I told you five years ago that I was from the Friends generation. It was the show that I grew up with. I remember discussing the story with Ardian and with Rusli later on when I moved to Jakarta. I still re-watched the sitcom many times since then, from the time when I was staying with my housemates till Netflix days.
But being a fan of sitcom (oh yes, I also loved How I Met Your Mother, That '70s Show, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family that came after Friends), of course I've heard of Seinfeld. It was widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms of all time. When it became available on Netflix, I naturally tried it out.
To be frank, I was hesitant at first. I mean, this series started in 1989, five years before Friends. The show got to be so dated and, after watching it, I wasn't wrong about that. What surprised me was the jokes. It was still very fresh, even by today's standard, that it made me laugh hysterically. Season 1 wasn't that great, though. In fact, it had only five episodes. It got better from season 2 onwards. The moment all the characters, especially Kramer, were fully established, that's when the fun really began.
By the way, unlike Friends, there were only four of them: Jerry Seinfeld (arguably the one with the weakest acting skill, haha), Elaine Benes (not the Rachel-kind of pretty, but much funnier), George Costanza (easily the best from the start) and Cosmo Kramer (my favorite). The supporting roles, most notably Newman (Jerry's nemesis) and Frank Costanza (George's father) were equally hilarious. Guest stars were brilliant, too. Love Marisa Tomei, Teri Hatcher and Courteney Cox (oh yes, Monica from Friends acted in one episode, too).
The most surprising discovery was, perhaps, the origin of many jokes I'd seen in the subsequent series that came after Seinfeld, including Friends. It turned out that many were recycled from Seinfeld. The moment I saw them, I recognized them immediately and I was amazed to see that it was said and done by Seinfeld first. That's how genius Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld were. They created a show that became the template for the future.
My love for Seinfeld brought me to Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show featured Larry living his life years after Seinfeld and in season 7, he actually did a Seinfeld reunion within the show. It was a unique concept that I gotta watch and I did exactly that. It was great to see the main cast of Seinfeld again after the controversial finale that ended the original series, but most importantly, that's how I got to know Curb and Larry.
It was often said that the character of George Costanza was based on Larry (and funny that he tried and failed to play George in Curb Your Enthusiasm, haha). But apart from cameos and voiceovers, Larry's role was limited to mainly behind the scenes. Through Curb, I discovered the humor of Larry David as he acted as a fictional version of himself. It was unusual and a bit dark, as in annoyingly funny, which explained why the last two seasons of Seinfeld felt different after his departure.
I started Curb Your Enthusiasm because of Seinfeld and in the beginning, I watched only episodes featuring Seinfeld characters. But the show grew on me, so I started from season 1 recently. It was great, though I had to say that it was kind of weird to see David Schwimmer in Curb during the same time Friends ended. He looked exactly like Ross, but he was David here in another show called Curb, haha.
Anyway, why am I telling you all this? You see, it was like how I discovered the Beatles. It was a gem we didn't know it existed. People our age normally stick with stuff we grow up with. We rarely go back further in time, but that means we would miss out the great stuff that were Larry and Jerry. The accidental discovery I had was a good news I'd like to share. In the world where people are fascinated by horrible things such as Dahmer, I'd like to assure you that there are better shows to watch out there...
Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. |
Larry Dan Jerry
Lima tahun silam, saya pernah bercerita bahwa saya berasal dari generasi Friends. Ini adalah sitcom paling terkenal di masa remaja saya. Saya ingat saat-saat bertukar cerita dengan Ardian tentang episode terbaru Friends dan juga dengan Rusli ketika saya pindah ke Jakarta. Semenjak itu, saya masih menonton sitcom tersebut berulang-kali, mulai dari sejak di Eunos bersama teman-teman serumah sampai ketika Friends ditayangkan di Netflix.
Sebagai penggemar sitcom (oh ya, saya juga menyukai How I Met Your Mother, That '70s Show, The Big Bang Theory dan Modern Family yang muncul setelah Friends), tentunya saya pernah mendengar tentang Seinfeld. Saya tahu reputasinya sebagai sitcom paling sukses dan berpengaruh sepanjang masa. Ketika serial ini muncul di Netflix, saya pun akhirnya coba menonton.
