Review of Seinfeld: Season 1 & 2 (four discs)

Introduction

Seinfeld was a different kind of comedy series to everything else. It centred on Jerry Seinfeld, a promising stand-up comedian, who was given a break by NBC after successfully peddling his material in various clubs and on talk shows. But what on earth would this new series be about? Comedy writer Larry David, a friend of Seinfeld came up with the concept with a show about nothing in particular. The show was born. It wasn`t just about Jerry though, he had three eccentric friends: George Castanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Kramer (Michael Richards), and the show featured them very prominently going through various trivialities. His best friend, George Castanza is the perfect stereotype of someone who`s overweight, bald, he`s bad at his job, has all kinds of grief with women, he`s cheap and is just plain odd. What`s not to like? Elaine Benes, Jerry`s delectable and one time girlfriend, can`t dance and has all manner of bad date issues. As for Cosmo Kramer, I`m sure he`s from another planet down the road. He doesn`t work but manages his own apartment across the hall from Jerry and has some truly inspired business ideas that no one else will touch.

In total 180 episodes were made over a period of some 10-years. Starting with the pilot in July `89, it went on, and on, and on, until the final show aired in the US on 14th May `98. That it managed to last so long is a testament to the popularity of the series through its well-honed wit, nonchalance and neuroses. It was nominated for an astounding 57 Emmy`s and won 13 of them. Enough talking about it! The episodes presented on the DVD are in a slightly different order to the original airdate, but this doesn`t really matter because it`s not as if there`s any sense of continuity between shows. Seasons 1 & 2 provide 18-episodes with each running around 22-minutes. The gang look the same with perhaps more hair and less weight! Summaries for all the episodes can easily be found elsewhere on the `net. Here`s a quick rundown of the episodes in Seasons 1 & 2 with a list of the extras for each.

Disc 1: Season 1
• Pilot: The Seinfeld Chronicles
-Revised Pilot Episode: A slightly different version of the pilot.
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 2: Male Unbonding
-Inside Look
-Deleted Scene
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 3: The Stakeout
-Introduction
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing
-Commentary from Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David

• Episode 4: The Robbery
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 5: The Stock Tip
-Notes About Nothing


Disc 2: Season 2
• Episode 1: The Ex-Girlfriend
-Deleted Scenes
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 2: The Pony Remark
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 3: The Busboy
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing
-Commentary with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards

• Episode 4: The Baby Shower
-Commentary from writer Larry Charles
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 5: The Jacket
-Inside Look
-Deleted Scene
-Notes About Nothing


Disc 3: Season 2
• Episode 6: The Chinese Restaurant
-Inside Look
-Deleted Scene
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 7: The Phone Message
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 8: The Apartment
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 9: The Stranded
-Introduction from Jerry Seinfeld
-Notes About Nothing

• Episode 10: The Statue
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing


Disc 4: Season 2
• Episode 11: The Heart Attack
-Deleted Scene
-Notes About Nothing
-Commentary from writer Larry Charles

• Episode 12: The Revenge
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing
-Commentary with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards

• Episode 13: The Deal
-Introduction
-Inside Look
-Notes About Nothing
-Commentary from Jerry Seinfeld and writer/co-creator Larry David

Video

Presented with the original 4:3 full frame video transfer Seinfeld looks good, if a tiny bit grainy, but this is no bad thing. Colours, contrast and detail are good and the series has been re-mastered for DVD.

Audio

This comes with an English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 soundtrack, as well as German and French DD2.0 sound, and it`s perfectly functional. The sound is clear and sounds just as it did when it was on the telly. I couldn`t hear any problems at all.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with quite a selection of extras. Listed in the Introduction are the extras for each episode.

• Notes About Nothing - This is text commentary and is all manner of trivia related to each episode such as the airdate, the production design, the scripting, and the episode origin. It`s interesting to read once you`ve seen the show.

• Inside Look (subtitled) - This features the writer or cast talking about specific episodes. These are very short segments that add a little up-to-date flavour to the proceedings. That they can remember all kinds of things amazes me.

• Audio Commentary (subtitled) - There are commentaries here too, not on all episodes though. I have to say that I enjoyed listening to the commentaries as these are a little silly with the cast, or informative with the writers. Worth checking out if you have the time.

• Deleted Scene (subtitled) - There aren`t many deleted scenes and as with most deleted scenes, once you`ve seen it once, you`ll never likely watch it again.

• How it Began: Making of Documentary (subtitled) (1:04:56) - Broken down into three parts, this is an up-to-date look at the comedy series and proves to be very interesting. The entire cast as well as writers/directors and executives talk about the shows and their experiences.

• Tonight Show Appearences - Featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards.

• Photo Gallery - Guess what, it`s a photo gallery!

• Sponsored by Vandelay Industries - Original NBC promo ads and trailers.

All episodes and extras have English subtitles. All episodes also contain closed caption English subtitles.

Conclusion

The series has been called one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and while I find it hard to stretch that far, I agree that it`s a personal favourite and one of the funniest (and silliest) shows created. Who could ever imagine that such a show could exist without plotlines? Kramer with his wacky business ideas, George unable to hold down a steady job and always getting into grief and Elaine, the loud-mouthed rhythmically challenged ex, are all played to perfection. Some might argue that there`s a lot of whining and pointlessness about the show, but that`s the point and that`s why I find it compelling television.

This is my idea of good comedy and one that, after years of repeats, is still watchable. At just 22-minutes per show it`s easy to dip in and out of various episodes to fill that short gap you might have for wanting to watch something light and easy. It`s still silly and fun and definitely something Seinfeld fans have been waiting for. Video and sound quality are fine and I feel the extras round off a nice package; there`s plenty to go through after you`ve finished watching the shows. Worth getting if you`re a fan of the show.