Dear Netflix,
Everyone loves to binge watch TV shows such as "Friends," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Office" on Netflix, but it's likely these shows would never have existed without the immense success and popularity of "Seinfeld." Yes, that's right. "Seinfeld," the show your dad probably still watches reruns of on TBS and still laughs at every episode of. It's similar to all the shows I mentioned, and it's just as good, if not better than all of them and more. And it deserves to be on Netflix just like the rest of all the binge-worthy shows out there.
Like "Friends", "Seinfeld" centers around a group of pals living in New York City, with various jobs and interests. Unlike "Friends", however, "Seinfeld" is actually witty, funny and entertaining, and it's just a little bit more believable. Yeah, I went there, and I'm not sorry. "Friends" features six happy and great people who grow and change with each other, all while always showing off their love for one another. They fight over dumb things, they make up and hug it out.
Yuck. Like any sitcom, "Seinfeld"may have some crazy (but nonetheless entertaining) plots, but it is still the more believable show of the two because the characters are more realistic. I say this because we all like to think we're great people who always do the right thing, and even if we don't, we always strive to make it right and fix things. But that's hardly ever true, and "Seinfeld" capitalizes on that.
Let's face it, people, including ourselves, can all be jerks and rude and downright unlovable at times. The only difference in the world of "Seinfeld" is that we watch these characters be rude jerks and we laugh at them and love them for who they are, and who they are is an extension of everyday people just like ourselves. "Seinfeld" hardly ever features uplifting and 'feelgood' moments, and I love it. Because that's how life is. We like to binge watch and escape into the world of "Friends" and see people treating each other right and always striving to be better versions of themselves.
But in real life, friendship isn't always like that. Haven't you and your friends ever bonded over people you all dislike, or strengthening your ties with one another once they realize you're an awful person? Maybe it's just me and my friend group, but we all laugh at terrible jokes and talk about people we don't like to each other. We complain, we sheepishly tell stories of when we were rude, yet we all still recognize the good in each other, and we can bond over that, too.
I'm not saying "Friends" isn't good, nor am I saying "Seinfeld" is full of cynics, but I am saying that I admit I'm not always a great person to everyone I meet, and neither are Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. (Those are the main characters if you aren't aware). I realize I may have made myself sound awful too, which was not the point of this article, but I must admit my faults and shortcomings if I ever want to grow. By the way, my main point of this article was why "Seinfeld" should be on Netflix, but I think I left that behind a while ago…oops. It still does deserve to be on Netflix, though, because no matter who the characters are, it's still a hilarious and incredibly clever television show that inspired many, many other great ones to come. It's brilliant really.
I know it's on Hulu, but I only have Netflix. So, until Netflix smartens up, I'll have to content myself with also watching reruns on TBS and continuing to laugh at every single one.
