Seinfeld predicted the growing whiteness of network television

Little of this is Seinfeld’s fault; television's whiteness has far more to do with the Clinton-era repeal of the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (a subject for another time). But it's worth pointing out that the centerpiece of NBC's very diverse 1980s Thursday sitcom lineup was The Cosby Show, while Seinfeld was the centerpiece of its very white 1990s Thursday sitcom lineup.

It more or less made sense for Seinfeld to be as white as it was. The show was, after all, famously rejected by audience testers, and NBC’s Brandon Tartikoff worried it was “too New York, too Jewish.” It revolved around four people who were incredibly limited in their perceptions and worldviews, so a certain amount of tunnel vision made sense.

But Seinfeld was also the unlikely beneficiary of the fact that the television landscape was changing. By its final season, the series was a mega-hit, watched by large numbers of people in all demographics. However, in its early years, as it struggled in the ratings, it was not only kept alive because it earned critical acclaim and awards attention, but because the people who were watching it were more demographically desirable to advertisers. And what that usually means is young white people with lots of money who live in cities.

As that demographic was targeted with more and more focus in years to come, it would lead to shows with fewer and fewer people of color, shows that could be good (Friends or Girls) or bad (the many, many Seinfeld clones of the mid-’90s) but still shows that were overwhelmingly about a bunch of white, affluent people who never had to worry about anything but the trivial details of life. What felt revolutionary on Seinfeld quickly curdled into something harder and harder to stomach on the many shows it inspired.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38545730)

fuck Girls

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38545742)

IOW, the same type of people who watch TV. How odd!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38545761)

"HEY THAT'S A MICROAGGRESSION"

"THE USWNT IS MAKING 10% LESS THAN THE MEN"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38545770)

God forbid our escapist entertainment not feature people who know several trannies, AIDS patients, black revolutionaries, etc.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38545782)

written by someone at vox, with no sense of irony.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4304689&forum_id=2#38547856)