12/16/04

12/16/04 Seinfeld
NBA on TNT: Lakers @ Kings

Seinfeld, TBS

The episode was entitled “The Strike,” but it will go down in history as “Festivus.” Maybe the show didn’t want to give away too much of the plot or maybe they thought Festivus would be a toss-off, like the beltless trench coat Jerry’s dad invented. But Festivus was really the thread that held the show together and developed the climax.

While this episode was probably after Seinfeld’s prime, it still had more going for it than most sitcoms could ever fantasize about. Many half-hour shows can barely find a plot line that can fill 22 minutes. This episode had several. The strike referred to was the end of the H&H bagelmaker’s strike, which meant Kramer went back to work (They were striking for $5.35 an hour; elaine points out that’s minimum wage, Kramer replies people have him to thank for it). Jerry was dating two-face (A woman who looked good in some light and bad in others). George was giving people holiday cards saying that he made a donation to “The Human Fund” in their name (a take-off from a gift Tim Watley gave him). Elaine had to figure out a way to get a piece of paper back from Denim Jacket (so she could get a free sub and captains hat), and Kramer convinced George’s father to bring Festivus out of retirement. As Kramer said several times, “Another Festivus miracle.”

The Elaine plot was pretty thin, but was probably around because it started well—giving a guy a fake phone number at a party—and the conclusion demonstrated the absurdity of her plan, which dovetailed with Jerry’s girlfriend finding a reason to break up with him.

I like Festivus. The holiday helps us get back to what winter holidays should be about. The aluminum pole is ecologically smart. The airing of grievances and feats of strength are a bit crazy, but at least everyone does it together over a nice meal. I’m not sure why it didn’t catch on like The OC’s Chrismukkah, but it’s more daring. Chrismukkah is very much about consumerism and the letter K somehow is funnier than other letters.

A happy Festivus to each and every one of us.


The NBA on TNT: LA Lakers at Sacramento Kings, TNT

I think this was my first game of the season. Since this was the first time I watched hoops since last year’s championships, the game felt much faster. I think it was due to fewer commercial breaks. The first seven minutes felt like they took seven minutes

It also might be a result of watching football. There’s really very little action during a football game, so the broadcast is about bulking up the few minutes of playing with hours of stuff. There are many more replays in football, many more cameras to choose from (gotta see babes and beer heads), a few more people talking, lots more graphics, computer-aided replays, and drawing on the screen. During football games, the commentators can show the trajectory of a pass; I have a hard time seeing basketball commentators using the same program to show a shot, though it probably will happen during the playoffs.

The talkers of the night were Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, and Cheryl Miller. Albert, has done play-by-play forever (that Holtzman's Heroes album is around somewhere), Kerr was a guard with the Bulls and Spurs (hold the 3-point shot record), and Miller was a great player in college and on the US national team (probably better, relative to her peers, than Kerr and Reggie Miller’s big sister). Miller, who could probably hold her own in the booth with the other two, was assigned the traditional woman’s role of prowling the sidelines trying to get inside scoops.

As usual, the commentators had their talking points for the evening, and worked them in whenever possible. The Lakers were a smaller, more athletic team. If they won, it would be for their “athleticism.” The Kings were ball controllers who weren’t afraid to pass the ball. The classic “stars” versus teamwork. But the Kings had Mike Bibby, who seemed to get and shoot the ball a ton. No mention of that. And, because everyone cares about Kobe Bryant, there was no shortage of discussion on what Kobe has said and done off court. They spent a fair amount of time discussing Vlade Divac, now a Laker, but traded from Sacramento after the end of last season. They didn’t say what seemed obvious. Divac looked out of shape and seemed to have trouble moving up and down the court.

One person who had no trouble mentioning Divac’s shorcomings was Charles Barkley. Barkley is part of the halftime show crew and he never seems to have a problem dissing everyone else. When the token white guy got in a good rejoinder on a Barkley wisecrack, Barkley basically reminds him that at least he was a pro basketballer. Good one. yawn. Barkley offers very little to the show. He’s supposed to be the smart talker, but he’s slow at the yakking game, has no insights to share, and loses the talk competition with fellow yakker Magic Johnson. Magic seemed to be directing the talk and working with whatever Charles said and Barkley could barely get a word in edgewise. I wish I could remember the exchange but Barkley mumbled something, Magic said, “that’s my point,” then moved on with something else on his mind. When the camera cut back to Barkley, he looked a bit peeved. Ah, drama, competition, controversy.

The TNT halftime show seems to be about manufacturing both insider rapport and drama, with a touch of humor. These guys don’t seem too good at it, but I’m probably not the demographic they’re looking for. Halftime is for getting up and doing things.

Like finding that aluminum pole.