Thursday, July 26, 2007

More important than the presidential debates

I have a question, and considering this weekend, it seems timely. Which television program would you say is more important in shaping American culture and comedy between Seinfeld and The Simpsons? Both are eminently quotable, enjoyed enduring success and have (or will) leave gaping crater in their time slot when they stop airing.

I think I have to say the Simpsons, due to its revival of the cartoon as a mainstream form of mature entertainment and social commentary. Seinfeld definitely has had a huge impact on what the bounds of a sitcom can be and had a number of guest stars that we all recognize (Teri Hatcher, Daphne from Frasier, James Spader, etc) but the Simpsons redefined what the role of a guest star is.

What do you think? Also, I think I owe it to many years of childhood to go see this movie this weekend. It just simply can't be bad.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I prefer Seinfeld over the Simpsons. Seinfeld's humour is more up my alley, but that's not to say that watching the Simpsons isn't entertaining. Just something I have to be in the mood to enjoy.

I think both have made a huge impact on both the ability to do things in their specific genre, but have also made an impact on our culture. Who knows which has has/had the biggest imapct...

Engineer Sighted said...

Nice cop out answer, Luke.