What’s the deal with being politically correct? Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is once again going after PC and woke culture, saying they are responsible for the demise of the American sitcom.
On a recent episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour, Jerry Seinfeld said that while there is always a hunger for good comedy, the sitcom has suffered greatly because people – both those making the decisions and tuning in every week – are too easily offended. “Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it. Used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, “Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, M.A.S.H. Is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. Oh, All in the Family‘s on. You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight.’ Well, guess what? Where is it?”
With this, Jerry Seinfeld went after the “extreme left”, who he says is directly to blame for the lack of challenging works on television. “This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people. 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. They move the gates, like in skiing. Culture, the gates are moving. Your job is to be agile and clever enough that wherever they put the gates, I’m gonna make the gate.”
Lack of challenge can absolutely hinder creativity. And when the industry gets to the point where they have tiptoe around certain topics – or avoid them entirely – we get prequels to The Big Bang Theory. And those prequels get their own spinoffs for some reason. Really, there aren’t a whole lot of sitcoms out there that allow characters to say and do things that might be deemed controversial, let alone put them on display without giving a single damn. The first one that comes to mind is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which has lasted an astonishing 16 seasons but hasn’t spawned any truly worthwhile followers that can ignite a television revolution.
Jerry Seinfeld has been going after wokeness for quite some time now, always taking the stance that it is more harmful to comedy than helpful for the culture. This is just the latest example, and one more instance of Seinfeld seeing the entertainment industry suffering, as he recently said that the days of opening weekend chatter and buzz have been killed off by streaming.
What do you make of Jerry Seinfeld’s comments? Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts below!