16. Which highly successful American television sitcom achieved its popularity as a "show about nothing," a phrase used by its own creators?
From Quiz This Means Nothing to Me
Answer:
Seinfeld
"Seinfeld," created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, is, as Wikipedia notes, the most post-modern of television programming since "Monty Python's Flying Circus". David and Seinfeld deliberately pushed for the show to be about the "minutiae" of life; in fact they both insisted stubbornly that there was to be "no hugging, no learning." None of the main or secondary characters were ever deliberately likeable, and certainly no one ever had a reason to feel sorry for any of them. In fact, there is not even any grief when a main character's longtime girlfriend and fiance dies. Because of this approach, the show ended up reinforcing the philosophy of nihilism--nothing matters at all, and life is about an assortment of meaningless minor events. The strategy obviously worked, for TV Guide considers "Seinfeld" to be "the greatest television series ever made," the show was in the top two spots in the Nielson ratings from 1994-1998, and it won countless Emmys and Golden Globes.