How ‘Seinfeld’ Failed to Live Up to Its Original Pitch

Most of us tend to think of Seinfeld as the “show about nothing,” but it wasn’t really about “nothing.” Sure, some episodes were set entirely within the confines of everyday spaces like parking garages and Chinese restaurants, but others found the gang battling psychotic clowns and befriending Major League Baseball players.

As Seinfeld has previously stated, the actual pitch he and Larry David took to NBC wasn’t for a “show about nothing” but rather, for a show about “how a comedian gets his material.” The “nothing” idea was just something George came up with in the show’s fictional pitch session. He even suggested that some episodes would feature characters reading.

But even that initial pitch seems wildly off-base from where the show ended up. At first, Seinfeld episodes were always bookended by stand-up routines in which Jerry would muse about topics related to the show. This likely stemmed from this initial concept — we see the routine, now we get to see the comedian’s day-to-day life that inspired the routine.

The problem is, as the show grew, the storylines became so gloriously absurd that Seinfeld’s comedy bits almost always paled in comparison to his character’s life events, which supposedly shaped his work. One of the best examples of this is probably the episode “The Limo,” which opens with Jerry poking fun at the high prices in airports. But the ensuing episode is a borderline surreal farce in which Jerry and George are mistaken for neo-Nazis, and held at gunpoint, after trying to scam a free ride home from the airport.

It kind of seems insane that this story wouldn’t become a part of the Jerry character’s act. Why not abandon the “did you ever notice this?” approach, when you have perhaps the most hilarious anecdote of all time at your disposal? For that matter, why would Jerry not mention any of the stuff that actually happens to him on stage? He could squeeze a whole hour (pardon the expression) out of the masturbation contest alone. 

Perhaps this is just further proof that “Jerry Seinfeld” really is a terrible comedian. The character supposedly mines real life for jokes, but after nine seasons of weekly hijinks, it’s fair to say that his life is objectively funnier than any of his jokes. 

Jerry was sitting on a gold mine of material, but somehow never found a way to capitalize on it. Even when we see him writing in the show, he’s struggling to come up with material about conveyor belts and remote controls — just describe literally anything that’s going on in your life. It’s all hilarious.

As the show progressed, later seasons further moved away from the original premise by scrapping Jerry’s opening stand-up scenes altogether. That is, until the series finale, which brought back the conceit for a brief segment in which Jerry jokes about always being asked to “sit-down” with people. This clearly has nothing to do with the rest of the show, which finds the core quartet being arrested and jailed for being huge jerks. 

The very last scene does live up to the show’s original pitch, however, illustrating that Jerry’s act is now full of observational jokes about life in the slammer.

Which was way funnier than any of the real Seinfeld’s Pop-Tarts material, to be honest.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this).