Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Seinfeldia How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 657f5c5519bec42e • Your IP : 188.246.226.140 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. Seinfeldia is a deep dive into TV’s greatest non-sitcom sitcom. Seinfeldia: How A Show About Nothing Changed Everything. Author. Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Publisher. The premise of Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Seinfeldia is that the show, about four self-involved New Yorkers whose daily lives make comedy grist, has infiltrated pop culture like no show before or since. From Elaine’s cringe-inducing dancing to ’s bottomless evil to George’s endless lies to Kramer’s wacky scene entrances, is a cultural touchstone. And Armstrong proves herself the perfect guide to understanding who, what, when, where, why, and how this show came to define American culture in the ’90s. Creation myths are a good place to start when writing about a TV show. The step-by-step breakdown of how the first idea for the show, Seinfeld’s Stand-Up Diary , failed miserably is an insight into what did and didn’t work. and are clearly established as very different comedic entities: the former a cynic, who “favored a guttural grumble that become a yell without a warning,” while Seinfeld’s intense ambition and genial material made him a more easygoing presence. Together, they retooled the show, alighting on the idea that it should be a reflection of their day-to-day lives. Armstrong is particularly skilled at weaving together the details of casting. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was not the first choice to play , but when she joined Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards, their characters became more defined, and the possibilities for daily mishaps greater and funnier. Seinfeldia is as close to a complete history of the show pop culture is likely to get. Detailing the lives and thoughts of the show’s writers provides exceptional insight into the show’s sensibility: , who didn’t always feel comfortable calling himself a TV writer but wrote gems like “” and helped steer the show after David’s departure; , who came to L.A. with his pockets filled with the stories of his friends’ daily lives in New York; Bill Masters, writer of “,” the show’s watershed moment, who almost didn’t return David’s phone call to hire him because he thought David wanted theater tickets; Andy Robin, writer of “,” who was both so dissatisfied with his script and so afraid he’d never top it that he left show business for medical school. It’s clear that David and Seinfeld enforced pathos and ethos —“no learning and no hugging,” contrary to sitcom tradition—but their writers worked to preserve and defend this maxim in their every pitch. Perhaps unknown to the public are various network tidbits that illustrate the revolutionary nature of the show. David, it seems, never wanted to make episodes beyond ; he was always afraid of running out of material and repeating himself. Network interference was blocked as much as possible, thereby preserving the show as a place where the creators’—and writers’—word was law. Bits about guest stars turning their appearance on the show into full careers are illustrative of Seinfeld ’s ability to catapult actors and writers into stardom. For example, , Nazi, so enjoyed his newfound fame that he never minded when a complete stranger asked him to recite the angry soup vendor’s catchphrase: “No soup for you!” Armstrong balances Hollywood’s inner workings with careful number tracking: Seinfeld was both a critical hit and a cash cow. Ad spots during the show’s final telecast cost $2 million; ad spots during the 1998 Super Bowl went for a substantially less $1.3 million. But the show’s greatest power was that it could empower shows scheduled near it. Mad About You and Will & Grace owed much of their success to their predecessor; for the latter, “right down to its composer, Jonathan Wolff.” He’d written Seinfeld ’s simple theme, comprised only of “slap bass… plus a scatting, beatboxing riff [he’d produced] with his very own lips, tongue, and teeth.” Seinfeldia is as funny and interesting as a good episode of the show it covers. Armstrong’s pacing and attention to detail makes it a book about pop culture that goes by almost too quickly. Luckily for fans, Seinfeld has sprouted everything from “ASSMAN” license plates to “master of my domain” sweatshirts to an entire luxury bus tour of the show’s landmarks, run by the original inspiration for Kramer, a neighbor of David and Seinfeld’s. The devoted fan could even visit his Manhattan apartment, thus making it possible to literally enter Seinfeld via one of its inspirations. Reading this book might be easier than that overenthusiastic fan behavior. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Seinfeldia : How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (2017, Trade Paperback) С самой низкой ценой, совершенно новый, неиспользованный, неоткрытый, неповрежденный товар в оригинальной упаковке (если товар поставляется в упаковке). Упаковка должна быть такой же, как упаковка этого товара в розничных магазинах, за исключением тех случаев, когда товар является изделием ручной работы или был упакован производителем в упаковку не для розничной продажи, например в коробку без маркировки или в пластиковый пакет. См. подробные сведения с дополнительным описанием товара. 5 ways 'Seinfeld' changed the way we watch TV. "Seinfeldia," according to Armstrong, describes the "special dimension of existence, somewhere between the show itself and real life," where the show continues to live on in bizarre events like a 2014 minor league baseball game's "Seinfeld" appreciation night — which saw three women convulsing on the diamond in competition for the best "Elaine dance" — or in the life of Kenny Kramer, the real-life inspiration for the show's Kramer, who makes his living leading bus tours of "Seinfeld" sights in New York City. Outside of its radically persistent fandom, "Seinfeld" was, more than anything, one of the most electrifying and influential programs in television's history. Business Insider talked to Armstrong recently about her book and how the show revolutionized the medium of television in ways that we still see today. Read on to see five ways that "Seinfeld" changed the course of American TV: "Seinfeld" changed the way TV shows are filmed. In "Seinfeldia," Armstrong describes how "Seinfeld" cocreator Larry David initially conceived of the program as a single-camera, film-like show without a studio audience, which would have been a radical departure from the television norms of its day. "TV’s so weird, really. In the beginning, the reason we have that weird sitcom, live-audience approach