Film:
After numerous appearances on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show", US network NBC gave young stand up comedian Jerry Seinfeld the opportunity to develop his own sitcom in 1989. Together with his friend and colleague Larry David, Seinfeld then created a show about "nothing", which was supposed to be simply observations from the daily life of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Not necessarily enthusiastic about the idea, NBC initially ordered only the pilot episode, which flickered across American screens as "The Seinfeld Chronicles" in July 1989 - but without attracting much attention from audiences. Nevertheless, the project was not completely abandoned. Four more episodes were commissioned and aired almost a year later. Despite the good slot following the hit series "Cheers", great success did not really materialize.
What would have meant the immediate end for many series was fortunately only the beginning in the case of "Seinfeld". Thirteen more episodes were commissioned for the next season, and even though these also failed to deliver the desired ratings, the second season was nevertheless the important cornerstone of the series' enormous success, which by the end of its nine-year run as a whole was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. The first two seasons with a total of 18 episodes are now available together in a DVD box set. And even though the real classics of the series can only be seen in the next three seasons, there are already individual episodes here that are simply brilliant, including of course the episode "In the Chinese Restaurant". Jerry and his friends George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) spend the entire episode waiting for a table at a restaurant. That's all that happens. And yet, this episode is among the most brilliant and hilarious the series has ever produced. But also "The Pony Remark", "There's no cowhide in that" or "The Fired Waiter" are really great comedy, which is unfortunately much too rare on TV. Simply unbeatable!
Picture:
For the DVD evaluation the picture of the individual episodes was digitally processed. The source material is already over 14 years old and produced only for TV, which is not the best conditions. And so there are qualitative deficiencies to be found, but these are hardly negative. The DVDs are definitely better than the quality of the TV broadcast and for a sitcom it's really not that bad if the picture isn't perfect. And at least the overall score is a "gut"!
Sound:
The same actually applies here as for the picture quality. For a TV sitcom, besides the dialogue and laughs, there's really only the music, which doesn't demand much from the sound system, though. But the DVD offers the good German dubbing AND the much better original English version. That there is no DTS or Dolby Digital, actually hardly bothers.
Extras:
The makers of the Seinfeld DVDs were faced with a major task: due to the enormously high popularity of the series and the resulting constant reruns on television, it was clear that the DVDs would have to contain far more material than just the individual episodes in order to offer fans a justifiable incentive to buy. However, locating, restoring or re-manufacturing this bonus material naturally incurred enormous costs that would not be recouped by a US-only release. Therefore, there was only one option, which was especially good for us German fans: a worldwide, almost simultaneous release. In Germany, the first three seasons were even released almost three weeks before the US release. And so we German viewers also get to enjoy the absolutely terrific bonus material, which is distributed over the four DVDs of the box. But first a short word about the packaging. While the DVD box is absolutely convincing from the outside, the arrangement of the DVDs is disappointing. Two DVDs each have been placed on top of each other, as is often the case, which can lead to unsightly scratches on the upper DVDs if used several times. So be very careful here! But now let's get to the more pleasant part.
Let's get started with the extras on the first DVD. All the extras can be seen in the "Extras" section, but the episode-specific bonus material can also be selected via the "Episodes" menu item. DVD 1 features two (very similar) versions of the pilot episode, an audio commentary by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, a behind-the-scenes look at four episodes (14:38 min. total), cut scenes for the episode "The Man Problem" (03:12), and "Interesting Details". This is a subtitle track that fades in interesting facts and amusing anecdotes about each episode. By the way, the behind-the-scenes footage is not behind-the-scenes footage, but actual interviews with the cast and creators of the series.
Continue with the second DVD, which features "Interesting Details" and "Look Behind the Scenes" (12:46 min.) still cut scenes to "The ex-girlfriend" (02:44) and "This goes on no cow skin" (03:29) and exclusive stand up material of Jerry Seinfeld (07:08) to see are. There are also two audio commentaries, one by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards on "The Fired Waiter" and one by writer Larry Charles on "The Baby Party".
The third DVD also features "Interesting Details" and a "Behind the Scenes look" at 4 episodes (12:18), as well as a cut scene from "In the Chinese Restaurant" (0:59) and an introduction by Jerry Seinfeld to the episode "The Stranded". The best extra on this disc, however, is without a doubt the 13:42 minute long outtakes. These, unlike many other DVD outtakes, are really funny and absolutely worth watching!
The most extras, however, are on the fourth DVD. In addition to the "Interesting Details" and a "Behind the Scenes" of two episodes (11:22), there is a really wonderful making-of here entitled "How it all began". The documentary, which consists of three parts, spans 64:56 minutes and tells all about the making of "Seinfeld" and the struggle that the show and its creators had to fight to keep it going in the first two seasons is really well worth watching. Jerry Seinfeld takes the viewer to some important points in New York while others involved such as Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, larry david, Larry Charles, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and others have interesting stories to tell from the first two years. For fans, this documentary is a must-see!
Trailers and TV promos (01:18) are included, as are three appearances from the "Tonight Show". Two of these are from Jerry Seinfeld, with the first in particular from 1981 absolutely worth watching. A very, very young Jerry Seinfeld has to fight very intensively for every laugh, but already here he proves where his great strengths lie. The third appearance then belongs to Michael Richards, who appears with Jay Leno as a very questionable fitness trainer. This character definitely has something in common with Kramer, who came to life only a short time later, and that's exactly why this extra is well worth watching!
Conclusion:
"Seinfeld" is without a doubt one of the best sitcoms of the last twenty years. Even if the first two seasons - with some exceptions - could not yet reach the class of the later seasons in terms of content and the quality of the episodes on DVD "nur" is good, the purchase of the first box with seasons 1 and 2 is definitely worth it. What the creators have put together here in terms of extras is simply ingenious! Let's hope that the first boxes will be so successful that we won't have to wait too long for further seasons with similar features! That's why it's a must buy!!!
Original title: Seinfeld - Seasons 1 and 2
Number of discs: 4
Languages: English (Stereo 2.0), French (Mono)
Subtitles: English, German, French
Image Format: 4:3 (1.33:1)
Extras: Audio commentaries, cut scenes, behind-the-scenes look at individual episodes, making of documentary, Tonight Show appearances, stand up footage, outtakes, trailers and TV promos
FSK: age 12+
length: approx. 420 min. (18 episodes)
Regional Code: 2
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
