Patrick Warburton Thinks Seinfeld's Jokes Still Hold Up
Being cast as a minor character in "Seinfeld" is a blessing and a curse. Roles like Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris) and Kenny Bania (Steve Hytner) still endure in the cultural consciousness, but the actors who play them have trouble shedding their "Seinfeld" personae.
Though Patrick Warburton only appeared as Elaine's straight-shooting love interest David Puddy on "Seinfeld" for 10 episodes, it's the role that still has fans stopping him in the street and greeting him with iconic Puddy one-liners. "When you're part of something that's in perpetual syndication and is ... I hazard to say, I won't ever do anything that's out there as much as 'Seinfeld' has been and seems to always be," the actor told The List. "It's something that seems to be ever-present. It's a good thing."
For Warburton, the enduring appeal of "Seinfeld" in the public imagination comes down to the quality and timelessness of the jokes, even if the joke in question is simply Warburton's deadpan delivery of "Yeah, that's right."
Seinfeld's timeless humor has kept it thriving in syndication, says Warburton
Patrick Warburton's role in "Seinfeld" didn't always help his career. "It is tricky when you do nine episodes of a sitcom and are in danger of being typecast," the actor told The List. Still, he's ride or die when it comes to the show's singular and still popular brand of humor, as he revealed in another interview. "I think that's why the show's in perpetual syndication and people love it," he told Fox News Digital. "There's always, you know, the way things change, and this and that... what would fly today? What flew yesterday can't fly today."
"Seinfeld" isn't the only long-running comedy series under Warburton's belt. Since 1999, he has lent his booming voice to the paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson on "Family Guy." But for Warburton, not all "Family Guy" jokes share the timeless appeal of "Seinfeld."
In 2015, the staunchly religious actor told HuffPost that sometimes "Family Guy" crosses the line. "It's because I'm a Christian, and it's also because I just see it as diminished returns," he said. "Like, it's something that you're just going to get a jillion people to just turn the TV off. We turn it off in our house every now and then, too, when it gets just too sacrilegious."
On the other hand, it seems "Seinfeld" never quite veered into the sacrilegious territory, even when Puddy dressed up as the Devil himself.