is because they basically didn’t know what to do on TV at first, so they started doing plays," Armstrong told Business Insider. "They didn’t understand that people might get it and not need audience members with them to help." Ultimately, David had to compromise on his vision, but "Seinfeld's" innovative combination of multi-camera and single-camera footage still opened the floodgate of possibilities for cinematic television programs like AMC's "Breaking Bad," FX's "Louie," and the many other shows that have since utilized a single-camera approach. "They just showed how cool it could look," Armstrong said, describing the impact of the show's single-camera segments, like when the gang hits "the town" — a Los Angeles set built to look like New York City — or searches for their car hopelessly in a parking garage for an entire episode. "It was like a movie, and people got it even when they were shooting on location." "Seinfeld" created its own economy. The lasting cultural and financial impact of "Seinfeld" is evident in the show's years of lucrative reruns, its blockbuster Hulu deal, and in strange post-"Seinfeld" stories like Kenny Kramer and his bus tour. "'Seinfeld' really created its own economy," Armstrong said. "And it keeps going. The thing is almost like a money-printing machine at this point, for anyone who gets involved with anything to do with 'Seinfeld.'" The show was a massive financial success during most of its years on the air, making NBC $150 million per year at its peak. By the ninth and final season, Jerry Seinfeld was earning $1 million per episode. NBC executives tried to get Seinfeld to return for a tenth season by offering him $5 million per episode, but the comic turned it down. Nonetheless, the show's high-stakes negotiations had already changed the way that other successful shows, like NBC's "Friends," would have to pay their stars. "[The 'Friends' cast] famously asked for a million dollars per episode for all of them, and in solidarity, none of them would sign unless they all got it," Armstrong said. "And I think the precedent was Jerry Seinfeld." "Seinfeld" proved that sitcoms could be provocative on a new level. In its fourth season, "Seinfeld" deftly took on a taboo subject in the masturbation-centric episode "The Contest." At the time, censorship and social mores wouldn't allow the show to say "masturbation" outright, so the four friends instead competed to see who could remain the "master of their domain." "['Seinfeld'] gave us ways to talk about these weird little parts of life that were kind of not talked about at the time," Armstrong said. "You wouldn't want to talk about masturbation, per se, in mixed company as they say, but to say 'master of my domain' makes it funny and makes you able to kind of talk about it in polite society." Armstrong explained how "The Show About Nothing" achieved its universal appeal and lasting influence through Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld's innovative approach to comedy that paradoxically speaks to everyone. "The 'nothingness' that they talk about being about is really not nothing," Armstrong said. "It’s actually everyday stuff. And I think that’s what keeps us coming back to it, and that made it a hit, a fairly widespread mainstream hit at the time. Yeah, they may be sort of elite New Yorkers. They might not be the best, most admirable people. But they’re dealing with these everyday irritations that we all really relate to." "Seinfeld" initiated the rise of the "antihero." In the series finale, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are put on trail and ultimately imprisoned for all of their "wrongdoings" throughout the show's nine seasons. Many fans were disappointed by and resented that the series ended with their favorite characters in such a predicament, but Larry David, who wrote the episode, wanted to demonstrate that the four friends were actually bad people all along. At the time, people weren't used to rooting for an "antihero." And black comedy was reserved for indie movies, not network TV. "I think they helped bring in that 'antihero' phase that we got so strongly starting with 'The Sopranos,'" Armstrong said about the finale. "They really laid the groundwork for the idea that Americans are perfectly fine with watching main characters who are not necessarily grand heroes." The unwieldy structure of each "Seinfeld" episode introduced a whole new form of TV-making. With its rapid-paced, quick-cutting, music-led style, "Seinfeld" was ahead of its time in the 1990s, leading to frenetic hit shows like "," "30 Rock," and "Parks and Recreation." "I think 'Seinfeld' was really sort of a harbinger of the way we watch television now," Armstrong said. "It's more of the aesthetic of what television is now, versus what TV looked like when it started in the '90s." The show also experimented with complex story structures that hadn't previously existed on television, but which have since become the norm. "They didn't have just an 'A-B' storyline, even though it's 22 minutes," Armstrong said. "There's an 'A-B-C-and-D' story. There's a lot. They really packed a lot in and also made sure that sitcoms could be smart, and since then we've had a lot of fascinating, innovative half-hour shows." Seinfeldia : How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything. bestseller about two guys who went out for coffee and dreamed up Seinfeld —“A wildly entertaining must-read not only for Seinfeld fans but for anyone who wants a better understanding of how television series are made” ( Booklist , starred review). Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. But against all odds, viewers did watch—first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly forty million Americans were tuning in weekly. Fussy Jerry, neurotic George, eccentric Kramer, and imperious Elaine—people embraced them with love. Seinfeldia , Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s intimate history is full of gossipy details, show trivia, and insights into how famous episodes came to be. Armstrong celebrates the creators and fans of this American television phenomenon, bringing readers into the writers’ room and into a world of devotees for whom it never stopped being relevant. Seinfeld created a strange new reality, one where years after the show had ended still spends his days saying “No soup for you!”, Joe Davola gets questioned every day about his sanity, and Kenny Kramer makes his living giving tours of New York sites from the show. Seinfeldia is an outrageous cultural history. Dwight Garner of The New York Times Book Review wrote: “Armstrong has an eye for detail….Perhaps the highest praise I can give Seinfeldia is that it made me want to buy a loaf of marbled rye and start watching again, from the beginning.”