Seinfeldian Conversation: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Named, of course, for ''[[Seinfeld]]'', which had this as its signature trope. The characters were always debating things like the opposite of eating tuna (Jerry suggested that eating salmon is the opposite, because they swim in the other direction; George rationalized that it was chicken salad.).

Not to be confused with [[Sein Language]]. See also [[Distracting Disambiguation]]. When the conversation about nothing turns into an unusually passionate argument, it's a [[Cavemen vs. Astronauts Debate]]. If the conversation involves who would win in a fight, see [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]]. See also [[Talk About the Weather]].

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** Then there was Tomo and Kagura's fight over Santa Claus. They conclude that he is paid by the government and flies at mach 100.

*** They were thinking what to say to Chiyo. Chiyo stopped them by saying that her father was Santa. Cue to Sakaki's fantasies...

** Asides from being a [[Cloudcuckoolander]], Osaka's big thing was puns and wordplay. Talking about kanji seems like a logical continuation.

** It's occasionally lampshaded when a character (usually Kagami, as the [[Deadpan Snarker]]) will comment "That was random" when another character suddenly changes the entire topic of the conversation.

** It's lampshaded even further in the dub: "Will someone just get to the [[Punch Line]] already?!"

** That's what happens when a slice of life 4koma is made into an anime, see Azumanga Daioh above.

** In the first volume of the manga, Kamiyama attempts to teach some of his classmates how to have a 'normal' (ie: 'pointless') conversation. The topics range from how to eat fish to Kamiyama's meeting with an ''alien'' which lead to him being invited to ride in its spaceship; {{spoiler|the punchline is that he didn't get to because the alien ''lost its keys''}} (thus rendering the entire story 'pointless').

** Possibly one of the best examples of Cromartie's dominance over this trope is Kamiyama's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53FkMK20aCg attempt to explain to his class how the perceptions we have of person can influence our reactions to his/her behavior.] Only Cromartie could take a topic as dull as that and make it so bizarre and funny.

*** Another great one is the humming episode, in which the characters spend the entire episode trying to figure out where they've heard a tune that they can only hum. The spend the majority of the episode doing nothing but humming, and never come to a conclusion.

* Every conversation between Drossel and Gedächtnis in ''[[Fireball]]'' is like this.

* In ''[[Ultra Maniac]]'', Ayu in male form (who calls herself Ayuoh in that form) and another girl have a conversation about...how to spell Ayuoh's name.

* In between slipping on banana peels and having [[Serious Business|ping-pong matches]], the cast of ''[[Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru]]'' engage in these.

 

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Jesse Custer and Cassidy of ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' frequently engage in this (on [[Bill Hicks]], Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, etc.) whenever they go out drinking.

* This trope might as well be renamed "Bendisian Conversation" after Brian Bendis, as it has been the defining trope of his comic writing from his first self-published indie work all the way through his latest run at Marvel.

* ''[[Mesmo Delivery]]'' opens with the one of the main characters discussing with the other about how he would have made a better Elvis then Elvis himself.

 

== [[Fan Works]] ==

* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1807292/leoandsnake leoandsnake]'' often uses this, even having the other ''[[Top Gun]]'' guys discuss Barry Bonds' batting average while Maverick and Iceman get each other off right in front of them.

* ''[http://seinfeldcomedy.com/ The Jerry Seinfeld Program]'' is a new series of webisodes by Seinfeld and George Costanza impersonators that takes this to exaggerated extremes.

 

== Films -- Animated ==

** The "foot massage" conversation, while seemingly Seinfeldian, actually serves a point, as Jules is trying to emphasize how dangerous and jealous Marsellus Wallace can be, particularly in regards to his wife Mia, who Marsellus is leaving with Vincent for a few days.

