Jerry Seinfeld Says TV Comedy Is Being Killed By the ‘Extreme Left and P.C. Crap and People Worrying So Much About Offending Other People’

In an interview with The New Yorker while promoting his directorial debut “Unfrosted,” Jerry Seinfeld lamented the influence of political correctness and what he termed the “extreme left” on television comedy. Seinfeld, renowned for his iconic sitcom which aired from 1989 to 1998, noted a decline in viewer engagement with TV comedy, suggesting that audiences no longer anticipate their favorite shows as they once did.

According to Seinfeld, comedy has historically served as a reliable source of relief for people, yet its availability seems to have dwindled in recent times. He reminisced about the days when returning home meant tuning in to beloved shows like “Cheers,” “MASH,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” or “All in the Family.” However, he expressed disappointment in the current state of television comedy, attributing its decline to the influence of the extreme left and an excess focus on political correctness, which, he argues, stifles creative expression.

Seinfeld noted that comedy fans are “now going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly. But when you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups—’Here’s our thought about this joke.’ Well, that’s the end of your comedy.”

 

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“We did an episode of the [‘Seinfeld’] in the nineties where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway,’” he continued. “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?…We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke. They move the gates like in the slalom.  Culture—the gates are moving. Your job is to be agile and clever enough that, wherever they put the gates, I’m going to make the gate.”

Seinfeld emphasized that stand-up comedians are currently the ones who possess the most freedom to push boundaries in comedy. He suggested that television networks are now less inclined to produce content that may provoke controversy or offend those who adhere to political correctness.

Amidst the promotion of his upcoming Netflix film “Unfrosted,” slated for release in May, Seinfeld has been actively engaging with the media, sharing candid reflections on the state of the entertainment industry. In a recent interview with GQ magazine, he boldly declared that “the movie business is over.”

“Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives,” he said. “When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”

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So what, if anything, has replaced film? “Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion. Disorientation replaced the movie business,” Seinfeld answered. “Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, ‘What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?’”

“Unfrosted” streams on Netflix beginning May 3. Head over to The New Yorker’s website to read Seinfeld’s latest interview in its entirety.