Seinfeld: Season 8

The first season without Larry David is still great comedy
"Seinfeld" did a pretty good job rebounding from Larry David's departure from the show. Jerry doesn't have as many segments featured around him this season, possibly because of the stepped up demands on his time behind the camera. However, the ones in which he is featured are very funny. For example, Jerry has a check bounce, and the unfriendly merchant puts the returned check on display in his store. Word gets back to Jerry's parents, and they jump to conclusions and decide that Jerry must be broke. Jerry's dad decides to return to work to help support Jerry. Unfortunately, the job his dad takes is working for Elaine, and the situation doesn't work out for anyone.

George, reeling from the mixed emotions he had at losing Susan at the end of season seven, prepares to go on without her, but finds that he really can't. Instead, Susan's parents start a charitable foundation in her memory and have George installed on the board with a large framed photograph of Susan framed on...

Still Crazy After All These Years
It's the first without Larry David, but this eighth season of "Seinfeld" is still worthy. Certainly the departure of its co-creator, executive producer and longtime writer changed the show -- there's a faster pace, more fantasy storylines and more slapstick humor -- but the actors (especially, in this season, Julia Louis Dreyfus) are still so in their zones that every episode is fun to watch.

In fact, many Season Eight episodes are among the show's best ever. "The Little Kicks" features Elaine's infamous dancing. Kramer gets involved in cockfighting in "The Little Jerry." Elaine discovers the menace of muffin tops in, of course, "The Muffin Tops."

Here's the entire Season Eight episode list:
* Episode 1: The Foundation
* Episode 2: The Soul Mate
* Episode 3: The Bizarro Jerry
* Episode 4: The Little Kicks
* Episode 5: The Package
* Episode 6: The Fatigues
* Episode 7: The Checks
* Episode 8: The Chicken Roaster
*...

The Muffin Top of 'Seinfeld'
This show started as an exemplary slow-burner, and the next thing you knew - yada yada yada - it became a cultural phenomenon. There is something you may call a Seinfeld experience, and I want to appraise the 8th installment of it.

The eight season marked two departures: one of the co-creator/scriptwriter/producer Larry David, and second of the show itself into the realm of pure wackiness. The season seven much-maligned finale, 'The Invitations' (S07E22), can be properly understood only in the context of general quality of season eight, which was one of craziness let loose. Susan's death marked the exact moment in which the entire show made 'ping!', and flew way off into the space of absurd. From the word go in 8ht's season's opener, 'The Foundation (S08E01)', there is no way you can relate to the characters as real people. Right until the very last episode they will be first and foremost CHARACTERS - ones we all love and we all laugh our brains out at - but, nonetheless,...

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