*** Not to mention that Tarantino has a prominent foot fetish, and sees foot massage as being quite intimate.

** The "Like A Virgin" and tipping-habits discussion in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'' and pretty much any conversation at the bar in ''Death Proof'' are more examples. Even then the conversations serve a purpose. Mr Pink refusing to tip marks him as [[The Spock]], and White arguing with him marks ''him'' as [[The McCoy]], setting up their relationship throughout the movie. Mr. Orange spends the scene acting like the new guy trying to fit in, and he also is the one who tells their boss what's going on -- {{spoiler|he's disclosing private information}}. Lots of other little clues give insight into personalities and relationships.

* Subverted hard in ''[[Donnie Darko]]'' in which the exchange just pisses Donnie off and makes his friends all look like idiots.

'''Ronald''': [pause] Dammit, Donnie. Why you gotta get all smart on us? }}

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD25aAsDqZ8 "animal crackers" segment] in ''[[Armageddon]]''.

* ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]'' has many of these, though it should be noted that a lot of them were in fact ad-libbed. Some of the deleted scenes shown on the DVD display this even more.

* Mahalik and CJ have a few of these in ''[[Scary Movie]]'' 3 and 4.

 

 

** The [[Johnny Maxwell Trilogy]], also by [[Terry Pratchett]], makes heavy use of these as well.

** The UU wizards do this pretty much constantly, only Ridcully, Rincewind, the Librarian, and Ponder's group ever seem to do anything but this trope (and eating, of course).

* Zach and Lucien of ''Character Issues''. Their conversational topics range from aliens to the proper plural of walrus. For the record, they decide that it's {{spoiler|"walri"}}.

* Any [[Neal Stephenson]] written conversation featuring a member of the Waterhouse family is prone to this - possibly the best example is a conversation on the foundation of banks and fiat currency in the middle of the Great Fire of London during ''[[The Baroque Cycle]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* Like the above mentioned, pretty much all of ''[[Seinfeld]]''. It literally begins and end with this trope.

* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' has several of these. One prominent example is when Frank and Marie Barone argued for a full two minutes about what "fork split" on the side of a package of English Muffins means. Frank insisted that it instructs you not to cut the muffin, but to split it with a fork. Marie insisted that it meant that they already split it for you at the factory with a fork. At the end of the argument, Frank refused to eat the muffin, because it was cut with a knife, and thus Marie had "killed the crannies and smushed them into the nooks." Marie retaliates by splitting apart Frank's newspaper with a fork.

** And then there was the episode where they were fighting over who invented the lawn. "Nobody invented it, it's grass!"

* They happen with delightful frequency in ''[[Gilmore Girls]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az4LMRpggig Where did all the anvils go?] Where indeed.

* ''[[The West Wing]]'' does this almost as much as ''Seinfeld'', although the content of the pointless conversation in question is usually high-intelligence. This happens most often on the part of President Bartlet, who takes great pleasure in torturing the rest of the characters with his inane ramblings and trivia and analyses and getting away with it, because he's the president and no one can tell him to shut up.

'''Josh:''' I can't ''begin'' to tell you how you're not. }}

* The black comedy ''[[Rescue Me]]'' often abuses this, usually with something most people wouldn't find as proper conversational material.

* More than a few ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' shorts go on about something random like the sound of words without end, until they finally [[Drop the Cow]].

'''Sinclair''': [[Only Sane Man|I'm not having this conversation.]] }}

* ''[[Drake and Josh]]'': "So, what's the difference between a hoagie and a submarine sandwich?"

* ''[[Lost]]'' has had several of these, often involving Hurley. The episode "Catch 22" saw Charlie and Hurley pursuing a downed parachutist through the jungle while discussing who would win a race between [[Superman]] and [[The Flash]].

* ''Rove'', an Australian late night talkshow host, is all about this trope in interviews. He usually quickly passes over major things in the interviewee's life for bizarre little tidbits. He also had a game called ''20 Bucks In 20 Seconds'', where he asked a range of odd little questions aimed at spawning this (which evolved into ''Final Five'', which is the same idea but fewer questions and no time limit).

* Some seasons of ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' love this trope, especially the second Foggy run. Their version typically has the three main characters speaking in turn as though in a conversation, but they're actually all monologuing on different unrelated subjects and ignoring the other two.

