Seinfeld — Good News, Bad News (#1.1)
By my count, the pilot episode of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" contains three amusing moments. First, George says to Claire (the waitress), "You're a woman, right?" and Claire drones back, "What gave it away?" It's a line that feels very indebted to Roseanne and thus maybe a little out of place on Seinfeld. It's fascinating to imagine what the series would had looked like had Lee Garlington remained the fourth lead, rather than giving way to Julia Louis-Dreyfuss. I think, tonally, I might have preferred it; but who knows. Anyway, humorous moment two: George, flummoxed that Jerry has brought in a guest bed for the woman coming to stay with him, asks, "Why not bring in another guy, too?" Or something to that effect. And then, third and best is when Jerry's visitor greets him at the airport in a fashion that's not in the greeting manual. If the pilot shows any promise of the series to come, it's in that moment. Most everything else is pretty disposable. The chemistry isn't there yet between the castmembers, and the standup routines just interrupt both the narrative and the comedic momentum (with no value added). I wonder if, as the show continues, I'll ever feel like Jerry the character (in the sitcom scenes) and Seinfeld the standup (in the nightclub act) are the same person. I suspect I won't.
Grade: C
Curb Your Enthusiasm — The Pants Tent (#1.1)
Finally getting around to giving this show a chance. It gets off to a decent start, with some solid comedy of the awkward situation. I had thought Larry David's was going to be a pure curmudgeon, so it was something of a relief to see that the character has a silly, joyous side. His mocking of Richard Lewis' "sundown" deadline was definitely a highlight, especially with Lewis acknowledging his character break in that moment. The technical aspects of the production leave a lot to be desired, however, and a good ten minutes of the half hour running time was more enervating than entertaining.
Grade: B-
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