How Larry David ALMOST Broke Seinfeld 

Season 1 doesn't get enough love. The balls it takes to start a series talking about a shirt button is nothing short of phenomenal.

Kruger trying the door to his office and saying, "Oh damn, I've locked myself out of my office again. Oh well, I'm going home," always has me in stitches. All of the writers for that show were very good.

I've always liked both aspects of Seinfield, with and after Larry David. I don't think one is better than the other, but you see a noticeable change in tone after David left, with stories becoming a bit goofier but still harnessing that Seinfield essence. I think that once Seinfield became "mainstream", Jerry and his writters were indeed more or less forced to tone down some of the dark humor that David had.

I wouldn’t say it “broke” the show. It was just a change in tone.

The characters became caricatures of themselves toward the end. That being said, I loved it all.

The Kenny Roger's chicken episode is one of my favorites, up there with the marine biologist. So nah I don't think anything broken after Larry left, may have been slightly different but the show was still fantastic

Craziest part is season 9 ended at the peak of it's popularity. Only got to see 2 seasons of Jerry running the show. Could've had a lot more before the downswing.

Larry David was frequently still on Seinfeld as the voice of Steinbrenner, George's boss at the Yankees, and he adlibbed a lot of that, too...and he infamously wrote and produced the final episode of the show! Which received very mixed reviews LOL. I thought this video should mention that. But I love both eras of the show for different reasons, and it is interesting the territory that was explored in seasons 8 and 9 without Larry David aboard as co-writer and producer, a different approach to the same characters, which is actually what the show might have needed most after 100+ episodes on air. Still, my favorite seasons are 4 and 5 (1993-94). I think that was the classic period where David and Seinfeld really hit a stride.

As good as the early seasons were, I also love the loopy nature of the final two seasons. In "The Serenity Now," Kramer takes the screen door from Frank Costanza's house (where it faced outdoors) and inexplicably puts it in front of his apartment (where it faced an interior hallway and serves no purpose). Soon enough, Kramer has taken on the persona of a retiree from flyover country being pranked by neighborhood kids. In "The Butter Shave," Kramer accidentally sautes himself in butter. Newman's hunger gets the better of him, and he pictures Kramer as a turkey. In "The Frogger," George pushes the "Frogger" arcade game across a street that is set up with an overhead shot to look just like the frog crossing the street in the game. In "The Bizarro Jerry," Elaine meets three nice guys who are mirror images of Jerry, George, and Kramer. She ditches the real Jerry, George, and Kramer for these nicer guys but soon finds out that she isn't nice enough to fit in with them. And, of course, one of the strangest episodes was "The Merv Griffin Show" in which Kramer finds pieces of the old set from "The Merv Griffin Show" and sets up a fake talk show in his apartment. Animal expert and frequent talk show guest Jim Fowler drops by and asks, "Where are the cameras?" It's brilliant!

Really all the writers were very talented. Schaffer went on to create The League, and has been the showrunner for a couple seasons of Curb.

I honestly had no idea Larry David left the show. I hardly think he "almost broke" Seinfeld.

I always wondered how George was based on Larry but until my father bing watched the show and some BTS documentaries, Larry said how one day he decided to literally walk away from the show and then the season 8 began filming he decided to visit the set and a guard told him to leave because, "he recalled Larry David quitted" and then I realized that moment was so George Costanza.

The first couple of times I watched Seinfeld, i didn’t notice a change in quality between seasons 1-7 and 8/9. if anything, i think i actually laughed even more during the last 2 seasons. the writers that replaced LD may not have had his distinct biting, ironic style but it seems like they understood the show, the characters and all their dynamics VERY well. seinfeld’s definitely one of the very few shows that managed to function well after a lead writer/cast member left (compare to community s4, the office, etc)

Seasons 4, 5 and 6 are the best where the whole machine was working perfectly. Seasons 3 and 7 also have a lot of great stuff but are either not quite there yet (season 3) or start pushing too far (season 7). And although they are still really good, seasons 1 and 2 feel like a completely different show from seasons 8 and 9. I think those middle three seasons were the peak and the glue that helped connect the earliest and latest seasons together.

And until this day Larry David’s comedic writing makes almost every other comedy sitcom on tv look like crap because he set a high standard for most viewers.

