Critic Reviews

This is just the kind of amusingly off-center comedy now missing from NBC's lineup, one of those rare, delightful meshings of concept, cast and execution, with producer Tom Cherones providing inspired direction. Nothing is forced. [31 May 1990, p.F9]

Quite aside from the fact that, snicker for snicker, belly laugh for belly laugh, it's probably the funniest show on television, Seinfeld is also one of the purest of all TV-viewing pleasures. This sitcom ... is blissfully free of creaky plots, trumped-up romances, and wise-mouthed kids. ... You get the feeling these days that Seinfeld, [Larry] David, and frequent director Tom Cherones are striving for a show in which the laughs flow with unceasing ease. Each week, they get a little closer; be there when it happens.

Seinfeld is now a revitalized show, snappy and gratifyingly complicated once more.

It is so good, so unbelievable, I can't believe anything was that good on TV last year. And it's going to be even better this year, as it continues doing these shows about nothing. [16 Sep 1993]

In the second go-round for Seinfeld, the star seems more relaxed and confident, and there's a bracing snap to the byplay between him and his costars.

When it was first on, I could see how good and admirable an effort they were making in blending the onstage and private lives of a comic, but basically I didn't care that much about it. But it's gotten better and better. By this year it's the one network comedy show that consistently impresses me and that I keep watching just for enjoyment. [19 Mar 1992]

The weakest aspect of Seinfeld is a wacky next-door neighbor played by Michael Richards. Richards is doing little more than an impersonation of Christopher Lloyd's Jim on Taxi, and he ought to cut it out.

There are some who might be jarred by the format, seamless as it is. And still others might be compelled to argue that with this format one gets neither a sitcom nor a comedy show, but insufficient portions of each...But there is an intriguing honesty to this method, and, in its fashion, it shows how life's tiny travail can work its way into comedy club laughs. [31 May 1990, p.C4]

The writing - so thankfully different from the hammering rhythm of most sitcoms - comes from Seinfeld and Larry David ("Saturday Night Live"). [31 May 1990, p.C5]

Seinfeld's gentle humor is easy to take. Unlike other current comedians, such as Andrew Dice Clay or Sam Kinison, Seinfeld isn't angry: He's more awed by the wonder of it all. [13 May 1990, p.13]