The Good
Seinfeld proves yet again why it was so great.
The Bad
I wish Larry David had been more involved with this release in some way.
Seinfeld: The Complete Eighth Season brings out the second to last shows in this series in as grand a form as any other. This season, the first without creator Larry David, was different but not so much that it hurt the show. It just changed things a little. David’s imprint was everywhere on this show, but his absence seemed to open up new possibilities and ideas. The show continued to both juggle and service Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, but it also seemed to open things up more in terms of allowing the characters eccentricities to all come out.
This set contains such episodes as “The Yada Yada,” “The Abstinence,” “The Foundation,” “The Bizarro Jerry” and more. The tough part about a writing a review for any one of these shows is that for “a show about nothing,” this one really had a great deal going on. Jerry might not want to accept something that was mailed to him, one of the other characters might accept it and then they benefit and somehow Jerry suffers. George might find that he can sleep at work, so he finds a carpenter that Jerry doesn’t like to redesign his office. Elaine might buy George something with her company expense account and in helping him hurt herself. And Kramer… lets just say that with him, nothing is ever as it seems but it sure is funny.
Features
Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That
Featuring an assortment of bloopers and mistakes it is amazing that they even made an episode let alone 9 Seasons of this show. It’s great that the live audience is there because these bits play like the show, yet they break the forth wall in terms of acknowledging the audience. I love that the actors thought what they were doing was so funny that they would repeatedly mess up scenes.
Notes About Nothing
Yada, Yada, Yada
I decided to watch this commentary track for “The Bizarro Jerry” episode. I did that for two reasons: First of all, it’s a really funny and well known episode, and secondly, I had never seen it. There are actually commentary tracks on all these discs, but here David Mandel (the lone voice on this commentary) begins this track by declaring that it’s his favorite episode that he ever wrote. Also, since Larry David was gone they decided to switch things up by not having Jerry open each episode doing a stand-up act. Mandel then goes into how the whole “Bizarro” idea came about and how Jerry Seinfeld nside Looks
The Inside Looks were interesting but I didn’t find them as insightful as the commentary tracks. Maybe because the subjects were having to recall things without the aide of the show playing in front of them, I just never felt like these gave me too much more insight to the Seinfeld world. The cast and crew of these shows talk a lot about the differences of working for Jerry Seinfeld as opposed to Larry David. Also, based on what I know of David having a tremendous temper, something tells me that more than a few people were probably not too bothered by his departure.
Jerry Seinfeld: Submarine Captain
Looking at life at Larry David left, I probably would have been better off watching this section before I viewed the others. I say that because as good as this segment is, it plays a little redundant when juxtaposed against some of the other featurettes. However, there is so much content on this release it makes sense that it would overlap. The writers talk about what it was like when Jerry took over, how he was always on the set, and clips from the episodes are used to punctuate a point that Michael Richards, Jason Alexander or one of the other subjects might say.
Sein-Imation
In the Vault
Coming on and off the screen in an almost blink and you’ll miss it sort of way, these scenes were cool because they seem like they were put together as part of the show. They don’t feel like disparate pieces floating around on these discs, but rather they feel like short films. One doesn’t necessarily have to watch these things but if you have the time and you love this show, you should.
Video
1.33:1 - Full Screen. The shows in this collection look good. Amazingly, they are 10 years old already and I only say that because I can’t believe this show has been off the air that long. The compression that Sony has done is top notch. For awhile, they seemed to be doing something weird (especially with The Jeffersons: The Complete Sixth Season, where the actors all seemed like they were moving around in marmalade), but these shows looked sharp. There isn’t anything too special about the compression but I don’t recall noticing any glaring problems with the images presented.
Audio
Dolby Digital. Remastered in High Definition. Languages: English and French. Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Close Captioned. The reason this show is so great is because of the dialogue. The interactions between these characters are like so many that we all have had, and if we haven’t had them they are like conversations we have thought about having. The audio for a release of this nature must be top notch and it is. In fact, I don’t ever recall hearing the bass plucks on this show sound so pitch perfect.
Package
The four main players are featured on this front cover with their fists in the air. The back portion doesn’t really tell you too much about the show (does it really need to?), it simply lists out the DVD features and technical specs. This piece of packaging pulls off revealing a case with the exact same layout as the pull over cover. All fours discs are stored in their own slim case and there is a different member of the cast on each of them. The backs of each cover says what episodes are on that disc, it provides a well written description, a picture from that episode and a Special Features listing. Solid packaging from our friends at Sony.
Final Word
I love this show. I may not think that it’s as good as Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I really do love Seinfeld. Yes, not every episode hits the ball out of the park (neither does Curb Your Enthusiasm), but there is so much about the show as a whole that is so good, it is easy to see why America truly embraced it. Also, the folks at Sony really go out of their way to pack these DVD sets with material. I also never feel like I am watching featurettes with the usual gaggle of canned responses. This stuff generally feels like it’s from the heart and it’s easy to see how much this show meant to everybody involved.
One thing about Seinfeld that amazes me is that I will speak with people from all walks of life and they love this show. From college students, to adults, to senior citizens, they really like what this show did week after week. They were able to follow all the plots and all the stories and for the most part they bought them. The best thing about Seinfeld: The Complete Eighth Season is that it reminds us both how great this show was and how great television can be.