* Andy and Maggie engage in this sort of conversation regularly on ''[[Extras]]''. In fact, in might be said that this is pretty much what their whole relationship is built on.

** Well, I'd ''go'' with Betty... but I'd be thinking of Wilma.

* The presenters on ''[[Top Gear]]'' are sometimes seen talking like this in the lulls between two parts of a challenge.

** Or when one of the three arrives at a destination late.

* ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'', which is basically Seinfeld if it just focused on George (who was based on [[Larry David]], ''Seinfeld'''s co-creator).

* Appears in ''[[Friends]]'', with conversations about why [[Donald Duck]] wears a [[Modesty Towel|towel]] after showering, or why there isn't a superhero named Goldman.

'''Gawain''' : No, no, no, shut up. Since you obviously don't know what you're talking about, just shut up. }}

* Everything Dwight, Andy, Kevin, Creed, and to a lesser extent Kelly and Phyllis say in the American version of ''[[The Office]]''.

* ''[[Dead Like Me]]'' had a few of them, one in particular involving Mason and Roxie discussing having a bird as a pet. It gets very heated.

* In a Halloween episode of ''[[Bones]]'', Cam dresses up as Catwoman. When Brennan compliments her on her costume, she says something about how Catwoman is "the strongest of all the woman superheroes" (though Catwoman spends more time as an [[Anti-Hero]] than anything else). Since Brennan habitually dresses up as Wonder Woman for Halloween, she takes offense at this, and spends the rest of the episode singing the praises of Wonder Woman to anyone who will listen (i.e., Booth).

** The original ''[[NCIS]]'' as well. While most crime shows jump directly from the intro part with the victim to the main characters arriving at the crime scene, the ''[[NCIS]]'' characters almost always spend a few minutes at their desks, talking about something irrelevant, before they get called to the crime scene. Whatever they happened to be discussing is also usually brought up again before the episode is over.

* ''[[Peep Show]]'', as a [[Sadist Show]], uses inept and neurotic characters to make its Seinfeldian Conversation extremely uncomfortable.

** Mike and Archie argue in one episode whether it's a better idea to tuck both sides of a sheet into the bed and slide in through the top, or fold over a corner and lay down through the untucked side.

* This was a frequently used trope in ''[[Ed]]''. One such conversation:

'''Mike:''' Is it an invisible whip? }}

* [[Nakama|The Scoobies]] in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' frequently find themselves in this trope, though they rarely last for more than a brief amount of time. Indeed, the first time Willow and Oz said more than a few words to each other was when Oz described how the other animal crakers are jealous of the monkey, being the only one allowed to have pants.

* Used on ''[[Oz]]'' occasionally with moments such as the Conversation about Gay puppets serving as the best Humour moments

* Happens very often on ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'', when Randy and Earl are about to go to sleep, Randy asks Earl his opinion on something ridiculous, and once Earl responds, Randy will continue the conversation, such as in the below example.

'''Randy''' : That's who I had. }}

* Done a few times on [[Blossom]]. One specific example that comes to mind is a conversation between Blossom and Six about how people on tv never seem to need to use the bathroom. This discussion ends when Six announces that she has to go to the bathroom.

* Usually done with nerd topics in ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. In one episode they start talking about who the most genuinely heroic character in the [[Marvel Universe]] would be, going along the lines of the doctor who gives Wolverine his prostate exam. A few minutes after more plot-relevent events happen, Raj tried to bring the topic back up and Leonard dismissed it as his new question being rather stupid. Raj replied, "We are talking about probing the hinies of superheroes... there are no stupid questions."

 

 

== Music ==

 

 

== Radio ==

 

 

== [[Theater]] ==

** Indeed, a ''lot'' of one-act plays seem to have these.

* ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead]]'' is mostly this. The rest of it is ''[[Hamlet]]''.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Most conversations in ''[[Touhou]]'' are this, mostly due to ZUN's incorrigible desire to include as many [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] and mythology references as physically possible.

