Planet Sillicon

Oh the humanity!

By blog on May. 19, 2009.

Soooo I just finished watching my box set of Seinfeld. Just watched the last episode. The finale. The full-stop. The end. What the hell was that!? I mean seriously, Jerry, Larry, what the hell was that!?

I was so disappointed! I couldn’t believe that Jerry and George were moving to California in the first place, I hated that idea, I always felt they should stay together, but to see them all go to gaol in the end, and for nothing!? I know that some thought that the show went out following the creed of being about nothing, by having all the main characters being tried and convicted of doing nothing, but come on, that was offal!

I can’t believe in nine years of writing the show they thought that anyone would want to see them all end up in gaol! And not even together, no Elaine would be off by herself, whilst the other three are in the same place. And the final scene being Jerry doing bad stand up at the gaol was offensive in its crappiness. Seinfeld would have to by my favorite series ever, so I can’t believe that that episode was how it went out. Way to blemish the record of a great show! So in this entry right now, I am going to vent my frustrations at the crapness that is too many series finales.

Sopranos: That ending was very anticlimactic, I mean, most of the Soprano crew ended up dead! And all because of snot-face Phil Leotardo!? Wha? I hated that guy, and analysis of the final episode suggest that Tony dies by Phil’s order too. I just felt so let down in the end, that was so blegh an ending for a series which had been very edgy.

Angel: What the heck was with that!? Most, if not ALL of the main characters DIE! What were you thinking, Joss!? I can’t follow this train of thought… ‘Hmm, I know the network is axing my show at the end of this season, better wrap it up… they all die!’ Ya moron! I was rewatching the Angel seasons not that long back, only to realise, I hated most of the series. All the stuff with Connor sucked, the fact that Cordelia disappeared after all that crap was really a punch to the show, and then it ends up with Angel becoming extremely morally ambiguous, and then they all die, well now that was just tripe. Serious rubbish there. In fact it was listed in Zap2it’s worst series finales ever, along with Seinfeld.

I am getting close to never ever watching the series finale of any show that I actually like ever again. I mean really, why is it that so many shows end on the stupid, the depressing, the lackluster!? Remember the final episode of Buffy? She saved the entire world and caused every potential Slayer to be activated, now that’s an ending. Take note, writers, take note!

Another Seinfeld post

By blog on May. 13, 2009.

I know I have done a few of these lately, but I am still re-watching the complete series as I bought the box set not too long back. When you have the chance to look over the entire series in a matter of weeks, a few aspects of the show really pop out at you. I have noticed, over the years of the show, that the characters have slowly become written in a different way, and in most cases, they are less likable than in the early days.

Jerry hasn’t really changed that much. He might be a little more callous than he was originally, but by and large, his character remains the same. The straight man for the rest to play off in different ways. Jerry is still an okay guy, if neurotic in his ability to find flaws with the women he dates.

Kramer has some dramatic changes from his original self. In the first few episodes it had been commented on that Kramer hadn’t left the building in the past five years, and yet in no time at all, Kramer is out and about and is known by everyone in the neighbourhood.

Elaine goes from being quite a nice person to being a very mean and stingy person. She is hostile, aggressive, and far less likable than the Elaine of the first few series. There is also a level of inconstancy in the writing of Elaine’s intelligence and ability. In one episode she gets an IQ of 151, in another, she says ’stuperstition’…

George undergoes major changed throughout the show. In the beginning, George is a confident real estate agent, sure he doesn’t feel lucky with women, but he is so very unlike the neurotic, nigh-on sociopathic George of the later seasons. He becomes such a jerk, his antics move from the humorously ridiculous do the discomfortingly wrong.

The show as a whole changes too. After Larry David left at the end of Season 7, Season 8 started up and no more did we see Jerry doing a stand-up routine at the beginning of the show. I miss that, it was a good way to get into the episode. The characters undergo their most unlikable changes in this season too. Also, for the first time, there are story arcs in Seinfeld, with the exception being George’s engagement to Susan, the same story line pops up in Season 8 and in many cases the show suffers for it.

Whilst I do still enjoy the show, it is not as good as it was in earlier seasons. But I will watch right through to the end anyway.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

By blog on Apr. 30, 2009.

It means whatever you want it to mean!

