Turk is not anywhere near the same as George on SEINFELD, he still is a perfect counterpart to his best friend. Besides the funny sidekick, there is the ex love interest, Elliot. She is a resident doctor as well, and everyone always wonders if JD and Elliot will end up together in the end. Her role as the laid back ex who always seems to be embarrassing herself can be arguably compared with Elaine. Finally, there is Carla. The wife of Turk and the best friend of Elliot, she completes the group and seems to be the most sensible one. Her fiery personality makes everyone know not to mess with her, yet she's sweet enough you can go up to her for any advice. Together, these four make a funny and diverse group for the show. It is clearly seen that SCRUBS and SEINFELD have many parallels in the basic set up of each show. 

#4: Hey! Your Playing my Character.

The one show that is very original, but reminds me of SEINFELD is WILL&GRACE. WILL&GRACE was the first sitcom to include two gay men, one woman who might be gay and another who was a bit confused. With that being said not only are the characters from WILL&GRACE unique, these characters are very similar, if not a spitting images of the characters on SEINFELD.

Will and Grace, just like Jerry and George are the modern day Batman and Robin. Will like Jerry is the center of the group of four. He (Will) is the somewhat normal one like Jerry, except Will is gay! Then there’s Karen who’s the female version of George. She is deafening, obnoxious and most importantly like George she is a big liar. At times Karen has lied about her occupation, her wealth and just random things. Of course we’ve seen all of the above from George.

Another Character from WILL&GRACE who resembles a sienfeldian is Grace who is like Elaine. Both characters dated the somewhat normal guy from there sitcom, which is weird to say for Grace being that Will is gay. However this happened ago just like Jerry and Elaine’s relationship. Lastly, there’s the forever-crazy Jack who you can’t forget, just like you can’t forget Kramer. These two are the ones who bring kookiness to the shows and are the ones you always have to wonder about.

When comparing the two shows you can look at the setting, the narrative structure and the plot being about nothing. However, the thing that made the shows popular were there very unique and unforgettable characters, which is why WIL&GRACE probably modeled after SEINFELD.

#4 Bernie = Jerry??!!!

Recently, I started watching several American sitcoms to learn about them. One of the sitcoms reminds of me the SEINFELD is THE BERNIE MAC SHOW. This sitcom is not exactly the same setting as SEINFELD, but its narrative structure and setting are very similar. First, this show is about daily life just like SEINFELD. It’s about the black family’s happening everyday. Bernie, the main character, is suddenly entrusted with the care of his two nieces and his wheezy little nephew and he struggles with unexpected by becoming a father. This sounds really normal life, but Bernie set as “The show about nothing” which is about happening around him just like SEINFELD. Secondly, THE BERNIE MAC SHOW has same narrative structure as SEINFELD. On THE BERNIE MAC SHOW, Bernie is the narrator who started by just talking directly to the audience about what was happening, and also he tells them how he felt about it as in SEINFELD, Jerry talked about happening around him. Although they have different characters, like SEINFELD, THE BERNIE MAC SHOW is about neighborhood and friends but THE BERNIE MAC SHOW is about the family. They have same narrative structure and setting which made me feel that THE BERNIE MAC SHOW has modeled itself as SEINFELD.

#4: Mad About Seinfeld

As we have discussed in class, Seinfeld is a TV show which is highly unique to the sitcom genre. Clearly, it is in a class all its own with its uninspiring characters, subtly Jewish undertone, and minutiae of daily life. However, since Seinfeld appeared, America has bared witness to many sitcoms which resemble Seinfeld's quirkiness. One sitcom that seemed to stick out in my mind was Mad About You- the TV show which features a young couple surviving the ups and downs of marriage. Like Seinfeld, Mad About You focuses on minutiae of daily life for these working-class lovers. Also, Mad About You is based on the creator, Paul Reiser's, actual career of a film maker, and Seinfeld is based on Jerry Seinfeld's own comedian status. One more similarity between the two hit sitcoms is that there are ongoing jokes throughout seasons of each show. For instance, in Seinfeld Kramer is very much afraid of clowns, and that fact is joked about within different episodes. In Mad About You, something that is poked fun at is that Helen Hunt's character, Jaime Buchman, has a difficult relationship with her mother-in-law. This is joked about throughout the many seasons of this sitcom in various ways. This also relates back to the focus on daily minutiae which is seen in both Mad About You and Seinfeld because women today are often believed to have rocky relationships with their mothers-in-law. Many other sitcoms, both new and old, have placed focus on this fact and it has become accepted as humorous.

# 4: A Seinfeldian Sex in the City

Ironically, Seinfeld, “the show about nothing,” is known to be one of the greatest sitcoms to date. Its narrative structure, characters, and setting set new ground for the sitcom genre. In response to the show’s huge success, recent sitcoms have used Seinfeld as a template to high ratings, and Sex in the City happens to be one of those shows.

Sex in the City is about four women: Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes, who all deal with the everyday issues middle-aged woman must face. Such issues include, dating, relationships, marriage, sex, children, men, body issues, age etc. All four characters have their own story lines and specific issues they deal with, this parallels Seinfeld in the way that narrative structure is used. In addition, the characters in Sex in the City are similar to those in Seinfeld. Carrie is the “center” of the group; she provides the axis for the action, much like Jerry. Samantha is smart-mouthed like Elaine. Charlotte is teased by the other three women because of her traditional ways, much like George gets teased for his obsession with cheapness. And lastly, Miranda adds comic relief with the situations she falls into throughout the series, which parallels with Kramer’s comedic ways. Finally, both shows are set in New York City where all characters struggle with life’s obstacles.