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** And later, a similar discussion on Green Arrow vs. Bullseye.

** And another time on how [[Superman|Lex Luthor]] was actually the hero. Yeah, they do this a lot.

* Happens rather often in ''[[Achewood]]'', where Ray and Roast Beef (as well as the other characters) will sit around on chairs having conversations about nothing in particular. [http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=03272008 This example] was one of the first to come up in the recent archives.

* [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/9/10/ This] ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' strip... and many others like it.

* ''[[Questionable Content]]''. At least a third of the strips in the archive are nothing but this.

* Happens sometimes in ''[[Suicide for Hire]]''. One time Hunter's scorpion sting led into a conversation about the [[It Tastes Like Feet]] trope, and another time they had a discussion about the similarity between [[Pink Floyd]] and [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] which, naturally, [[Dead Baby Comedy|led into a discussion of genocide in the name of reunion concerts]].

* ''[[Real Life Comics]]'' does this a fair bit. [http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/030129.html For example!]

** Also, there was the bizarre radio conversation between Torg and Riff about what [[Star Wars|lightsabers]] were made of and whether armor could be made out of them, while they both were facing imminent [[Killer Rabbit|kitten-based death]] within minutes.

** Or when Torg, Zoe, Riff, and the Minion Master debate which is the "axiom" of flavor (i.e. the substance that creates the best results when mixed with other foods): garlic butter, breaded & deep fat fried, or salt. It starts as an [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081016 idle] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081017 conversational tangent], moves into [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081020 scientific] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081021 research], then into a [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081022 full] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081023 fledged] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081024 debate] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081027 competition] (complete with Zoe acting as referee ([http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081025 complete with a referee uniform])), and [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081028 ends with] [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20081029 Riff having the Minion Master beaten and mugged].

* Used occasionally in ''[[The Way of the Metagamer]]'' - the characters need ''something'' to do during the endless walking scenes.

* [[Blur the Lines]] [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this before playing is straight (warning: link is [[Squick|highly NSFW]]) [http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=127\].

'''Malack:''' Exactly! I mean, [[Self-Deprecation|it was too wordy by half the first time.]] }}

* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' gives us [http://irregularwebcomic.net/3054.html the practicalities of Koschei the Deathless]. It started out somewhat relevant to the events and rapidly went to hell.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Numerous works from [[The Slender Man Mythos]] use this, such as ''[[Marble Hornets]]'' and ''[[Tribe Twelve]]''. On the other hand, the viewers will probably just ignore the dialogue altogether after they notice [[Humanoid Abomination|the tall faceless guy in the business suit]] [[Paranoia Fuel|hiding somewhere in the background]].

* Shows up on occasion in ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', such as this exchange in the Strong Bad Email "narrator":

'''Bubs:''' Man, [[Stylistic Self Parody|you don't even have a nose]]! }}

* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' loves this trope. It is incredibly telling that for all that occured, episode 100 ended the same way episode 1 began, with one character asking another "why are we here?" and receiving a rambling answer with no relevance whatsoever to the question.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Many other [[Adult Swim]] shows strive on Seinfeldian Conversations.

** Also in an episode in which Rummy railed against the sillyness of hands free bluetooth phone devices, between Ed talking to a woman on his bluetooth, while the pair went about robbing houses in the middle of the night.

* The short-lived animated series ''[[Spy Groove]]'' featured the main characters, Agent 1 and Agent 2, getting into conversations like this, such as who would be peanut butter and who would be jelly on a sandwich.

* Most of [[The Venture Brothers|Henchmen 21 and 24]]'s conversations fall into this category. (Read: All)

** SMURFS DO NOT LAY EGGS!

** Also Hank and Dean on occasion.

* Done all the time in ''[[Home Movies]]'', although frequently [[Throw It In|the conversations literally are improvised]] (the actors provided a general outline but not a definite script).

* The main characters of Metalocalypse will insist on having those conversations to the detriment of anything else, no matter how hard CFO tries to get them back on track.

 

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]