RIP Crazy Joe Davola

[YMCA B-Baller]

And the Merv Griffin episode might be the funniest one ever.

See, to me, this was a sign of the show's decline.

The show was at its best when it was rooted in everyday **** that was turned into something funny. It proved, very well, you can make everyday life absurdist without being over too over the top about it. They struck the right balance in the first several seasons.

For example, I can totally see a close group of friends getting into a masturbation contest. Turning your apartment into a Merv Griffin Show is long ways away from that.

Plus, they actually gave Jerry and George solid plot devices in the first half of the show's run. Kramer was eccentric from jump, but grounded in some semblance of reality.

In the second half of the run, they began enjoying the smell of their own farts, ran out of season-long arc ideas for the most part, and just threw **** against the wall and what stuck tended to be rooted in turning the absurdity up to 11. Festivus, the Mendelbaums, among many other things probably would have been funny on another show, but it seemed beneath this show because it had been so much better. (And some of it was just pure dumb anyway. This from someone who appreciates dumb humor.)

But it didn't matter, because it had a legion of fans who didn't question any of it, but the show slipped.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

"The Merv Griffin Show" is a stone-cold classic.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Haha sorry didn't see that the thread had turned over to page four and a discussion of "The Merv Griffin Show!"

 

[PCLoadLetter]

See, to me, this was a sign of the show's decline.

The show was at its best when it was rooted in everyday **** that was turned into something funny. It proved, very well, you can make everyday life absurdist without being over too over the top about it. They struck the right balance in the first several seasons.

For example, I can totally see a close group of friends getting into a masturbation contest. Turning your apartment into a Merv Griffin Show is long ways away from that.

Plus, they actually gave Jerry and George solid plot devices in the first half of the show's run. Kramer was eccentric from jump, but grounded in some semblance of reality.

In the second half of the run, they began enjoying the smell of their own farts, ran out of season-long arc ideas for the most part, and just threw **** against the wall and what stuck tended to be rooted in turning the absurdity up to 11. Festivus, the Mendelbaums, among many other things probably would have been funny on another show, but it seemed beneath this show because it had been so much better. (And some of it was just pure dumb anyway. This from someone who appreciates dumb humor.)

But it didn't matter, because it had a legion of fans who didn't question any of it, but the show slipped.

Agreed.

Rock bottom for me was the Kenny Rogers Roasters episode.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I think the change he's talking occurred after Larry David left. I think it was the last two seasons, but I am not certain. I don't think of it as a decline, it's more that the storylines got goofier. To me, it was still really good, it was more that the tone of the show just changed a little without Larry David.

 

[poindexter]

You guys are being a bit unfair. I think it was established that they were running out of ideas. AND Larry David had left.

Yeah there were some bad storyline. Like George wanting the name "7".

But the earlier seasons weren't all beer and skittles. Kramer's trip to California was super lame.

 

[dixiehack]

Are we saying the whole “writing a pilot for an NBC sitcom” inside of an NBC sitcom arc was grounded in reality?

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Are we saying the whole “writing a pilot for an NBC sitcom” inside of an NBC sitcom arc was grounded in reality?

I was going to say, the show took off with the meta season.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Are we saying the whole “writing a pilot for an NBC sitcom” inside of an NBC sitcom arc was grounded in reality?

At least it was based in some form of reality, as opposed to "every time Newman sees Kramer he thinks he's a roasted chicken."

 

[MisterCreosote]

I think the low point was the very first season. It was mostly awkward and awful, with no footing at all, with the notable exception of The Stakeout episode.

Also, wasn’t the Bizarro Jerry episode in one of the later seasons? That is a classic.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I remember an interview with Larry David and he stated he left because he had no more ideas.

The criticism of the change in the show is interesting. But, I don't find that change to be all that bad. It was still funny, just in a different way. It had some talent writing for the show.

What I remember from watching the show when it was first on tv, and the same with the Simpsons, was being impressed by how the show could have 2 or 3 storylines and tie them all together. At the end of episodes, I would think "That was only 23 minutes?" Especially The Simpsons.

 

[poindexter]

Season 8 episode with Elaine's Bizarro friends/Jerry dating man hands/Kramer working in the office/George dating a model was a top caliber episode.