Jujur saya katakan bahwa awalnya saya ragu. Maksud saya, serial ini pertama kali dirilis tahun 1989, lima tahun sebelum Friends. Dengan demikian, sudah pasti terlihat ketinggalan zaman. Setelah saya tonton, saya tidak keliru tentang hal ini, namun yang mengejutkan saya adalah leluconnya. Serial ini tetap terasa lucu di tahun 2022. Saya bahkan sampai terpingkal-pingkal dan tertawa lepas. Season 1 yang hanya terdiri dari lima episode boleh dikatakan masih tidak begitu bagus, namun semuanya kian mantap di season berikutnya. Ketika potensi semua karakternya terealisasi, terutama Kramer, kejenakaan Seinfeld pun tidak terbendung lagi.
Berbeda halnya dengan Friends, Seinfeld hanya memiliki empat tokoh utama: Jerry Seinfeld (yang boleh dikatakan paling buruk aktingnya karena dasarnya dia adalah komedian dan bukan aktor, haha), Elaine Benes (yang tidak secantik Rachel tapi jelas lebih lucu), George Costanza (yang paling konyol dan diperankan dengan baik oleh Jason Alexander) dan Cosmo Kramer (favorit saya). Para pemeran pendukung, terutama Newman (musuh bebuyutan Jerry) dan Frank Costanza (ayah George) juga luar biasa kocaknya. Bintang tamunya pun bagus, misalnya Marisa Tomei, Teri Hatcher dan Courteney Cox (ya, Monica dari Friends juga tampil di satu episode).
Akan tetapi yang paling mencengangkan adalah asal-mula lelucon dari berbagai sitcom yang muncul setelah Seinfeld, termasuk juga Friends. Ternyata banyak lelucon yang diambil dan didaur ulang dari Seinfeld. Begitu saya tonton, saya langsung ingat dengan adegan serupa di sitcom lainnya. Siapa sangka Seinfeld yang lebih dulu mencetuskan semua itu. Larry David dan Jerry Seinfeld memang jenius. Mereka menciptakan sesuatu yang kemudian menjadi standar bagi serial-serial yang bermunculan setelah Seinfeld.
Kesukaan saya akan Seinfeld lantas memperkenalkan saya pada Curb Your Enthusiasm. Serial ini bercerita tentang kehidupan Larry bertahun-tahun setelah Seinfeld sukses. Dan di season 7, dia menulis episode reuni Seinfeld di serial Curb. Konsep ini sungguh unik dan akhirnya saya tonton. Senang rasanya bisa melihat para pemeran Seinfeld lagi setelah episode terakhir Seinfeld yang kontroversial. Dari sinilah saya tahu tentang Curb dan Larry.
Saya sering dengar bahwa karakter George Costanza ditulis berdasarkan Larry David (dan konyol rasanya melihat Larry mencoba berperan sebagai George dan gagal di Curb Your Enthusiasm, haha). Di Seinfeld, Larry hanya muncul sesekali secara sekilas dan perannya lebih cenderung di balik layar karena dia adalah penulis cerita. Lewat Curb, saya pertama kalinya melihat sisi humoris Larry saat dia berperan sebagai versi fiktif dari dirinya. Humor Larry tidak lazim dan agak kelam sehingga karakternya lucu karena cenderung menyebalkan. Saya lantas jadi mengerti kenapa nuansa di dua season terakhir Seinfeld terasa agak berbeda setelah Larry berhenti dari serial ini.
Saya mulai menjajal Curb Your Enthusiasm karena Seinfeld dan pada awalnya, saya hanya menonton episode yang menampilkan karakter Seinfeld. Lambat-laun saya jadi suka dan saya akhirnya mulai lagi dari season pertama baru-baru ini. Ceritanya kocak, walau agak aneh juga rasanya melihat David Schwimmer di Curb di saat bersamaan dengan tamatnya Friends. Dia terlihat persis seperti Ross, tapi David menjadi dirinya sendiri di serial lain bernama Curb, haha.
Jadi kenapa sebenarnya saya bercerita panjang lebar tentang Seinfeld dan Curb Your Enthusiasm? Ini karena rasanya seperti saat saya menemukan the Beatles. Orang-orang seusia kita biasanya hanya tahu hal-hal yang populer saat kita remaja. Kita jarang melihat kembali lebih jauh lagi dan ini berarti kita tidak tahu tentang hal-hal menakjubkan seperti Larry David dan Jerry Seinfeld. Penemuan secara tidak sengaja inilah yang ingin saya bagikan. Di dunia di mana orang cenderung terhipnotis oleh kisah-kisah negatif seperti Dahmer, saya ingin meyakinkan anda bahwa masih ada tontonan lain yang lebih layak...
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