Seinfeld is on Netflix now... but should you watch it?

Seinfeld is one of the most, if not THE most successful sitcoms of all time. They made more money than they will ever be able to spend and Jerry honestly wouldn't need to work ever again unless he simply wanted to do so. The amount of royalties that the characters get every year is astounding. There are stories of recurring characters that appeared in just 3 episodes or so getting checks in the mail every year for more than what you and I probably make in a year all for something they did over 20 years ago.

I at first was really excited to see that Seinfeld was coming to Netflix and they paid an absolute fortune for the rights. I've now watched a few episodes to re-live the nostalgia and I have mixed feelings about the experience.

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Something we have to keep in mind about this show is that it first aired in 1989 and I don't know how old you are, but I was a very different person back then than I am now. The things I find funny now are different and my expectations of production value are very different as well.

The notions of how a show progresses was also very different back then because the idea of streaming video on demand was a mere pipe dream that would have the board room laughing their asses off if you simply mentioned that something like this might be possible without even getting up out of your chair to change VHS cassettes. Therefore, every show has commercial breaks built in and these days, this is just kind of annoying.

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I had forgotten this because it has been so long since I have seen an episode, but in every episode that I am aware of the scenes skip to Jerry doing stand-up in nightclubs frequently. I hate to say it but a vast majority of this is NOT funny and kind of takes away from the story that is going on in each episode.

I was hoping that Seinfeld, and the many great memories I have of the show, would come flooding back to me once it was on Netflix but I'm afraid that this really hasn't been the case thus far. Times change and just like the experience I had with Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap I think that with this show, it might be a case of it being something that was better left in your memories rather than going back and watching it.

This doesn't really seem to apply to Friends for some reason but then again, I found that show to be a much better show than Seinfeld anyway so my personal bias could be playing a part here.

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I went back and started on season 1, which I am pretty sure I have never seen before, last night. In episode 1 it is pretty clear that the studios hadn't banked on this becoming the hit that it would eventually did because the production value and the canned laughter was pretty stock standard for the time. I don't think i so much as even grinned through the entire episode. Halfway through episode 2 i sent a message to a friend and asked him if he remember when this show becomes "good." He said seasons 4-7 are the best.

I have no idea if that is true or not but that is going to be my next dive I guess. I took a peek at episode 1 of season 4 and it was clear at first glance that they production value had stepped up dramatically by that point. I still didn't laugh very much though.

So I guess you could say that I am a bit disappointed so far after nearly half a year of anticipation. I don't think I am going to watch every single episode as I had originally planned. There are 180 of them after all. I think I will simply go find a list of what are considered the best episodes and do that instead.

I hate to say it but I think that this is one of those shows that isn't as timeless as we would like to with it was and this is likely true of all sitcoms or even just TV shows in general that we have fond memories of.