I love that line in Seinfeld. Frank Costanza delivers the first line with such vehemence, and Elaine Benes delivers the response. The idea of those two facing off is always funny to me, always.

I have been re-watching all my Seinfeld DVDs, currently I am up to season 5. I have to say, each and every time I go back and watch the series in order, I have such a good time. I have also become quite engrossed with the ‘Inside Look’ features that many episodes have. It is quite interesting to see the actors behind the characters, though one of the actors doesn’t do too well here. I will get back to that.

Jerry is a lot calmer in the Inside Looks, he seems to have mellowed out and is less acid tongued and appears to be a little more friendly than his TV show counterpart. Julia seems to be nicer than Elaine, not that Elaine isn’t nice, but Julia seems again, more friendly and less prone to nastiness. Jason is so very unlike George, he seems very confident and easygoing, and the neurosis of George appears to be completely missing from the actor. That just leaves Michael… He’s the one that doesn’t do too well in comparison with his character. Now, occasionally, Kramer can irritate me greatly, but for the most part, Kramer is very funny to watch, and occasionally you see an almost childlike side to him which is very interesting.

During the Inside Looks, Michael seems so unlike Kramer, and not in a good way. He seems so much smaller than the larger than life character of Cosmo Kramer. He also seems a little petty and egocentric. The way he spoke of not wanting to be paired up with Wayne Knight who played Newman, seemed to me as if he thought everyone would buy that the ‘ego battles getting in the way’ was coming from Wayne, nice try Michael, but we aren’t stupid. You watch the Inside Looks with Wayne and you can instantly tell which of the two is Mr Ego. I have to say, Michael’s racist tirade at a heckler during a stand up routine didn’t help him out either. I am not going to link it, even though it is all over You Tube, just because I think his outburst was disgusting.

His apology, which was on David Letterman appeared sincere, as well as uncomfortably personal, yet it still felt overshadowed by his ridiculous rant. It made me feel two things, firstly, good on you Jerry for trying to support a friend whilst having the guts to say that Michael’s actions where totally wrong, and secondly, if Michael wanted to be taken in all seriousness, why would he chose a comedy show as the medium for his apology? Anyway, enough of that crap.

So yes, re-watching favorite TV shows can be so much fun. As long as they can stand the test of time. Some don’t, and those ones should be left to fond memories, but the true classics, like Seinfeld, bear being watched over and over.

Randomly mean people

By blog on Apr. 24, 2009.

Something I have always enjoyed about Seinfeld, is the disproportionate amount of randomly mean people. I love it! I think it is because you can sit back and laugh heartily at the absurdly rude actions of these strangers, largely in part because I don’t have to deal with these people.

You see, it is because I have encountered people in real life that are as unpredictable and as rude as those memorable characters like George’s father, Elaine’s flatmate, and the old guy constantly calling Jerry and idiot, that I can fully appreciate the humor laden, yet strangely real, depiction of these people. It sometimes seems that you can’t walk down the street without some unsavory looking character uttering something almost incomprehensible, but most likely offensive judging by the look on their face, in your general direction.

I don’t understand why people feel the need to rude, I mean, I am a ranter, a person who finds things really annoying that shouldn’t be really annoying, and yet, I would never consider being as rude as some of the schlubs you encounter. I have been walking across the road and have had profanities yelled at me by someone in their car, because of the contents of my shopping bags… what’s with that?

Sometimes I wonder if there is just something wrong with a large proportion of the population, I wonder why these people lack common courtesy. You see it come out in particular situations too! Like waiting for a taxi. People can get really rude and really mean whilst waiting for a taxi. I have been waiting at a taxi rank, and have seen young people hurry forward to get the cab that just arrived, when they can clearly see that a little old person was the next in line. And then those little old people will look over at you, with a pleasant smile on their face, as if to say it’s all fine with them… I would be rather angry, I have to say, but that’s no surprise now is it.

Another instance of absurdly high rates of rude people is in upmarket retail stores. You walk into this place and they have this look as if you say, ‘You, scum, should not be here’, and even if you do purchase something, they still look at you as if you shouldn’t be there.

Rude people seem to be everywhere, you can’t get away from them. There are websites devoted to them! But I think the rest of us, non-rude people, can all have a good laugh at those strange rude people.