Since Seinfeld ended it's long and popular run over 10 years ago, I have yet to find another sit-com to equal its brilliance.  Of course, I've watched less and less T.V. since that time, as my humble beginnings as an internet dweller began almost simultaneously with the conclusion of that series.  While I had never been a particularly stalwart fan of Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up performances prior to his show's premiere,  he grew on me with every passing season.  But it was the supporting cast of characters that made the show and grabbed all the best moments; a tribute to the humility and lack of ego of Seinfeld himself.  

Still, despite my belief that the writing was on a level that far exceeded most T.V. sit-coms -- and a majority of big screen comedy's, for that matter -- the number of people who just didn't warm-up to Seinfeld never perplexed me to a large degree.   A friend recently told me that she couldn't get into the show because she just couldn't work up any empathy for any of the characters.  That I understand, as I couldn't either. However, that's never been a requirement for me when it came to bonding with a television show .  Granted, I would not want to spend any time in real life around Jerry, George Costanza, Kramer, or Elaine -- at least by the mid point of the series, and definitely not by the final season.  In the beginning they were just merely a little neurotic and slightly emotionally arrested. By the end of the run, they were totally vacuous, self absorbed, and occasionally, downright nasty.  At the end of season seven, when George's fiancee Susan dies as a result of the toxins she ingests from licking dozens of cheap wedding invitation envelopes,  the lack of emotion shown by the cast as the doctor delivers the news made even me cringe, slightly.   As Shallow as these characters began, had they "drained too much out of the pool" as Elaine once commented about Jerry's character?  Perhaps, so.  

The series finale, which I found somewhat disappointing when it initially aired, brought 9 seasons worth of the characters that were unfortunate enough to be come in contact with Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine's bizarre, insular universe.  In the end, after being convicted of breaking a Good Samaritan law, they sit in the jail cell still carrying on their trivial banter.  The ending grows a little more brilliant every time I watch it.  It tied it all together nicely.

The realism of the dialog of everyday situations that was so endearing the first season had blended with almost surreal story lines.   For instance, when Kramer installed Frank Costanza's old screen door on his apartment entrance to capture a slice of small town America, complete with hanging plants and lawn furniture -- it was brilliant, yet deeply bizarre.  As the characters grew more void of redeeming qualities and humanity, the plot lines grew more insane.  The former, of course, brings us back to the reason many could not connect with the characters.  

Being able to connect with a show's characters from a human stand point had long been one of the cardinal rules of television dramas and comedies.  The character's could be nasty or obnoxious, but had to have some likable qualities.  Carla Tortelli of "Cheers", and Dan Fielding of "Night Court" are perfect examples of objectionable characters who pushed the audience to the brink of disgust one moment, then shifted gears with one of those "warm and fuzzy" sit-com moments that exposed their human side.  No, Seinfeld had none of those warm and tender moments -- nada!  Being the part time curmudeon I am, it's another of the reasons I loved the series so much.  After year's of being brought to the brink of nausea by such saccharine T.V. scenes, I found Seinfeld's lack of pathos refreshing.  What you were left with was seriously funny, edgy -- dark at times -- comedy.  Certainly, we could all connect with the characters, though; the observational humor was marvelously astute.  Terms like "close talker", "low talker", "bad breaker upper", for just a sampling, are references with which we could all identify.  These phrases became a part of the Seinfeld aficionado's lexicon.  

Obviously taste in humor accounts for another large percentage of those who were not take with Seinfeld -- the gags could be crude, sophomoric, and tasteless, to say the least.  That's never bothered me if such humor is well crafted, though.  So I'll keep on watching the reruns, over an over, probably until I'm a very old man.  And I won't miss those those warm, fuzzy feelings one bit.