Jerry Seinfeld took aim at the "extreme left" and political correctness, which he said have ruined television comedy.
During an appearance on David Remnick's "The New Yorker Radio Hour" the comedian expressed his discontent while discussing how "serious aspects of the world" affect him and his comedy.
"Nothing really affects comedy," he said, according to the Daily Caller. "People always need it. They need it so badly and they don't get it. It used to be you would go home at the end of the day — most people would go, Oh, 'Cheers' is on, Oh, 'M*A*S*H' is on, Oh, 'Mary Tyler Moore' is on, 'All in the Family' is on.
"You just expected there'll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well guess what? Where is it? Where is it?"
Things have changed dramatically in recent years, Seinfeld said.
"This is the result of the extreme left, PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," he continued. "Now they're going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we're off-track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.
"But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, Here's our thought about this joke. Well, that's the end of your comedy."
In an interview with GQ he said that the film business is "over" and movies are no longer "the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy."
The topic came about as he discussed his feature film directing debut "Unfrosted," saying, while he admired the dedication of his collaborators, the industry was suffering.
"I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They're so dead serious! They don't have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea," he said.
"Film doesn't occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we're walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see," he continued.
Seinfeld added "confusion" and "disorientation" have replaced movies in the industry.
"Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, What's going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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