From: jeremy@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (jeremy.l.radosh)
Subject: Re: NY inside humour
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:58:18 GMT

>In all seriousness, I'd like to see the NY crowd post some things that
>they suspect were NY-specific.  This will allow The Rest Of Us (tm) to
>judge for ourselves.  Please refrain from posting "Oh, yeah, I got that
>one" 500 times! :-)  (you won't be believed ;-)
>I don't think I miss any/many of the jokes, but checking this belief
>would make me feel better...
>
>Don

OK Don, here it goes...

1. The Chinese Delivery Boy/Bike Accident
	I used to live on the upper-west side of NYC.  We had 18 chinese
	restaurants in the neighborhood (from 96th street to 110th St 
	(right by Tom's Restaurant)).  It was virtually impossible to
	cross the street around dinner time without dancing around these
	delivery boys.  I'm talking about 5 deliveryboys per block, going
	the wrong way with arms full of chinese food, and rushing to
	beat the competition !!

	When Elaine got hit by the deliveryboy, it was funny.  For myself,
	I enjoyed the humor of the situation, AND was able to visualize
	the situation from past experience.  I don't think too many 
	other cities have the kind of chinese delivery boy traffic NYC has.  
	The New York City subway system is unique.  So is the Washington DC
	Metro, or the San Francisco Trollies.  Seinfeld has used the NYC Subway
	in more than one show.  He is very acurate in his portrayal of the
	character and characters found beneath NYC, with an allowance for
	comic effect.  

2.  Jerry and the subway
	You cannot deny that the NYC subway is unique.  Of course, so are
	the Wash. DC Metro and the San Fran. Trollies.  Seinfeld is set in
	NYC and the subway is used more than once.  The portrayal of the
	subway is fairly accurate, but slightly bent for comic effect.  By
	knowing what the comic parody is based on, the parody itself is
	enhanced.  By way of an example, consider watching an impressionist.
	He does James Cagney, Humphry Bogart and then Frank Simonsons.  The
	Frank Simonsons impression might be excellent, and even funny, but
	if you don't know on what it's based, it loses something.  So too
	the Subway.  It's not that you don't get the individual jokes, or
	even the ironic situations, it's just that you are lacking a point
	of reference.  (actually, you probably have a point of reference,
	I guess that I mean I have a more accurate one :-) )

...I'm debating going on with more, but really I feel that there is a common
thread developing in my thoughts.  What it boils down to for me is
this:  people have different reactions to seeing things/places/characters 
on TV (or anywhere else) after having experienced them firsthand. It's not
just specific things (like the guy who has been selling CDs/tapes outside
of Tom's Restaurant for 10+ years, in this week's episode), but also the
"real" feeling of the settings/situations.  The show rings true, and we love
it.

Finally, I do hope that specific examples of NYism will not become a regular
feature in alt.tv.seinfeld.  This could turn this group into another 
alt.tv.simpsons!!!

Enjoy,
Jeremy


-- 
  (\_/)          " Love to eat them mousies,
  |* *|              Mousie's what I love to eat.
  \>Y</            Bite they little heads off...
   `U'               Nibble on they tiny feet."       B.Kliban `75