Seinfeld, Master of Its Domain: Revisiting Television's Greatest Sitcom
"Noted television and pop culture academic and critic Lavery-who haspreviously written and edited scholarly texts on such television supernovasas Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer-has whipped up afrothy egg cream of an essay collection on Seinfeld for eggheads. Sixteenessays (some new, some previously published and revised) are divided amongfour topical sections with an afterword and supplementary material featuringa glossary of Seinfeld terms and expressions and an episode guide. Theessays in Part 1 generally give an overview of the show before segueing intoPart 2's exploration of "genre, humor, and intertexuality." Part 3 treatsissues of "gender, generations, and ethnicity," while Part 4 concludes withessays on "cultural, pop cultural, and media matters." As Lavery notes inhis preface, despite Seinfeld's iconic stature-half of us loved it, and theother half loved to hate it-only one serious monograph has been published.This anthology featuring the likes of Geoffrey O'Brien and Eleanor Herseywill best serve academic media and pop culture collections and seriousreaders who like their TV eggs hard-boiled. The recent release of the showon DVD should increase interest".-Library Journal, February 2006(-Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TLibrary Journal)"Seinfeld, Master of Its Domainis all aboutinterpretation. In this high-powered volume, academics consider the belovedsitcom in various disciplinary contexts. Even more vital is the collection'sone attempt to stop outside the comedic universe of 'Seinfeld' and consider itas a television production, "From Must-See-TV to Branded Counterprogramming:'Seinfeld' and Syndication," by Michael M. Epistein, Mark C. Rogers and JimmieL. Reeves. This essay, richly researched and packed with broadcast history,details how the show's syndication deal works, and hot it functions in theworld of corporate media."-Newsday.com,February 19, 2006(Newsday.com)Readers familiar with academic "cultural studies" aren't likely to tinglewith anticipation when our eyes fall on a scholarly article from the Centrefor Women's Studies and Gender Research at Monash University in Melbourne.And the title of Joanna L. Di Mattia's essay, "Male Anxiety and the BuddySystem in Seinfeld," does nothing to lighten our mood. We expect to berewarded, at best, with the warm feeling of virtue that follows theperformance of a duty requiring heavy lifting.But it turns out that Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, whose programceased production in 1998 but still circles the planet in endless reruns,provide as much fun for academics as for the rest of us. With their livesand their world now sealed off in a 20th-century time capsule, they havebecome appropriate subjects for cheeky theorizing in the universities.Di Mattia's essay, for instance, explores a fascinating question withpersuasive force. While not for a moment suggesting that Jerry and Georgebe compared to cowboys on Brokeback Mountain, she nevertheless deftly makesthe point that as TV characters they are the perfect married couple.Her essay appears inSeinfeld, Master of Its Domain: RevisitingTelevision's Greatest Sitcom(Continuum), edited by David Lavery and SaraLewis Dunne of Middle Tennessee State University. This isn't the firstattempt to provide fodder for Seinfeld studies — earlier works includeWilliam Irwin's 1999 collection,Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book aboutEverything and Nothing, andShows About Nothing: Nihilism in PopularCulture from The Exorcist to Seinfeld, written by Thomas S. Hibbs in 2000.But this latest book notably differs in tone from standard universityproducts. Appreciation and enjoyment, combined with wonder at thecleverness of the program's writers, set the tone. The platoon of scholarswriting the essays understand Seinfeld as brilliant popular art, not merelya specimen demanding intellectual dissection. This means we can admiretheir insights without giving up our love for the best television farcewe'll ever see.-The National Post, Toronto(Robert Fulford)"Noted television and pop culture academic and critic Lavery-who haspreviously written and edited scholarly texts on such television supernovasas Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer-has whipped up afrothy egg cream of an essay collection on Seinfeld for eggheads. Sixteenessays (some new, some previously published and revised) are divided amongfour topical sections with an afterword and supplementary material featuringa glossary of Seinfeld terms and expressions and an episode guide. Theessays in Part 1 generally give an overview of the show before segueing intoPart 2's exploration of "genre, humor, and intertexuality." Part 3 treatsissues of "gender, generations, and ethnicity," while Part 4 concludes withessays on "cultural, pop cultural, and media matters." As Lavery notes inhis preface, despite Seinfeld's iconic stature-half of us loved it, and theother half loved to hate it-only one serious monograph has been published.This anthology featuring the likes of Geoffrey O'Brien and Eleanor Herseywill best serve academic media and pop culture collections and seriousreaders who like their TV eggs hard-boiled. The recent release of the showon DVD should increase interest".-Library Journal, February 2006(Sanford LakoffLibrary Journal)“Seinfeld, Master of Its Domainis all aboutinterpretation. In this high-powered volume, academics consider the belovedsitcom in various disciplinary contexts. Even more vital is the collection’sone attempt to stop outside the comedic universe of 'Seinfeld’ and consider itas a television production, “From Must-See-TV to Branded Counterprogramming:'Seinfeld’ and Syndication,” by Michael M. Epistein, Mark C. Rogers and JimmieL. Reeves. This essay, richly researched and packed with broadcast history,details how the show’s syndication deal works, and hot it functions in theworld of corporate media.”-Newsday.com,February 19, 2006(Sanford Lakoff)Readers familiar with academic "cultural studies" aren't likely to tinglewith anticipation when our eyes fall on a scholarly article from the Centrefor Women's Studies and Gender Research at Monash University in Melbourne.And the title of Joanna L. Di Mattia's essay, "Male Anxiety and the BuddySystem in Seinfeld," does nothing to lighten our mood. We expect to berewarded, at best, with the warm feeling of virtue that follows theperformance of a duty requiring heavy lifting.But it turns out that Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, whose programceased production in 1998 but still circles the planet in endless reruns,provide as much fun for academics as for the rest of us. With their livesand their world now sealed off in a 20th-century time capsule, they havebecome appropriate subjects for cheeky theorizing in the universities.Di Mattia's essay, for instance, explores a fascinating question withpersuasive force. While not for a moment suggesting that Jerry and Georgebe compared to cowboys on Brokeback Mountain, she nevertheless deftly makesthe point that as TV characters they are the perfect married couple.Her essay appears inSeinfeld, Master of Its Domain: RevisitingTelevision's Greatest Sitcom(Continuum), edited by David Lavery and SaraLewis Dunne of Middle Tennessee State University. This isn't the firstattempt to provide fodder for Seinfeld studies — earlier works includeWilliam Irwin's 1999 collection,Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book aboutEverything and Nothing, andShows About Nothing: Nihilism in PopularCulture from The Exorcist to Seinfeld, written by Thomas S. Hibbs in 2000.But this latest book notably differs in tone from standard universityproducts. Appreciation and enjoyment, combined with wonder at thecleverness of the program's writers, set the tone. The platoon of scholarswriting the essays understand Seinfeld as brilliant popular art, not merelya specimen demanding intellectual dissection. This means we can admiretheir insights without giving up our love for the best television farcewe'll ever see.                -The National Post, Toronto(Sanford Lakoff)