It definitely didn’t break Seinfeld, I thought it was very funny right up to the end and I’m sure most would agree. A better example of breaking a show would be Steve Carell leaving the office.

So weird that this appeared in my subscriptions today, been watching a ton of Curb Your Enthusiasm recently lol

Larry was the soul of the show. The seasons without him, while still better than anything else on TV, had started to show signs of decline remarkably similar to what happened with The Simpsons. I think this video hits the nail on the head in some ways: George's personality started changing, the tone and plots of the show became a little TOO silly somehow, etc. I don't think anything good came from Larry leaving. There are indeed some classic episodes from the post-Larry period, but it was wise of them to end it when they did.

Kenny Rogers roasters is one of my favorite episodes of all time. I still laugh hysterically at Kramer pouring tomato juice in the cereal

Respectfully to the absolute brilliance of Larry David, I didn't even realize he left. Seinfeld was always Seinfeld to me.

I would say that the last 2 season became a cultural phenomenon because that is when reruns went into syndication. It was more of a cult following in the early years, so much of the nation rediscovered the greatness of Seinfeld before the show went off the air and started tuning in even though it had drastically changed.

Love your analysis on sitcoms

Think you have that title backwards. Larry David was killing himself to make the seasons he worked on as intricately plotted as they were and needed to step away for his own sanity (which Jerry proved himself by leaving after only two additional seasons)

You can really tell the difference in dialogue quality once larry left.

I think the show got better as the seasons went on. It may have been a little different after Larry left but not for the worse.

Season 4--Jerry and George develop a pilot for NBC while George first dates Susan, is the show at it's absolute best. So many classic stories and the perfect balance of silliness, minutiae, and nihilism.

S8/S9 gave us such gems Festivus, Bizarro Jerry, Elaine dancing, Betrayal (the "reverse" episode), Frank Costanza's "you wanna piece of me?" and K-uger. Sure, it was not as "realistic" as previous seasons. But... exactly the same can be said about the recent seasons of Curb which transformed from "mockumentary" and "subtlety" to "old man yells at cloud" and "contrived plots". Only difference is that in case of Curb Larry never left :P

I love every episode of Seinfeld. Didnt matter who was writing on it, still gold, Jerry, gold.

You refer to "season 3" being the season wherein Jerry and George pitch a pilot to NBC -> this is season 4, not 3. Edit: Removed the plural from "seasons".

I literally finished Seinfeld yesterday. What a great show. Amazing writing!

Such a duplicitous video.

Was waiting for this one! :D

As much as I love Larry David and all of Seinfeld, I'm part of a small group of people who prefer season 8 and 9 over some of the earlier seasons. I especially like how George's character changed. He became more cunning and vindictive. I think you have the popular opinion, but you make it seem like season 8 and 9 didn't have some of the best moments of the show, when it did.

Amazing like always

Love seeing Seinfeld content on this channel!

Last two seasons are definitely different - more over the top, less driven by stories, more by situational comedy, exaggerated acting, less subtle - feels almost like an extended stand-up played by actors. Cannot be compared, though - both are amazingly great.

Interesting how Seinfeld became crazier after Larry David left. This absurdity would also be seen in Jerry's later solo work: Bee Movie.

Good video, thanks 👍

WOW, what a wonderful show. Thank you to all the actors in that show for entertaining us and helping us to laugh.

The Elaine/Suzie episode is gold!

So many classic episodes in the final seasons. You can’t call that broken.

I never noticed a change before. But I’ll look out for it when I get to it on my rewatch.

With or without Larry David, I love how Seinfeld throughout its run underwent this beautiful metamorphosis. Earlier seasons (1 through 3) were more simplistic. They were not bad whatsoever (some of my favorite episodes can be found here), but the storylines were just everyday things with a Seinfeld spin to it. Starting with Season 4 and its super meta story telling, Seinfeld turned into this highly conceptual surreal "sitcom". I don't think you can even call it a sitcom in its later years because it does not resemble your usual sitcom. With all that in mind, it's amazing to think how Jerry, Larry and everyone involved with the writing of the show were able to do this whole shift, and do so effortlessly.

Thank you for this! I’ve always known when a significant influence has left a show by the way the humor changes. I saw this with Friends, the second season of Ted Lasso. The first season was funny and endearing. The second season they became caricatures of themselves. Same with Friends. It’s a shame.

