All About Nothing

The Holiday season brings TV stations multitude of Christmas Marathon’s.  Whether it was the Elf Marathon on USA, the Christmas Story on TBS or the Polar Express on AMC, you would see these movies at an alarming rate.  It got me thinking, is there a show or a movie that I could just sit down and watch over and over.  The answer is Seinfeld.  I know there are multiple episodes played back to back, but never for 24 hours straight.  They could dedicate a whole channel to Seinfeld and I would subscribe.

There has never been a show that created pop culture like Seinfeld.  Who would have thought a show about nothing would have lasted so long and created such a stir.  But if you truly think about it, the best stories in one’s life usually come about when something totally irrelevant was going on.  There have been many times when just sitting around with my friends we have made up words, called people by a specific feature that makes us remember them.  I used to literally run into a convenience store and quickly get what I went in for when I saw an elderly person go in because I knew they were there for Lottery and that purchase would simply just slow my entire day down.  That’s why I relate to Seinfeld so much.

There have just been so many episodes and terminology that have come up in conversations and have been part of everyday culture.  For example, how many times have you been telling a story and to rush the story along said “Yadda, Yadda, Yadda” and made your point.  If there is someone that is so strict and militaristic you refer to them as the (Insert activity) Nazi.  If you don’t want to give something to someone how many times have you said “No Soup for you!!!”  Or the ever popular shrinkage reference when you have come out of a pool or a cold shower.  I always say “giddy up” when I am on board with a plan or event.

But it is not just the vernacular that makes the show a reference point in conversations.  They are some pretty good episodes that were just flat out funny.  When my wife and I were getting married and picking out invitations I couldn’t help myself but ask about the glue on the envelope.  Although that episode ended in death of a character, it is just one of those culture references that I speak about.  I can’t look at Marble Rye bread without recounting the episode of when Jerry robbed his parent’s neighbor in Florida for the loaf of bread.  The Hamptons brought some laughs to show.  That is where the term “shrinkage” was born.  That was also the episode where the cast could not tell their friends that their baby was ugly, and when Kramer found a crate full of Lobsters.  A separate episode had George bringing the parents of his dead fiancée’ out to his house in the Hamptons, even though they knew he did not have a house out there.

There are just so many things about Seinfeld that always pop in everyday conversations.  I did not like the movie “The English Patient” and laugh every time I watch that episode.  Every time I have large salad I can’t help but point out that I had the “Big Salad” and every time I park in a garage I always make it a point to know where I parked so I don’t spend the afternoon looking for my car.

It was a show that had its ups and downs when it was on but it has been definitely been more appreciated now that it has been gone.  A New Years Eve Marathon for Seinfeld is in order.  It could be wildly popular as all the other marathons that are on TV.  I believe it is time to give this show its due and dedicate a day to this show, maybe even two days.  I believe it is Marathon or even possibly sponge worthy