They couldn’t use the word “pregnant” on the show.
Since the word “pregnancy” itself was not allowed on TV, they resorted to phrases like “expecting” and “with child,” and sought the blessings of a priest, a minister, and a rabbi who were given the script to read. “They didn’t change a word,” said writer Madelyn Pugh.
Lucy’s due date was in January. On Dec. 8, Lucy’s character breaks the news to Ricky in an episode titled “Lucy Is Enceinte,” using the French word for pregnant
On realizing that I was reacting and commenting on a summarization of what he said, I thought to go and watch the clip in the OP.
‘They move the gates, like in skiing. Your job is, no matter where the gates are, is to make the gates’.
I take no issue with that statement. He is saying that comedy is changing and that comedians have to change with it. I did not see his ‘thinking out loud’ as he searched for a way to make his actual point as some kind of deep commitment - he was trying to get to his final sentence, which I happen to agree with.
If I can watch a 50 year old show and not find something problematic by contemporary standards, it’s time to start questioning my values.
I don’t expect any media to get it 100% right, especially with target the criteria for which keeps changing. One of the tests for me is how often does it still hit points that continue to hold up over those that don’t (or never did in the first place.)
Oddly enough, without going back and watching an episode again I couldn’t tell you if Seinfeld was particularly socially bad or not as it always seemed so bland for me that it just didn’t stay in my brain long enough to make an impression. The only reason I ever saw an episode at all was because it was in syndication and ran in the time slot before Star Trek:TNG, so I would have my TV on while waiting for it so I wouldn’t miss it when it started.
Wow. After reading that list, I’m glad I don’t actually remember anything about the show. “In retrospect?!?”
Comedy keeps on changing.
(Which one is hiding the piano? 
)
Yeah. This kind of thing is also my memory of the show largely. Most of his jokes as I remember them were already basically about his shitty attitude towards women. Like his whole character is basically just… that. But I guess all the people in the show are miserable self-involved boomers who complain about everything the whole time and most of the jokes already felt like “women amirite” and “adulting hard on asshole mode.” These jokes already felt old and tired to me in the actual 90’s when I was young and naive.
Now? I just don’t even have patience for them. That style of comedy isn’t for me and that’s fine. He’s competing with a lot of great material for the same attention. I’m not even trying to be “woke” by ignoring him and probably most other people aren’t either actually.
He needs to accept that he had kind of a great opportunity and had a huge reach with his show but that just doesn’t mean people want more of that kind of thing. And if people like in the actual industry aren’t happy to deal with him that’s not likely due to “wokeness” unless it’s because he treats people badly on some level. Or he could do like Rosanne I guess.
And I can appreciate the humor while still being quite aware of the problematic elements! I love Mel Blanc’s voice work, and can acknowledge that I did laugh at this while still finding it more than a little inappropriate. (It’s one thing to watch an act filmed more than 70 years ago and see the issues, it’s quite another to see something created now and see the same issues.)
Also, by sheer coincidence, I’m currently sitting about 150m away from the statute of Jack Benny in Waukegan, Illinois.
I don’t give a fuck what some multimillionaire comedian in a Bentley thinks about anything. “But I worked hard all those years in all those shitty clubs to get here!” Fine, if you feel like you’ve achieved your goals then shut the fuck up and enjoy your privileged retirement.
But you are irrelevant to comedy.
Full disclosure, I never thought he was funny in his standup and I didn’t like his show. “Didja ever notice how” dude in a blazer and jeans with a microphone was a trope better comedians made fun of before he was even big.
Gee, it almost sounds like you’re defending yourself, not Seinfeld.
The community here tends to frown on ageism, in general.
Being a rich dick with unearned privilege who punches down on the oppressed, however?
That is a different story…
Well, there’s clearly no problem whatsoever, then.
/S
And we tend to skew boomer/Gen X, too…
This is true; there seems to be very little representation here for Millennials or the "greatest’ generation.
I think there are certainly some xiellennials? But I’m not sure there are any GenZs or Alphas… and maybe one or two “greatest” but many of them aren’t online except for probably on facebook anyhow…
You would think, but most folks I personally converse with or encounter here seem to skew upwards of 40 or so.
I didn’t even mention Gen Z, because that’s my kid’s gen; and it doesn’t seem like there would be much draw for that young demographic…
I thought this was the whole idea of shows like SNL and things like getting people together to pitch ideas and then making the ideas into skits. In fact I was under the impression that a lot of sketch writing worked that way actually. But… I’m not a writer so I could be misunderstanding.
It’s true, they probably have verrry different ideas of intriguing “Odd Stuff,” “Commie Memes,” and jokes that somehow have something to do with some cigar-smoking, long-dead counselor.
Just don’t look up the origins/lyrics to the MASH theme song…
how did that get green-lit? coot.
If “comedy by committee” was being used as expression to mean “everyone contributes and has to agree with the results” then no, that’s not how writers rooms work.
Scripts are written by small teams, or individuals, pitched to the group and then a single person, a head writer or show runner, approves scripts. A room might contribute to punch ups, but ultimately one person is going to say yes or no. It’s not a democracy and some people may end up disappointed in the results.
If one means Comedy by “The Committee”, the Improv group from the 60’s isn’t going to be funny, then it is how it works, but was funny.
Well, suicide does indeed bring on many changes. And one very big one. 
You know it’s from the movie, right? And that it was being sung during a scene where a character was being tricked into thinking that he was committing suicide by taking a poison pill? Don’t need to look up any secret lyrics, they’re right there in the movie, which most contemporary audiences would have been familiar with.
I can certainly see how some people would be offended by the idea of making comedy out of suicide but the same thing goes for making comedy out of war, doesn’t it?
And, to polish the onion, he was thinking to commit suicide because he thought he might be gay. Which might be an insight into the mind of a hypermasculine soldier in 1952. That most people didn’t blink at that framing of the joke - at the time - is a sign of how much has changed (for the good).
In the movie (and book) he didn’t choose to live because he realized there is nothing wrong with being gay, but rather because a willing nurse helped him reaffirm his heterosexuality. That probably didn’t go over well with GLBTQ people then, and certainly would not now.