This makes so much more sense now! I remember Kramer distinctly changing in the final seasons of the show. I could never put my finger on it, but I could tell something was different. This finally confirms it!

As much as I love Larry David and his humour and writing, I don't think him leaving Seinfeld broke the show at all. In fact, I found some of the best episodes were in the final two seasons.

That Roasters Episode is an all time favorite!!!

I actually like every season of seinfeld and i think the growth is iconic. I hate when it becomes unrealistic BUT it still is realistic to a certain extent because the characters are so well known by me that i can believe they do these incredible things.

The most Jewish of Jewish humor and I must admit its great. Larry David is a genius.

One of the Greatest shows!

The seemingly never ending success of David's Curb show just goes to show that he was the X Factor that prevented Seinfeld from becoming just another 80's/90's style muti-cam sitcom.

Some of the funniest episodes of Seinfeld came in the last two seasons. The show had more goofy energy in those last two years, but I actually enjoyed the shift in tone,.

Season 4 is when the meta sitcom storyline happens, not season 3. That said, really like season 8 and 9 (more so season 8) and appreciate their unique approach. Can't really beat the consistency of the writing in 8 and some of the wild stabs in 9 really pan out. Agree that the George character is more reactive and generally less interesting post-David (Jason Alexander has said as much), but saying that it "broke Seinfeld" seems histrionic and not super well substantiated. I think a more thorough analysis of why seasons 8 and 9 aren't so bad would be more of an intervention, where repeating that claim (like this video does) is pretty widely agreed upon.

Larry and Jerry having a conversation.. about anything... that's it, that's the show.

The best seasons of Seinfeld are it's last few, so I would definitely disagree the show was broken by him leaving.

I've watched Seinfeld so much over the last 20 years that I can tell the conversation they're having in each little clip you show even without the sound. Lol

I love every episode, there 4 very distinct phases to the series and I have favourite episode from throughout still the best thing ever filmed

Personally I found after season 3, the show stayed constantly funny till the end. I would say I prefer seasons 7, 8, and 9, to 4, 5, and 6. That being said while the last few seasons have some of my favourite episodes, they also contained some of the worst episodes (The Cartoon is horrible). Overall though, it’s a fantastic show.

The best thing about Larry leaving is that we had less of Jerry's stand up at the beginning

I remember even when I first watched the show on BBC2 reruns for the first time without a break between seasons (I started at s7, perhaps the reason I saw that as the show's high watermark) I noticed a distinct change after the Susan/envelopes episode - wackier, dafter, higher-energy, more surreal, more inconsistent. The show felt almost as if Kramer was writing it! Having said that there are still great moments - Chicken Roaster, Frogger, etc, and the end of the show, whilst not the funniest episode in itself, was uniquely appropriately. Good analysis.

GOAT. ''If you don't have anything good to say about a relationship, then you shouldn't say anything at all...''. G. Costanza.

I noticed George and Elaine's characters changed after Larry left. Elaine took on a darker personality and George became more grumpy. It definitely felt different but it was just as funny as before. Just funny in a more simple and direct way.

The Merv Griffin Show episode is absolutely HILARIOUS. That's a last season episode, but one of the ones I ALWAYS go back to.

I loved them all, didn't even notice a major writer left. I loved season 8 and 9.

I had honestly never noticed the change in tone after David's leaving. But now put in this way, yeaahhh. You can definitely see a much more abstract and over-the-top attitude in the last two seasons. Mind you, I friggen love the last two seasons just as much as I love the darkness of the first 7. I think honestly Larry David had left an intense mark on the writing of the show that never actually died all the way through. The writers still knew what he would've wanted and probably learned a hell of a lot from his style. So it still ended up turning out great.

I just did a full rewatch. It gets really bad during the time without David. Still worth watching, but I couldn't believe the drop in quality.

It was always funny to me that Jerry was the straight-man lead in his own comedy show. George and Kramer were the true comedy stars of the show.

Jerry’s seasons are the most memorable for me

I watched the fiancée death episode at a car dealership I was working at. Without customers we just watched tv in groups of 4 to 6 people. I laughed all the way through the episode at every gag. My coworkers didn’t even crack a smile. That clued me in to the divisiveness of that episode but for me it was the absolute funniest. I can imagine the disappointment of Larry David having his best work result in tremendous pressure for him to change into something milder.

