Seinfeld Is Unfunny

""Another thing to realize with movies like Tron and so on, is that they inspire so many other scenes and events, they're passe""

- Jason Scott

""I don't know what the big deal with Hamlet is, it's just one famous saying after another. ""

- Old Joke

There are certain shows that you can safely assume most people have seen. These shows were considered fantastic when they first aired. Now, however, these shows have a Hype Backlash curse on them. Whenever we watch them, we'll cry, "That is so old" or "That is so overdone".

The sad irony? It wasn't old or overdone when they did it. But the things it created were so brilliant and popular, they became woven into the fabric of that show's genre. They ended up being taken for granted, copied and endlessly repeated. Although they often began by saying something new, they in turn became the status quo.

Remember how Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"? This trope is when those giants have been stood on so much that they're stomped flat into the ground and don't seem nearly so impressive anymore.

Named after the sitcom Seinfeld, which many people won't watch anymore because everything about it has been copied. Most likely will result in Fan Haters and accusations of Rule Abiding Rebels. This can also occur in countries that get the shows years after they originally come out.

Compare Older Than They Think, Discredited Meme, Unbuilt Trope, Hype Backlash. This is a special case of Older Than They Think, when the Trope Codifier is still around or still highly regarded. The same principle applied to ethical or cultural issues is Fair for Its Day. Perhaps the exact opposite of So Bad Its Good, and Nostalgia Filter. The worst outcome is Deader Than Disco. Occasionally overlaps with Values Dissonance.

Not to be confused with the opinion that Seinfeld wasn't funny even when it was original, or with The Comically Serious.

(When adding an example, be sure it's not just something that aged badly. This trope is specifically about things that have become lost among their own imitators.)


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