Why Jerry Seinfeld says hit sitcom ‘Seinfeld’ would not have been made today

“[In decades past, people] just expected there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight,” Seinfeld said. “Well, guess what — where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people." (Image via X)

‘Seinfeld’ is hailed as one of the greatest TV comedies of all time. In a nine year run, the sitcom gave us many memorable characters and storylines. The big four: Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer are some of TV’s funniest (and meanest) characters.

The cast of Seinfeld (Image via X)

In a recent interview with The New Yorker, renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld revealed that the climate of comedy is becoming increasingly sensitive and the show ‘Seinfeld’ is everything but sensitive. He believes that he wouldn’t be able to get away with a lot of gags and plot lines in this day and age. The actor criticised “PC” (political correctness) culture for hurting comedy.

“[In decades past, people] just expected there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight,” Seinfeld said. “Well, guess what — where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people. Now they’re 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.”

“We did an episode of ‘Seinfeld’ where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway,'” Seinfeld said. “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.”

He also noted that his ‘Seinfeld’ co-creator Larry David was able to get away with some edgy jokes on HBO’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ but that too only because David is an older member of the industry. Seinfeld said that the executives wouldn’t let David get away with such content if he was younger and trying to make a new series.