I groan a lot rewatching old shows, or don’t find the jokes funny anymore in 2026, but I think people forget that society progresses.
Take the Seinfeld episode where a reporter thinks George and Jerry are partners and they freak out about it but say “not that theres anything wrong with that.” The joke isn’t them being called gay but their immature reaction.
A lot of younger modern viewers don’t like it, and I get it. The scenes do play on a lot of stereotypes but they fail to realize in the mid 90s homosexuality was almost never mentioned on tv and when it was its was a slur. Just the act of making an episode that featured a discussion on homosexuality and didn’t use it as an insult ever was progress. Yes by todays standards a lot of the sterotypical behavior George and Jerry present throughout the episode is in poor taste but it wasn’t made with todays standards.
My wife hates watching “All in the Family”, because she hates Archie.
I love watching “All in the Family”, because I hate Archie. He consistently gets put in his place and gets taught a lesson. He’s still crass and rude and xenophobic and racist and sexist…and that’s the point.
People like that can’t be fixed, but we can sure enjoy laughing at them and showing them how they are wrong. That’s why I love the show.
No wonder Reiner died due to “complications of TDS”, as our wonderful President put it. That asshole (the president) is practically a modern reflection of Archie Bunker, just also sundowning.
The other forgiving thing about Seinfeld is that they are all supposed to be fundamentally broken and bad people. You can reframe it as, yeah, they are being insensitive, but that is how they are about most things. That doesn’t forgive it fully, but the show is full of things like this where they challenge the viewer to not empathize with the cast and even punish the viewers when they do.
I actually disagree a bit here, but that’s the genius of the show. I do agree that they are more nuanced than just good or evil.
Each of them represents different types of moral failure. George is scheming and has an inferiority complex. Elaine starts off as a good person, but lets her love for Jerry and her disdain for those she sees as “lesser” than her drag her down to the same level as the rest of them. Jerry is aloof and a real narcissist - everyone serves him or doesn’t exist. Kramer is basically just a child - lazy and chaotic - at best you can say he is Chaotic Neutral in D&D terms.
The show presents all of this alongside a veneer of charisma and humor and dares you to realize just how terrible these people actually are. One might surmise that the writers of the show might be very familiar with this type of manipulation. Heck, how many sitcoms can boast both that the main characters were at least partially responsible for a body count of well over 10 people and also that almost nobody recoils at that fact?
I groan a lot rewatching old shows, or don’t find the jokes funny anymore in 2026, but I think people forget that society progresses.
Take the Seinfeld episode where a reporter thinks George and Jerry are partners and they freak out about it but say “not that theres anything wrong with that.” The joke isn’t them being called gay but their immature reaction.
A lot of younger modern viewers don’t like it, and I get it. The scenes do play on a lot of stereotypes but they fail to realize in the mid 90s homosexuality was almost never mentioned on tv and when it was its was a slur. Just the act of making an episode that featured a discussion on homosexuality and didn’t use it as an insult ever was progress. Yes by todays standards a lot of the sterotypical behavior George and Jerry present throughout the episode is in poor taste but it wasn’t made with todays standards.
My wife hates watching “All in the Family”, because she hates Archie.
I love watching “All in the Family”, because I hate Archie. He consistently gets put in his place and gets taught a lesson. He’s still crass and rude and xenophobic and racist and sexist…and that’s the point.
People like that can’t be fixed, but we can sure enjoy laughing at them and showing them how they are wrong. That’s why I love the show.
No wonder Reiner died due to “complications of TDS”, as our wonderful President put it. That asshole (the president) is practically a modern reflection of Archie Bunker, just also sundowning.
The other forgiving thing about Seinfeld is that they are all supposed to be fundamentally broken and bad people. You can reframe it as, yeah, they are being insensitive, but that is how they are about most things. That doesn’t forgive it fully, but the show is full of things like this where they challenge the viewer to not empathize with the cast and even punish the viewers when they do.
They aren’t “bad people” by the standards of the time. (Except george).
They’re just normal, fallible humans.
I actually disagree a bit here, but that’s the genius of the show. I do agree that they are more nuanced than just good or evil.
Each of them represents different types of moral failure. George is scheming and has an inferiority complex. Elaine starts off as a good person, but lets her love for Jerry and her disdain for those she sees as “lesser” than her drag her down to the same level as the rest of them. Jerry is aloof and a real narcissist - everyone serves him or doesn’t exist. Kramer is basically just a child - lazy and chaotic - at best you can say he is Chaotic Neutral in D&D terms.
The show presents all of this alongside a veneer of charisma and humor and dares you to realize just how terrible these people actually are. One might surmise that the writers of the show might be very familiar with this type of manipulation. Heck, how many sitcoms can boast both that the main characters were at least partially responsible for a body count of well over 10 people and also that almost nobody recoils at that fact?
I kind of hate that I think you’re right. Lol.