Some Seinfeld Fans Find Jerry Overrated (& Say Larry David Was The Real Genius)
A show about four best friends and their everyday adventures in New York City. It was a formula that worked for nine seasons on "Seinfeld." While many loved the adventures featuring George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), it was Jerry Seinfeld who typically started the show with a bit of standup comedy. And he actually co-created the sitcom with fellow funnyman Larry David. David told Rolling Stone that some of the show's characteristics came from talking about products while at the grocery store. "And we were making each other laugh. Then we both realized this is the kind of dialogue we never really heard on television, or even movies, for that matter," he said.
While the show stars Seinfeld and bears his name, some fans believe that it is Larry David who is the real comedic genius. In the subreddit r/unpopularopinion, some are calling Jerry Seinfeld overrated. u/Miserable-Stay3278 wrote, "Larry David was the true genius behind 'Seinfeld.'" Meanwhile, u/Percival91 wrote, "Jerry Seinfeld's talent is being friends with Larry David."
As "Seinfeld" continues to charm new audiences via reruns, David has put his mind behind another show, this time in the center of the action, and some fans believe that the series has truly made his comedic talent shine.
The Larry David show that some prefer over Seinfeld
In 2000, Larry David struck comedy gold again with "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which follows a fictionalized version of David who is a semi-retired producer and writer. Much of the dialogue is ad-libbed, according to Bryan Cranston, who appeared in Season 9, Episode 4, "Running with the Bulls." He told the Dan Patrick Show, "There's no script. Larry David sends out a little breakdown of the scenes that you're in and he'll say, 'In this scene you're going to talk about your love of truffles and, you know, something else.' Whatever responsibilities you have as far as information getting revealed and then he says what he's going to reveal."
The show has been raking in the laughs for HBO for more than 10 seasons, and some fans think it has truly brought David's comedic talents to the forefront. "'Curb' runs circles around 'Seinfeld' and really highlights how much of a success of 'Seinfeld' was Larry not Jerry," u/FloppyShellTaco wrote.
When it comes to "Seinfeld," David said he left the show a few times before officially departing in Season 7, and it was purely out of strategy. He told The Hollywood Reporter that his first brief exit came after refusing to take notes from an executive during the first two seasons. "... [Jerry] Seinfeld spoke to Castle Rock, and afterward the exec no longer interfered. The lesson there, of course, is just say no ... They think, if you're walking away from this, you must know what you're doing," he said.