#4 Some VERY familiar characteristics

The writers of Seinfeld took many variations of characters from sitcoms that had been written before Seinfeld was produced. Dwight from The Office, seems to have many of the same characteristics as George. Dwight is a liar and a backstabber. When Angela asks Dwight to take care of her sick cat in “Fun Run,” Dwight decides to put her cat in the freezer so that he could put the cat out of his misery. Dwight tries to lie to Angela by telling her that he only put the cat in the freezer after the cat died from sickness. This is something that George would do. He would betray a friend and then lie to them because he wanted to cover it up. Dwight also tries to steal a valuable sales commission from Jim, and he tries to steal Michael’s job as the boss. Dwight’s backstabbing characteristic is shown in both of these incidents.

Steve Carell is an award winning actor and comedian who plays the part of Michael Scott (the boss) in The Office. Steve Carell and Jerry Seinfeld are both real life comedians who play hilarious roles in their shows. Michael fancies himself as an entertainer rather than a boss; he tells the office jokes on a daily basis. Jerry is known as “the comedian” in Seinfeld, and this is an important part of his character. In “The Dundies,” Michael actually stages a full comedy show at an office party. This is a lot like Seinfeld where it shows Jerry performing his comedy routines in the episodes. Both Jerry and Michael are the main characters of their shows in which their comedian roles play an important part.

#4: Old is Gold

One of many shows that premiered after Seinfeld was Watching Ellie. Like many other shows that aired after the glory that Seinfeld captured all failed miserably within the first season. Ironically all these shows included either an old cast member or an Seinfeld producer/ writer. The demise of these sitcoms (The Michael Richards show, Bob Patterson, and Listen up) were known as the "seinfeld curse."

However the main stroyline for Watching Ellie followed that of Seinfeld in which a show about a show/ a show about n0thing was trying to be re-created. The main premise for this sitcom revolved around a "continuation" plot as described by McWilliams in her essay "Genre Expectations and Narrative Innovations" where Each 22-minute episode was meant to portray a 22-minute slice of Ellie's life, in real-time. In the earliest episodes, a clock was even shown in the corner of the screen. After ten episodes, the series was put on indefinite hold as there were production issues.

Like Seinfeld, Watching Ellie was a self- referential sitcom that revolved around the main character's role/ life focusing on his/her life and extracting all comical humour of everyday life's minutiae.

Unfortunately after re-airing with a traditonal sitcom production cast now implemented, it failed to luanch any major platform with audiences and after a short run from February 2002 to May 2003 the show cancelled, testifying to the magnificance of Seinfeld that couldn't be replicated without duplicating it's main premise and character format, as well narrative plots that we now see in Friends, and Will and Grace.

#4 All good shows come in fours

"Will & Grace", a sit-com about 4 randomly put together and very distinctly different friends living in New York. It is similar to "Seinfeld" in that these characters deal with normal daily problems that you can compare yourself to and they are vain and narcissistic just like the tight-knit characters of "Seinfeld". This shallow and sex-based show often pokes fun at alot of things in normal life and isn't afraid to make fun of being gay or straight stereotypes; just like Seinfeld pokes fun at politically correctness and very biased in the sense of religion, making many Jewish references. The two roommates Grace, a straight interior designer, and Will, the gay lawyer, share a platonic friendship and share similar qualities although they are both very different. Then there is Karen, Grace's ridiculously wealthy, pill-popping, gin swelling assistant, and Jack, the out-and-proud gay neighbor. The character set-up of "Will & Grace" is so similar to that of "Seinfeld"; the two best friends Grace and Will ( Jerry and Elaine), the wacky neighbor Jack (Kramer), and the crazy and vain work companion Karen (George).
"Will & Grace" may have a story in some episodes with an actual meaning or even a moral or a little emotion at times unlike "Seinfeld", but "the writing is whip-smart and doused with terrific pop culture references and a phenomenal cast glued together with everlasting chemistry catapulted it far ahead of most post-"Seinfeld" sitcoms." (IMDb.com)

#4: Sitcoms about Nothing

Seinfeld was very unique when it first came out because it essentially was a “show about nothing.” Recently, I have been watching episodes of The Office and what makes the show hilarious is the fact that it touches on the everyday minutiae of the work life. The Office revolves around a documentary crew filming the normal everyday interaction between employees working in an office. There are not significant plots to episodes in The Office, but rather the everyday situations in life that are also found in Seinfeld. Seinfeld is such a great hit because people can easily relate and find comedy in the everyday situations that are found in the episodes. I found “The Chinese Restaurant” to be hilarious because it really emphasizes the fact that people can get so frustrated and impatient with one another when they are hungry and waiting for a table at a restaurant. The episode “Healthcare," in The Office, brings up the issue of healthcare and how it angers the employees and makes them upset. It is entertaining to see how Michael (the boss) gives Dwight (an employee) the job of handling the issue of healthcare because he is afraid of upsetting his employees. Many people find comical relief in shows that bring up issues that society is currently dealing with.

BLOG #4: Copycats

In "Genre Expectations and Narrative Innovation in Seinfeld," Amy McWilliams claims that from its inception Seinfeld "depended on its comic predecessors, drawing familiar elements of the sitcom to create and populate its world" (77). (She also reminds us, however, that the New York-based sitcom combined these familiar elements in rather original ways, which often surprised its primetime audience). In any case, what sitcoms from the late 1990s and 2000s have done the same with Seinfeld? In other words, what more recent shows have modeled themselves after Seinfeld's characters, generic expectations, settings, narrative structure, etc.? As always, be sure to provide evidence to support your point. NOTE: Please discuss something other than Friends, okay. Thanks!

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