American stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld said the “extreme left and PC crap” are hampering comedy today, arguing it restricts the genre that people still need in their lives.
Seinfeld offered his take on the current problems comedy is encountering and what the future holds for art during his appearance on The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.
“Nothing really affects comedy. They need it, people need it so badly, and they don’t get it,” Seinfeld told The New Yorker’s editor-in-chief David Remnick, who hosts the podcast.
“It used to be, you would get home at the end of the day, and most people would say, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. MASH is on,” he said. “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?”
The creator of the self-titled sitcom “Seinfeld” directed the blame toward the far-left, arguing modern comedy is not concerned enough about drawing laughter but focused more on not offending audiences.
“This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people,” Seinfeld said. “When you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committee groups — “Here’s our thought about this joke” — Well, that’s the end of your comedy. They move the gates, like in skiing. Culture — the gates are moving. Your job is to be agile and clever enough that wherever they put the gates, I’m gonna make the gate.”
Seinfeld has been making press appearances with the upcoming release of the comedy movie “Unfrosted,” which he directed. The movie, set to be out next month, depicts the push in the 1960s to create the pop tart.