If you have seen Seinfeld and sincerely call it a "show about nothing," you have been duped by marketing. amirite?

If that was the idea beyond the phrase, then I can agree people are misusing it. I can only ever see it being "about nothing" in philosophy, like Jerry says when they're pitching the pilot in the episode where the phrase gets used in the actual show.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Dumb question: what is the show about?

by WolverineCold 1 day ago

It's about a stand up comedian finding their material

by Most_Decision 1 day ago

Nothing

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Well you missed maybe the main point in the show: it's almost always their fault.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Exactly. I would sum it up as "four self-absorbed people never ever learn from their mistakes."

by sawaynmadelyn 1 day ago

There's two halves to Seinfeld. Jerry and Larry talk about this. Early episodes are grounded and about four weirdos hanging out. After George found Kramers golf ball in the whales blowhole they decided they could pivot and do more absurdist episodes.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The early episodes are more grounded like I said, but they don't exactly scream slice of life overall. For every Chinese Restaurant, there's plots like George insider trading or slipping his boss a Mickey Finn. Even the comparatively uneventful episodes aren't any more mundane or "about nothing" than the other sitcoms at the time.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The show isn't about nothing. It's a show about what inspires a stand-up comedian's material.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Jerry Seinfeld is a hack. Only thing he did right was be friends with Larry David. He'd still be doing shows at bars. I'd like to know how Kramer was always living in Manhattan though.

by Hettiebrekke 1 day ago

Never found Jerry Seinfeld funny. At all. Not to get political or into the racial spectrum but imo his success is the epitome of "white privilege."

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Lmao, what. He was successful mostly because he lucked out. He wasn't extremely popular before the show and pretty much only got the opportunity to do it because of circumstance. I don't think that had much to do with him being white, either. Sitcoms headed by black comedians weren't exactly alien to TV in the 80s and 90s.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

There's not a single black or Hispanic or Asian sitcom that has the reputation for being "about nothing". That wouldn't last two weeks. If the Seinfeld show was an all black cast, how long does it last? Exactly.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Curious how old you are because this totally misrepresents the "show about nothing" theme. It's about nothing in that it has no overarching plot. Things happen of course but they're just funny scenarios instead of events that would naturally occur based on a plot. There is this rule in writing where the more your plot relies on coincidence or luck, the less plot you actually have. The show drops scenarios into each episode and the characters react. The plots you mentioned are perfect examples of it being about nothing in particular lol.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It seems like you misunderstood what people meant when they said it, built up an opinion about the misunderstanding and now you've got no choice but to insist it doesn't mean what everyone—including Jerry and George when the pitched their own show "about nothing"—understood it to mean.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The only reason Seinfeld doesn't, and won't hold up, is the cell phone.

by Sudden_Match_9537 1 day ago

Not being funny doesn't help either.

by Anonymous 1 day ago