this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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[–] hardcoreufo@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

I groan a lot rewatching old shows, or don't find the jokes funny anymore in 2026, but I think people forget that society progresses.

Take the Seinfeld episode where a reporter thinks George and Jerry are partners and they freak out about it but say "not that theres anything wrong with that." The joke isn't them being called gay but their immature reaction.

A lot of younger modern viewers don't like it, and I get it. The scenes do play on a lot of stereotypes but they fail to realize in the mid 90s homosexuality was almost never mentioned on tv and when it was its was a slur. Just the act of making an episode that featured a discussion on homosexuality and didn't use it as an insult ever was progress. Yes by todays standards a lot of the sterotypical behavior George and Jerry present throughout the episode is in poor taste but it wasn't made with todays standards.

[–] Enekk@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

The other forgiving thing about Seinfeld is that they are all supposed to be fundamentally broken and bad people. You can reframe it as, yeah, they are being insensitive, but that is how they are about most things. That doesn't forgive it fully, but the show is full of things like this where they challenge the viewer to not empathize with the cast and even punish the viewers when they do.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

My wife hates watching "All in the Family", because she hates Archie.

I love watching "All in the Family", because I hate Archie. He consistently gets put in his place and gets taught a lesson. He's still crass and rude and xenophobic and racist and sexist...and that's the point.

People like that can't be fixed, but we can sure enjoy laughing at them and showing them how they are wrong. That's why I love the show.

No wonder Reiner died due to "complications of TDS", as our wonderful President put it. That asshole (the president) is practically a modern reflection of Archie Bunker, just also sundowning.