Those late series, fever dream episodes are some of the best!

Seasons 4-7 are by far the best. That being said, Seasons 8 and 9 have some of the most memorable moments ever. Kenny Roasters, Yada Yada, Serenity Now, Merv Griffin, ect. "Where are the cameras?" makes me cry laughing every time 😂

I've seen all seasons at least 10 times and I've never even noticed any difference after season 7. They're all good imo with or without Larry.

When you say things like the Contest was “the most controversial” are you just trying to be controversial? That statement can’t be further from the truth, even looking back with “today’s eyes”. This channel does stuff like this way too often, giving a weird slant or revisionist history. In fact, The Contest is considered one of Seinfeld’s best episodes, winning several awards (including an Emmy), and was noted for having little criticism at the time, despite the subject matter.

Most of my favorite episodes are post-Larry David. The show never came close to breaking

Strong from beginning to end

Yeah, I think Larry David leaving did irreputable damage to The Simpsons, it was never the same

I think seasons 2-4 are pure GOLD.

The Chicken Roaster and The Merv Griffin Show set were so funny.

I always had this debate in my head whenever I'd watch the show over the years... they both had their low points and high points....the last 2 seasons were just different...not bad just different...the frogger episode was a miss for me but the Kenny chicken episode was genius... But it's also not fair to compare them especially when Larry David still had the first 2 seasons of the show to find his real footing with the characters and stories... After killing off Susan they had to find a new way to show that these characters can be more mature but also be the same...

This was new information to me. I haven't noticed any obvious differences. Larry Davids genius was still present in the final seasons. With few exceptions the entire series is a masterpiece. I've watched every single episode hundreds of times and still love it. Just wish there were more seasons.

Very much my favorite sitcom

LD is in the Marine Biologist episode, he is the guy at the beach yelling “is anyone here a Marine Biologist?”

Thinking about it now, I realize that I love the earlier episodes of Seinfeld better than the later ones.

It was Season 4, not Season 3, when Jerry and George had the idea of the pilot for the "Jerry" show. I actually really love Season 3, especially "The Boyfriend" in which Kramer and Newman recount the story of the "magic loogie" from (they thought) Keith Hernandez with their own version of the Zapruder film.

My dad was the only one in my family that liked Seinfeld. We all dreaded Thursdays.

I think after Larry left it did become goofier sometimes, but at the same time it remained extremely funny. Some of the most iconic moments happened in season 8 in my opinion. I think the show changed but yet managed to maintain its essence.

As a young man watching, I never knew Larry David left the show but I could FEEL and SEE a drastic difference in the show. It just was never as funny and memorable after Larry David left. The show needed BOTH to excel!

Kenny Rogers Roasters is my favorite episode!!! Second to Kramer suing the tobacco company

With or without Larry, the later seasons of the show held some of my favorite episodes and bits.

I was a child when seinfeld started so I started watching season 5 in my teens and my younger self would appreciate post-larry seinfeld while going back and watching the previous seasons now that I'm older I love the larry david seasons more

Season 2 is incredible

It was and still is my favorite TV show of all time….I STILL laugh at episodes I’m sure I’ve seen at least 20 times.

You’re BASIC dude

After the slow start first two seasons, the entire series is gold

i had no idea that Larry had left the show. when I re-watch the show, I will keep this info in mind.

yeah i definitely felt this when i was watching it for the first time this year. I loved season 3 and 4, but when it got to season 7 and 8, it just clearly felt like a slight drop in quality. there's good moments, but something about the show is so different that i stopped watch it for months.

@5:28 Lol... ARGUABLY? ARGUABLY?! He ABSOLUTELY 100% was as important to the show's success as Jerry. And Jerry would tell you that himself. And the show was at its peak when it ended. Nothing broke it. Not even close.

2:30 I think there might be a line missing about here, there should be a line connecting the budget to the production to the audience response.

ill save you 9 mins because larry has said this 1000 times, he never wanted to work a real job and hated the pressure of working so much

It can be different without being better or worse. Imean... I didn't even notice until my third time watching those episodes.